Shimon Cowen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shimon Dovid Cowen (born 7 September 1951)[1] is an Australian rabbi and academic. He is known for his research on, and advocacy for, the Noahide Laws, on the basis of which, he has publicly opposed homosexuality, looser abortion laws and voluntary assisted dying legislation.
He is affiliated with Chabad Hasidism, a branch of ultra-Orthodox Judaism, and is the son of the former Governor General of Australia, Sir Zelman Cowen.
Cowen was born in Melbourne, Victoria, concluding his secondary education in New South Wales before attending the Australian National University in Canberra. His studies took him to the University of Munich and Monash University, from which he received a PhD in social philosophy in 1984.
For a number of years he was a member of the Kollel Menachem Lubavitch, a tertiary Rabbinic Institute, where he became director of community educational programs. He received rabbinic ordination from Rabbis Chaim Gutnick and She’ar Yashuv Cohen He also taught in the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilization at Monash University.
Institute for Judaism and Civilization
In 1998 he founded, and continues to direct, the Institute for Judaism and Civilization.[2] This institute was established to examine the “interface between Judaism and the arts, sciences and values of general society”.
Universal Ethics
In addition to exploring the interface between Judaism and society and culture, Cowen has made a major focus of his work, the study of the universal ethics, at the root of the world religions, which he elaborated upon in his book on the Noahide laws, The Theory and Practice of Universal Ethics – The Noahide Laws. Cowen has opposed Victoria's abortion laws that he claims is too liberal, and claims that these policies will "open the floodgates of barbarism".[3] Victoria in 2017 introduced Australia’s first assisted suicide legislation, in which he saw further evidence of a loss of the moral compass of universal ethics and a new low point of civilization. He has also opposed homosexuality and euthanasia, as contraventions of the Noahide laws.
He claims that these ethics, at the root of the world religions, should inform all of humanity's action [4] and specifically be made known to political leaders and public political discourse.[5]
In the Victorian State election of 2014 he strongly advocated for a vote for one of the conservative minor parties, Family First, DLP or the Australian Christians. He opposed voting for the major parties based on their support for same sex marriage.[6]
He was also thanked by the DLP member of Victoria's Legislative Council, Rachel Carling-Jenkins during her maiden speech.[7]
