October 6, 2009 | 6:22 pm

L.A. Muslim injured in Pakistan suicide attack at U.N.

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Follow me on

Among those injured today in the suicide bombing at the U.N. food agency headquarters in Pakistan was a Muslim from Los Angeles named Adam Motiwala:

“There was a huge bang, and something hit me. I fell on the floor bleeding,” said Adam Motiwala, an information officer who was hospitalized with wounds to his head, leg and ribs.

Five were killed in the attack.

For more on Motiwala, who was very involved in L.A. Muslim-Jewish dialogue and with the efforts of PJA and Rabbi Reuven Firestone, check out this story from The Daily Titan:

“As of right now he is in a lot of pain, but overall, he’s OK. He’s more in a state of shock from what just happened to him and others. Many Americans don’t know and understand what’s going on around the world. It’s a large and devastating situation out in Pakistan. Adam is there to help those in need as well as bring awareness to the issues that exist in the world,” said Sameerah Motiwala.

Adam and Sameera have been married for 16 months. They both met at CSUF where Adam was working toward his bachelor’s degree and Sameerah toward her master’s. Sameerah graduated from UC Davis and lives in Washington, D.C., with her family.

Motiwalla quit his job as an information technology consultant at Deloitte, a major international and accounting firm and joined the WFP in September because he wanted to serve others, “which is something he holds dear in his heart and firmly believes in,” said Sameerah Motiwala.

October 6, 2009 | 1:41 pm

Addicted to abortion: 15 dead babies in 16 years

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

She had 15 abortions in 16 years, and today Irene Villar, a literary agent and editor, is being having her story published as a book, “Impossible Motherhood.” From ABC News:

“This book really isn’t about using abortion as birth control,” [Dr. Lauren Streicher of Northwestern] told ABCNews.com. “She is unconsciously sabotaging contraception for self-mutilation. It’s a way of escaping feeling empty.”

“It’s an interesting book and she writes beautifully,” said Streicher, who hosts the nationally syndicated radio show for medical professionals, Reach MD. “But by her very admission, she is a psychologically disturbed woman.”

Ultimately, after some self-discovery and nursing her beloved dying dog, Vilar ends her dysfunctional marriage. She finds stability and love with a new husband, a writer and poet, and she builds a new family, reveling in the motherhood she once thought was impossible.

“Does that just end overnight? ” asked Streicher. “The death of your dog, the birth of your child? You still fight your demons.”

But Vilar blames much of her poor choices on a hypersexualized society that at once values the perfect mother, but also expects women to be sexually attractive to men and to achieve professionally.

“Women have a deep need for agency, for purpose and direction and society is not providing natural and healthy channels for creative action,” she said.

“In school and on TV, every message I get is what I am doing as a mother or wife is wrong,” said Vilar. “I should be thinking about a profession and not mothering. Everyone is having babies, and yet they don’t want to care for them.

“Are many of the repeat abortions in part an embodiment of this mixed message? A lost, ambivalent attempt at an act of agency that cannot find its proper vessel? “

It’s not clear when Villar had these abortions. Though I guess we could deduce, based on her age and the age of her children, that it was between 18 and 34. It’s shocking how casually the abortions are talked about in this story from ABC News. But probably the saddest thing is the complete lack of self-responsibility Villar exhibits. Tragic, really.

10 Comments — Leave your comment

October 5, 2009 | 9:39 pm

Rare film of Anne Frank

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

This is the only existing film of Anne Frank, who would have turned 80 this year. The video, uploaded Friday to YouTube, has been a viral sensation. You can understand why. Sixty-four years after her death, Anne’s story remains heartbreakingly inspirational across the globe.

From YouTube, via JewishJournal.com:

July 22 1941. The girl next door is getting married. Anne Frank is leaning out of the window of her house in Amsterdam to get a good look at the bride and groom. It is the only time Anne Frank has ever been captured on film. At the time of her wedding, the bride lived on the second floor at Merwedeplein 39. The Frank family lived at number 37, also on the second floor. The Anne Frank House can offer you this film footage thanks to the cooperation of the couple.

2 Comments — Leave your comment

October 5, 2009 | 5:53 pm

Jesus is my firearm

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

In case you missed it, the Friendly Atheist picked up on an painfully funny “Daily Show” segment on the tea party protesters at the G-20 Summit. Here’s the dialogue worth mentioning:

Mickey: “I have on a black Smith & Wesson .22 holster carrying a wooden cross.”

Oliver: “So the message there, Mickey, is “Look out or I’ll shoot you in the face with Jesus”?

Mickey: “Basically…”

Well, at least pastors aren’t packing heat. Come again? Oh.

1 Comments — Leave your comment

October 5, 2009 | 4:41 pm

Mahmoud the Jew?

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

The news yesterday from London’s Daily Telegraph seemed like the kind of conspiracy theory story more common to the Muslim world. (Remember that Pakistani report about Osama bin Laden being a crypto-Jew?) Now rumor has it that the mighty Zionists once counted as members of the tribe the clan from which Iranian nut-job-in-chief Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hails. Seriously:

A photograph of the Iranian president holding up his identity card during elections in March 2008 clearly shows his family has Jewish roots.

A close-up of the document reveals he was previously known as Sabourjian – a Jewish name meaning cloth weaver.

The short note scrawled on the card suggests his family changed its name to Ahmadinejad when they converted to embrace Islam after his birth.

The Sabourjians traditionally hail from Aradan, Mr Ahmadinejad’s birthplace, and the name derives from “weaver of the Sabour”, the name for the Jewish Tallit shawl in Persia. The name is even on the list of reserved names for Iranian Jews compiled by Iran’s Ministry of the Interior.

Experts last night suggested Mr Ahmadinejad’s track record for hate-filled attacks on Jews could be an overcompensation to hide his past.

Ali Nourizadeh, of the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies, said: “This aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad’s background explains a lot about him.

“Every family that converts into a different religion takes a new identity by condemning their old faith.

“By making anti-Israeli statements he is trying to shed any suspicions about his Jewish connections. He feels vulnerable in a radical Shia society.”

Logically, it would make sense. Nourizadeh is correct: Part of converting includes deeply splitting from traditions of the past, even attacking them. And a Jewish family tree doesn’t play well in Arab politics.

However, Karmel Melamed, The Jewish Journal’s resident Iranian Jewish expert, isn’t buying it. He says that after a morning of interviews and lingual study, he “cannot verify a single shred of evidence that would suggest this story is accurate in anyway.” Read more of that here.

2 Comments — Leave your comment

October 5, 2009 | 12:29 pm

Jewish conspiracy theories running amok in Honduras

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Honduras—it’s not Venezuela—but Jewish conspiracy theories are gaining steam there in the wake of President Manuel Zelaya’s ouster from office. The Anti-Defamation League is on the case; among the popular theories is that Israeli soldiers and mercenaries worked with the rebel government to exile Zelaya. From the JPost:

Zelaya, responding to a copy of the ADL report sent to him in the embassy by The Associated Press, said he “profoundly respects people who practice other religions.” He and noted he had been criticized by anti-Semites for including several Jews in his Cabinet.

“As a human being and president, I call on all Hondurans to abstain from making any anti-Semitic comments,” Zelaya said in a statement.

Among the remarks criticized by the ADL is a statement by David Romero, news director of Radio Globo, which supports Zelaya.

On Sept. 25, commenting on the rumors alleging Israeli involvement in the crisis, Romero referred on air to the “famous Holocaust” and added that “I believe it should have been fair and valid to let Hitler finish his historic vision.”

Romero apologized for the remarks Sunday in an interview with The Associated Press, saying that they were “stupid” statements made in the heat of the moment and that don’t reflect his real views.

He said his grandfather was a Jewish immigrant from Czechoslovakia who came to Honduras to escape persecution in Europe.

Yeah, I bet some of Romero’s best friends are Jewish.

Read the rest here.

32 Comments — Leave your comment

October 5, 2009 | 11:10 am

Lions’ coach Jim Schwartz: not a Jew

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

The Detroit Lions lost again yesterday.

That’s not really news. It’s pretty much been the status quo for 21 months, save for last week. But what is news, for those keeping score, is that the Lions’ recent troubles can’t be blamed on a Jew. (Amazing.) As Denny Green would say: Jim Schwartz is not he we thought he was.

From Jew or Not Jew?

most importantly, is Jim Schwartz Jewish?

In short, no. No he is not (the Schwartz son named Christian is kind of a giveaway). Pretty disappointing, honestly. We had high hopes for a prominent success and ended up with nothing.

Kind of like every season for the Detroit Lions, right?

Right?

0 Comments — Leave your comment

October 3, 2009 | 11:42 pm

Jews could rule ‘Zombieland’

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

“Zombieland” had gotten some very, very good reviews, and for what looks to be good reason. Adam Wills, the GeekHeeb, has some fun thinking about why Jews woudl make really good zombies (and not because of “Night of the Living Jews”). The GeekHeeb, maybe paying homage to weekend newsmaker David Letterman, gives us a top 10:

10. Brains can’t be half as bad as beet-jellied gefilte fish.

9. Deathly moaning made more jaunty with a nigun.

8. Jewish community already rife with soulless animated creatures who have insatiable appetites—lawyers.

7. Torah walk + foot drag—the perfect zombie shlep.

6. Chraiiiiiiiiiiiiiin.

5. Attacking a Jewish zombie = hate crime. Thanks ADL!

4. Returning from the dead saves relatives days sitting shiva.

3. None of that rank embalming fluid smell.

2. Unlike a golem, you’re your own boss.

1. Lose a body part? Been there, done that. (guys only)

0 Comments — Leave your comment

October 3, 2009 | 6:48 pm

Lodi council votes to keep on praying

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

A Lodi protester via FFRF

I’ve mentioned before that, at least in California, government organizations run the risk of being sued if they mention Jesus’ name when opening a meeting in prayer. A Los Angeles Superior Court ruled in 2000 that the practice was unconstitutional, and higher courts declined to overturn that ruling. But cities continue to do it.

The invocation has been ruled constitutionally permissible. It’s the promotion of any specific religion that poses a problem. Still, the California farming town of Lodi is having to defend its long-held practice of opening City Council meetings with a prayer. This week the council voted to continue the tradition.

More from the Sacramento Bee:

Robin Rushing, a Lodi resident, said he was offended by a recent prayer at the council meeting.

“I was fooled last week in praying for Jesus Christ,” he said. “I was fooled into standing for that. As a Buddhist, I kind of resent that. I mean no disrespect. But I do feel that this is a political (forum).”

The mayor said he had received nearly 1,500 e-mails on the subject in recent months.

“I understand you have been on the sharp end of many barbs,” Kevin Suess, associate pastor of Vinewood Community Church in Lodi, told the council. “I simply want to stand before you this evening and apologize. That is not Christian behavior.”

The heat intensified when former Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt of the national Pray in Jesus’ Name Project said he was prepared to advertise the final vote on billboards if the council “does not stand up to atheists.”

Read the rest here. More on the background, the other cities under fire and the external pressures from the Freedom From Religion Foundation and support from the Alliance Defense Fund at The New York Times and Los Angeles Times.

6 Comments — Leave your comment

October 1, 2009 | 8:55 pm

Elizabeth Smart testifies: man who raped her not close to God

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

A few years back on "Larry King Live"

NPR aired a gut-wrenching report a few minutes ago on Elizabeth Smart’s first-public testimony of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her abductor, Brian David Mitchell. The most painful part of this story for me is the way that Mitchell, like so many other wicked, wicked men who rape and abuse children, exploited God to coerce smart into having sex with him. Time after time:

Her father, mother, grandmother, siblings, uncles and other relatives watched from the first row of seats. Mitchell had been kicked out of the courtroom before Smart arrived because he wouldn’t stop his incessant singing of hymns. He watched and listened from a holding cell as Smart described him as evil, wicked, manipulative, stinky, slimy, selfish, not spiritual, not religious and not close to God.

Prosecutors used Smart’s testimony to underscore their central point: Mitchell, they insist, is faking mental illness so he won’t have to go trial. For 100 minutes, Smart described Mitchell as a sex-crazed hypocrite who used religion to get sex, food, drugs and alcohol. She maintained her composure when describing her first rape shortly after her abduction. She said Mitchell raped her three to four times a day during her nine months as his captive.

Smart said Mitchell’s manner was extremely crude. She quoted him telling her he was going to “F- - - her eyes out.”

If she showed resistance or hesitation, she said, he told her, “The Lord wants you to experience this.”

Sounds way too familiar with a handful of the Catholic priest molestation cases I covered.

I imagine Smart’s ordeal weighed heavily on her relationship with God, especially after Mitchell pained such an awful picture, for many months. Likely even years. But it doesn’t seem to have permanently scarred that part of Smart’s life. She testified today to get it out of the way. She’s getting ready to go out on her Mormon mission.

0 Comments — Leave your comment

October 1, 2009 | 7:35 pm

Meet Ardi

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Unless this is the first time you’ve check a news source today, you’ve already heard about Ardi, the ancient ancestor of Lucy. Huh? Let the Old Grey Lady explain:

Ardi, short for Ardipithecus ramidus, is the newest fossil skeleton out of Africa to take its place in the gallery of human origins. At an age of 4.4 million years, it lived well before and was much more primitive than the famous 3.2-million-year-old Lucy, of the species Australopithecus afarensis.

Since finding fragments of the older hominid in 1992, an international team of scientists has been searching for more specimens and on Thursday presented a fairly complete skeleton and their first full analysis. By replacing Lucy as the earliest known skeleton from the human branch of the primate family tree, the scientists said, Ardi opened a window to “the early evolutionary steps that our ancestors took after we diverged from our common ancestor with chimpanzees.”

The older hominid was already so different from chimps that it suggested “no modern ape is a realistic proxy for characterizing early hominid evolution,” they wrote.

The Ardipithecus specimen, an adult female, probably stood four feet tall and weighed about 120 pounds, almost a foot taller and twice the weight of Lucy. Its brain was no larger than a modern chimp’s. It retained an agility for tree-climbing but already walked upright on two legs, a transforming innovation in hominids, though not as efficiently as Lucy’s kin.

Here’s more from Time and from Wired. I’ve been looking for religious perspectives on this news, but haven’t seen much. Even the secular Discovery Institute, the primary think tank for Intelligent Design, has been silent.

Read more of this post

10 Comments — Leave your comment

October 1, 2009 | 5:59 pm

No more sexiling at Tufts

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

If you attended a secular university, or maybe even if you attend a religious one, you likely learned early on about one of the less enjoyable aspects of dorm life: being sexiled. (Third night at UCLA for me; stuck in the hallway in my towel and shower shoes.) Irritating as sexile might be, it’s not as uncomfortable as the alternative.

Anyway, now Tufts University is saying no to either:

The new policy “is really about consideration and respect for others and the need for students to be mindful of their roommates’ need for privacy, study and sleep,” university spokeswoman Kim Thurler told CNN.

She said while she did not have an exact number of complaints from students about their roommates’ behavior, “over the last few years, the Office of Residential Life and Learning received approximately a dozen expressions of concern about this issue.”

Callie Morton, a freshman at Tufts, told CNN affiliate WHDH-TV, “If someone is going to go and have sex while their roommate is in the room, I mean I think that’s kind of gross. I think it’s kind of funny that they would have to make a rule about it.”

Yep. And I think t’s kind of funny that they would CNN would see news value in this.

0 Comments — Leave your comment