October 31, 2010 | 10:45 pm

Alcohol never acceptable for Mormons?

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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Frank Lockwood, the Bible Belt Blogger, recently wrote about a study showing that those who consumer alcohol tend to live longer than teetotalers. (Better tell my parents.) And Lockwood pointed out that the Bible has no problem with drinking in moderation.

In response, Lockwood received a note from a Mormon that warned against drinking alcohol. Ever.

Here is a snippet:

I have been aware for years that scientific studies show that a small quantity of alcohol may have some beneficial effects on the body. Also, be aware that before our access to clean drinking water that we have today, that it was more safe to drink wine than unpurified water in many areas of the world. The danger of contaminants was decreased by the alcohol content of wine. There are some who say that table wine of that day was not all that high in alcohol content for daily use, but I don’t claim to know.

An antipathous of the above counsel in the Old Testament could be the strict avoidance of pork in biblical times before we learned about how to treat pork to avoid trichinosis. It is not such a big deal today, physiologically speaking.

I wonder if new scripture were written today, with the ease and access to alcohol (and illegal drugs), would there be more restraint offered by a loving God in Heaven?

However, that being said, it does not take long to count up the avalanche of reasons why a person would be advised not to take one sip of alcohol, ever.

Read those reasons here. I think I could guess how this feller would feel about a study claiming masturbation cuts cancer risks.

October 30, 2010 | 6:23 pm

Serenity now: Sanity in LA

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Speaking of sanity—“Sanity, is unrated”—the VideoJew went out and visited the L.A. satellite of Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

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October 30, 2010 | 1:43 pm

The End of (the Rally to Restore) Sanity

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

There is a lot going on today: Widening international investigation into the bombs from Yemen; Game 3 of the World Series; UCLA v. Arizona football (what?). But probably the biggest headliner was Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

The rally just wrapped up with this remark from Mr. Influential, via The Caucus blog:

“What exactly was this?” Mr. Stewart asks. “This was not a rally to ridicule people of faith. Or people of activism or to look down our noses at the heartland, or passionate argument or to suggest that times are not difficult and that we have nothing to fear. They are and we do. But we live now in hard times, not end times. And we can have animus and not be enemies.”

“Not being able to be able to distinguish between real racists and Tea Partiers, or real bigots and Juan Williams or Rick Sanchez is an insult, not only to those people but to the racists themselves, who have put in the exhausting effort it takes to hate.”

“The press is our immune system,” Mr. Stewart says. “If it overreacts to everything, we actually get sicker. And perhaps eczema. And yet, with that being said, I feel good. Strangely, calmly good.”

Here’s from from CNN. Still looking for a video. In the meantime, here is some context on Tea Partiers and Juan Williams and Rick Sanchez.

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October 29, 2010 | 11:37 pm

Jews ‘may be pushy, but they are going to help you’

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

This video about American Jewish World Service, with more stars than you’d see at Temple Israel of Hollywood on Yom Kippur, has been making the rounds today.

I like Andy Samberg’s line:

“People often come up to me and they’ll say, ‘Hey Samberg, I didn’t even know you were Jewish.’ And I say, ‘Really?’ And they go, ‘No, not really. Look at your gigantic face.’”

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October 28, 2010 | 12:09 pm

Louisiana parish prohibits celebrating Halloween Sunday

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

I’ve heard of churches, even Catholic parishes, forbidding their members from celebrating Halloween. But I’ve never heard of a municipality, in Louisiana that would be a parish, taking such an action. At least when it comes to Sunday. From RNS, via HuffPo:

This year, for the first time, in unincorporated parts of the parish of 120,000, Halloween is on Monday, Nov. 1. Trick-or-treating hours are 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the prescribed day, and violators risk a fine of up to $500 or up to 30 days in jail.

A number of parish officials were unavailable for comment, but news accounts indicate that for years parish authorities have legislated when to observe Halloween. And it has often tied them in knots.

Christian groups have resisted public support for Halloween on Sunday because of its associations with the occult.

Of course, the ACLU sent parish officials a letter saying such a prohibition would violate “neighbors’ constitutional rights to walk their streets and ask for candy any day they pleased.” And I think they have a point.

(Hat tip: Nicole Neroulias)

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October 28, 2010 | 10:16 am

‘Hide your will; hide your lights’

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

I’ve heard pundits saying that Christine O’Donnell’s latest spooktacular (above) was inspired by horror film trailer. But obviously she is just a big Antoine Dodson fan.

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October 27, 2010 | 8:20 pm

More kvetching about the state of the Los Angeles Times

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

It’s been a quick but painful decline for the Los Angeles Times. Five or six excruciating years at this point. And the Godbeat has seen no mercy.

I write about this much more often than I would like to at GetReligion. It’s a sad, sad reality. Exhibit 1,328: “Finding the faith that links disparate Californians.”

My reaction at GetReligion:

There are puff pieces and then there are puff pieces. But this Saturday Beliefs article from the Los Angeles Times borders on well-disguised press release.

I hate to pick on the same religion reporter, but LA is my hometown, and this article was clearly written without any independent reporting or even thought.

The subject for the story was interesting: Photographer Rick Nahmias has published a new book of photos about what he sees as marginalized folks of faith. From the Website for “Golden States of Grace”:

(skip)

The problem is that this story relies almost entirely on Nahmias’ perspective. ... And I’m not saying a reporter needs to criticize it. But they shouldn’t just parrot it.

Read the rest, and see the approval of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, here.

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October 26, 2010 | 11:06 pm

Jon Stewart tops ‘Most Influential Men of 2010’

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Of course a Jewish member of the media elite—that “bigot” Jon Stewart—was crowned the most influential man of 2010.

Then again, it was a reader poll. So take that, Rick Sanchez.

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October 25, 2010 | 12:38 pm

Teacher drops religious discrimination lawsuit

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

It’s not often that a middle school teacher has a Wikipedia page. But it’s also not often that a teacher performs an experiment with Tesla coils that allegedly leaves a burn in the style of a cross on a students forearm. So was the case with John Freshwater, whom an Ohio school district tried to fire for posting copies of the 10 Commandments in his classroom, refusing to remove a personal Bible from his desk and keeping a box of Bibles in the back of class for use by a student organization.

Unless Freshwater was preaching during class, everything except for the Tesla coils seem pretty innocuous. That may explain why Freshwater had sued. But last week he dropped his lawsuit.

More from Religion Clause:

No settlement was reached between the parties in the case, but apparently Freshwater has run out of funds and is now hoping to prevail when a referee issues a decision in his administrative appeal of his firing. The referee heard 38 days of testimony. Referring to the fact that the school board has not paid anything in settlement to him in exchange for his dropping the case, Freshwater said: “We have already spent our life savings and have pledged our farm to get to the truth. It is better to leave the money on the table than to take the Bible off of my desk.”

Well, when you put it that way ...

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October 25, 2010 | 12:16 pm

A new M.O. for Jewish data gathering

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Brandeis’ JDATA project may be one of the most esoteric bits of news I’ve ever shared on this blog. But it’s certainly a development that Jewish data nerds like me excited.

JDATA essentially applies crowd-sourcing models to the world of Jewish database building. Jewish educational organizations will submit organizational, financial and census data to the JDATA Website, which was funded with $1.5 million from the Jim Joseph Foundation—that must be some Website. This is obviously a lot more cost efficient than sending demographers out into the field. After all, there is a reason the National Jewish Population Survey has only been administered three times in the past 40 years.

The project will, of course, be limited by participation. So just how much upside does it have? I’ll let The Fundermentalist give his take:

The project certainly has the potential to be transformational, and it could ultimately save hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in social research. Brandeis is describing it as a gift to the field of Jewish education from Jim Joseph.

The interface seems very usable and, at least in the demo, seems very smooth. The directory alone would be valuable. If it works out as planned, having an up-to-date census of the Jewish educational system will be worth the $1.5 million price tag. Beyond that, if JDATA is able to capture the financial information it seeks, the Jewish world will finally have a price tag for Jewish education.

The project will provide a real number to take to philanthropists. We will know exactly how deep is the money pit we need to fill in order to cover the whole cost of Jewish education. And it certainly could help to inform funding decisions.

“In any other area of social public life, you have a department of education or department of health, or institutions that collect the basic information on what is going on in the sector,” said Leonard Saxe, director of Brandeis’ Cohen Center and the Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies at the university. “In our rainbow world of Jewish education, where everybody is a boat that floats or doesn’t on its own bottom, we don’t have the infrastructure to collect even the most basic simple information about what goes on.”

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October 24, 2010 | 6:52 pm

Muslim trucker claims he was fired for refusing to haul alcohol

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Vasant Reddy, Muslim man from Philadelphia, has sued a trucking company alleging he was fired after he refused to transport a shipment of alcohol. From the Philly Daily News:

He claims he told this to his supervisors at the Philadelphia branch of Schneider National Inc. when he was hired in May 2009. They told him they could accommodate his beliefs, but the next month he was assigned to transport a delivery of Miller Lite, said Reddy’s attorney, Justin Swidler.

When he complained, Reddy’s supervisor told him that his refusal to transport the beer was an “operational violation” and that he would be fired, the suit said.

Reddy said he was assigned another nonalcoholic load that he transported successfully and that another driver moved the Miller Lite shipment, according to court documents.

Two days later, though, Reddy was given a choice: Resign or be fired, Swidler said.

Not surprisingly, a spokeswoman for Schneider National did not return a call for comment.

As I mentioned with the Disneyland hijab mess, an employer in a religious discrimination lawsuit:

only needs to show that it either provided a reasonable accommodation or that doing so would impose undue hardship on the company or its employees.

This one will likely come down to numbers and the logistics of adjusting the trucking firm’s system for assigning deliveries. If Reddy’s attorney’s statements can be taken at face value, it sounds like the trucking company is going to have a seriously uphill battle. In other words: they’ll be settling.

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October 24, 2010 | 4:23 pm

Florida’s law banning gay adoption comes to an end

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Florida was the only state in the nation that prohibited gays from adopting children. It’s hard to see how such a law could have withstand an equal protection claim, and it appears a Florida state appellate court thought the same. Rather than appeal to the state Supreme Court, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum let the law die.

Here’s the AP story, via the Miami Herald:

In a statement, McCollum said the issue “is a divisive matter of great public interest” and eventually should be resolved by the high court.

“But after reviewing the merits of independently seeking Supreme Court review, following the decision of our client, the Department of Children & Families, not to appeal ... it is clear this is not the right case,” McCollum said.

The department previously announced it no longer would enforce the ban and was changing its forms so adoptive parents aren’t asked if they’re homosexuals.

“No doubt, someday, a more suitable case will give the Supreme Court the opportunity to uphold the constitutionality of this law,” McCollum said.

I disagree, but we may someday see.

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