April 30, 2012 | 6:24 pm

Pat Robertson: Wrong for Christians to bully LGBT kids

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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This latest surprisingly uncontroversial comment from Pat Robertson is more low-lying fruit than legalizing marijuana, but it’s still good to see the televangelist and one-time Christian Right leader to say that it’s wrong for Christian kids to bully LGBT kids. Here is what Robertson said on “The 700 Club,” via Huffington Post.

“Well I think that’s terrible. Christians shouldn’t do that… I mean.. lesbian, gay, transgender, blah blah blah, I mean.. Christians shouldn’t do that. They ought to act in love.”

He continued: “You may disagree, you may think these practices are an abomination, you can think all sorts of things, but you need to love, and reach out to these kids in love.” To which his co-host repled: “Absolutely. Bullying is wrong - period.”

Which got an “Amen” from Robertson.

Bizarrely, the Huffington Post suggests that this statement was controversial by saying “See More Controversial Statements by Rev. Pat Robertson.” To the contrary, I don’t know any Christians who think it’s OK to actually bully or torment other people who have different beliefs, values or practices.

April 27, 2012 | 1:46 pm

Detroit outfielder arrested on suspicion of anti-Semitic hate crime

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Detroit Tigers outfield Delmon Young has been arrested by New York police on suspicion of an anti-Semitic hate crime. The AP reports:

Young was standing outside of the Hilton New York at about 1:30 a.m., where he was staying ahead of a series with the New York Yankees that starts Friday night. Nearby, a group of about four Chicago tourists staying at the hotel were approached by a panhandler wearing a yarmulke and a Star of David around his neck. After, as the group walked up to the hotel doors, Young started yelling anti-Semitic epithets, police said.

It was not clear whom Young was yelling at, but he got into a tussle with the Chicago group, and a 32-year-old man sustained scratches to his elbows, according to police.

Both Young and the group went inside the hotel, and at some point, police were called, and Young was arrested, police said. He was arrested on a charge of aggravated harassment as a hate crime.

This sounds stranger than a Mel Gibson arrest. And maybe Young should use the Mel Gibson Defense:

Using alcoholism to cover one’s mistakes, like blaming Jews for all the world’s wars. You can pretty much say anything you want, as long as your drunk it doesn’t count. You also get special treatment later because you have a problem.

Young might qualify. Before being taken to jail, the squad car swung Young by the hospital because they thought he was drunk.

Read the rest here.

(Hat tip: Matt Who Likes to Cook)

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April 26, 2012 | 3:24 pm

Egyptian court upholds conviction of famous comedian for ‘insulting Islam’

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

A recurring theme these days seems to be predominantly Muslim countries jailing individuals for comments or actions deemed to have been insulting to Islam. It must be tough to be a comedian in the Arab world with such a central topic off-limits.

Last fall I mentioned that an Egyptian court sentenced Ayman Yusef Mansur to three years jail, with hard labor, because “intentionally insulted the dignity of the Islamic religion and attacked it with insults and ridicule on Facebook.” Then, since the start of this year, both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have arrested men for blaspheming the prophet Muhammad on Twitter (here and here).

Now this:

A Cairo court upholds a three-month jail sentence for Egyptian film star and the Arab world’s most famous comedian, Adel Imam, on charges of insulting Islam, Al Arabiya TV reported on Monday….

The 71-year-old celebrity said that among the works criticized are the 1994 production “al-Irhabi” (The Terrorist), in which he portrays an Islamic fundamentalist and the play “al-Zaeem” (The Leader), a comedy in which Imam pokes fun at the region’s autocratic leaders.

That’s from Al Arabiya, via the Volokh Conspiracy, which mentions that another prominent Egyptian “is facing similar charges of defaming Islam after he posted pictures of Mickey and Minnie Mouse dressed in Muslim attire on Twitter.”

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April 25, 2012 | 9:52 am

Survey: Jews prefer Mormons and Muslims to Christian Right

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

The 2012 Jewish Values Survey is out. Some interesting stuff in this PDF (executive summary here) concerning the 2012 presidential election and the influence of Jewish values on political action. But what I wanted to draw out was the findings on Jewish sentiments toward other religious groups. Specifically, the Public Religion Research Institute asked about Mormons, Muslims and “the Christian Right.” Mormons and Muslims cleaned up.

At his Jews and Mormons blog, Mark Paredes characterizes the survey findings as a wake-up call to Jewish leaders who have worked to build bonds with evangelicals (though the survey asked about the Christian Right):

When asked to rate the three religious groups on a scale of 1 to 100, Jews scored Mormons at 47, Muslims at 41.4, and Evangelicals at an embarrassing 20.9. This survey represents a reality check for those prominent Jews who have worked hard for years to convince their coreligionists that Evangelicals are their best friends. However, they shouldn’t be surprised. With all due respect to Messrs. Prager, Medved et al., Evangelicals as a group largely deserve the poor grade they received.

Evangelicals often tout their suppport for Israel as evidence of their goodwill towards Jews. However, the poll clearly shows once again that Israel, rightly or wrongly, is not the number one concern of most American Jews. Once you factor their laudable support for Israel out of the equation, what do Evangelicals have to say to Jews?  Apparently not a whole lot. Some writers have pointed to liberal Jews’ disdain for Evangelicals’ conservative Republican politics as the prime mover behind the survey results. However, Mormons are the reddest religious group in the country, Utah is the most Republican state, and the LDS Church has been rather active recently in campaigns opposing gay marriage around the country. None of these “negatives” prevented Jews from expressing over a 2-to-1 preference for Mormons over Evangelicals.

The survey didn’t evaluate why. Part of it, I think, has to do with a sense of kinship between Jews and Mormons. They are both significantly overachieving minority groups—both are way over-represented in Congress—and both have faced discrimination historically.

But the more significant factor is what I alluded to: The survey asked Jews how they feel about the Christian Right—not evangelicals. Mark is correct to characterize a lot of the Christian leaders that Jewish groups work with as being part of the Christian Right (e.g. John Hagee). But the Christian Right includes some evangelical members, but there are a lot of evangelicals that are in the Christian middle, and some that are left of it.

On top of that, the term “Christian Right” is loaded. And I suspect that if you were to ask Christians of my generation to evaluate their feelings about these three religious groups, the Christian Right wouldn’t fair much better.

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April 25, 2012 | 9:16 am

Krugman on why he ‘basically avoids thinking about where Israel is going’

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

In calling Peter Beinart “a brave man” for speaking critically about Israel and the American Jewish establishment’s reluctance to publicly disapprove of anything the Israeli government does, Krugman explains why he doesn’t talk about Israeli politics:

The truth is that like many liberal American Jews — and most American Jews are still liberal — I basically avoid thinking about where Israel is going. It seems obvious from here that the narrow-minded policies of the current government are basically a gradual, long-run form of national suicide — and that’s bad for Jews everywhere, not to mention the world. But I have other battles to fight, and to say anything to that effect is to bring yourself under intense attack from organized groups that try to make any criticism of Israeli policies tantamount to anti-Semitism.

I mentioned last month that Beinart’s latest idea—boycotting the West Bank—united the left and right against him.

But I agree with Beinart’s overaching perspective: “Love Israel? Criticize it.” As I wrote in an op-ed for JTA back in 2009: “It’s a Jew’s duty to be critical of Israel, but it’s also an unforgivable sin to be critical of Israel.”

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April 23, 2012 | 6:20 am

Holocaust Survivors Foundation prez: ‘Obama policies hurting survivors’

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Obama at the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, Apr 23. Photo by REUTERS/Jason Reed

Thought-provoking letter to the editor from David Schaecter, the president of the Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA, who claims that President Obama, despite supportive words to the contrary, has been hurting Holocaust survivors with his administration’s policies. At JTA:

Contrary to common sense, and to commitments made during the Obama-Biden campaign, this administration has consistently supported European insurance companies who defrauded Holocaust victims and dishonored our family insurance policies, even though the insurers failed to pay billions they owe to victims families. This is not acceptable—we are not only U.S. citizens, many survivors are American veterans and veterans of the Korean War. Yet because of the actions of the State and Justice departments, Holocaust survivors are second-class citizens under U.S. law. How can this be?

Further, tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors—50 percent of the American survivor population—live in or near poverty. Why would this administration block survivors from recovering the long-overdue debts owed by the wealthiest corporations in the world like Allianz, Generali and AXA? In March, the State Department again relied on a familiar litany of inaccurate statements in opposing legislation with broad bipartisan support that would restore survivors’ rights. The Foreign Affairs Committee rejected State’s bogus claims and passed the bill unanimously.

I don’t get the second-class-citizens remark, and I’m not sure how significantly the Obama administration policies differ from those of past presidents. (Survivors issues just don’t receive as much attention as they deserve.) But as someone who spent a summer helping primarily indigent Holocaust survivors—many live way below the poverty line—collect reparations from the German government, I hope that Obama and his presidential opponents hear Schaecter’s message.

Obama should soon have the chance. He’s speaking at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum today to commemorate Yom HaShoah.

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April 22, 2012 | 5:55 pm

Topless auditions for the role of Anne Frank?

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

If the Anti-Defamation League is mad about that Urban Outfitters shirt—and rightfully so—I thought they might lose it over the subject of this Heeb headline: “Anne Frank Topless Audition.”

There have been some insensitive Anne Frank references over the years—Tiki Barber comes to mind, as does throwing a red keffiyah around her neck and drawing her into Palestinian Awareness Week—but who would hold topless auditions for the lead role in the play “The Diary of Anne Frank”?

The answer: No one.

Check out the sketch video above. It’s totally SFW, though the incessant winking might make you a little queasy.

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April 22, 2012 | 12:50 pm

ADL complains about Urban Outfitters sale of ‘Holocaust’ shirt

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Screengrab of Wood Wood Kellogg tee from UrbanOutfitters.com

I’ve never shopped at Urban Outfitters, so it’s not like I can boycott the store over it’s absolutely absurd Wood Wood Kellogg tee. But I definitely don’t plan to start paying way too much for cheap clothes after reading that Urban Outfitters is selling a yellow shirt with a six-pointed star on the left breast that strongly resembles the yellow star worn by Jews under Nazi occupation.

Not surprisingly, the Anti-Defamation League has objected to the shirt’s sale. The Philly Inquirer reports:

“We find this use of symbolism to be extremely distasteful and offensive, and we are outraged that your company would make this product available to your customers,” Barry Morrison, regional director of the ADL, wrote in a letter e-mailed to Richard A. Hayne, chairman and chief executive of the retail corporation headquartered at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

This is not the first time the ADL and Urban Outfitters have tussled. In 2003, the ADL complained about a shirt with the text “Everyone loves a Jewish girl” and that was surrounded by images of shopping bags and dollar signs. The clothier later removed the surrounding images.

Urban Outfitters has not commented on the star shirt and, as of now, the shirt is still available on UrbanOutfitters.com. I’m not sure what is more outrageous: the t-shirt design or the fact it costs $100.

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April 22, 2012 | 12:37 pm

Friedman: Bloomberg should run for president

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

I’ve been saying for a while now that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg should run for president. Now Thomas Friedman agrees.

This isn’t about giving the United States its first Jewish president. Instead, Friedman argues that Bloomberg could be the independent outsider who “give[s] our two-party system the shock it needs.” He writes:

This election has to be about those hard choices, smart investments and shared sacrifices — how we set our economy on a clear-cut path of near-term, job-growing improvements in infrastructure and education and on a long-term pathway to serious fiscal, tax and entitlement reform. The next president has to have a mandate to do all of this.

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Bloomberg doesn’t have to win to succeed — or even stay in the race to the very end. Simply by running, participating in the debates and doing respectably in the polls — 15 to 20 percent — he could change the dynamic of the election and, most importantly, the course of the next administration, no matter who heads it. By running on important issues and offering sensible programs for addressing them — and showing that he had the support of the growing number of Americans who describe themselves as independents — he would compel the two candidates to gravitate toward some of his positions as Election Day neared. And, by taking part in the televised debates, he could impose a dose of reality on the election that would otherwise be missing. Congress would have to take note.

Read the rest here.

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April 21, 2012 | 2:29 pm

Chuck Colson, Watergate figure turned evangelical leader, dead at 80

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Chuck Colson, the Nixon legal advisor who came out of prison a man of God, has died. He was 80.

After serving time for his role in Watergate, Colson was born again—in fact, that was the name of his autobiography—and remade himself as an evangelical leader, primarily through his prison ministry.

Christianity Today offers this reflection on a life redeemed:

The trumpets will be sounding on the other side for Charles W. Colson—not only for what he achieved as a Christian leader but for how much his character changed. His life story is one of the outstanding and best known examples in modern times of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

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Colson’s legacy thus extends far beyond the community of prisoners, although prison ministry has been his primary calling. In his contribution to changing the church, he crossed many denominational boundaries. He started a bold initiative called Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT), which caused controversy but also achieved theological understanding between these wings of the Christian faith. In recent years he has dedicated much of his time to the Centurion educational program. It raises up 100 church leaders a year through an intensive teaching course which he led.

Although Colson’s achievements were remarkable, his example is more important. Back in Watergate times, his secular opponents loathed his spiritual journey and longed for him to stumble and fall. Almost four decades later he has confounded his critics and often won their admiration. This is because he has walked his talk.

Colson’s personal life has been exemplary since he entered into a relationship with this Lord. He has made considerable sacrifices in financial matters. He battled, successfully, against the petty vices of smoking and drinking and against various forms of the pride described in C.S. Lewis’s “Great Sin” that tempted him towards the limelight of trying to be too dominant and too controlling in his ministry. But these struggles have made his journey all the more authentic and effective.

Much more here.

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April 20, 2012 | 1:58 pm

What church has a fight night?

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

George Clinkscale died last fall after participating in a charity boxing match at GUTS Church in Tulsa. (If any names makes a church sounds like it subscribes to the Macho Jesus, it’s GUTS.) Here’s an excerpt of the story from Tulsa World:

The event was not sanctioned, according to the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission, which started an investigation Thursday and indicated evidence would be provided to the state attorney general’s office.

GUTS Pastor Bill Scheer said Clinkscale’s death has affected everyone at the church, and he wants to speak with Clinkscale’s mother, who was driving to Tulsa from Dallas, before he issued official statements.

“To us, it’s tragic,” Scheer said. “We have to evaluate everything. … I want to be sensitive to his family.”

Read the rest here.

“Outside the Lines” just aired the above video documenting Clinkscale’s death. They approach it from the angle of the boxing event being unsanctioned and without a licensed ref or trainer.

But I wonder about this from a religious angle. Why—why would a church hold a fight night, even for charity?

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April 18, 2012 | 2:24 pm

U.S. soldiers grinning for picks with Afghan bomber body parts

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

The hits just keep coming for the U.S. military in Afghanistan. (And let’s not forget NATO.) The Los Angeles Times published a bombshell today: A division of U.S. paratroopers had posed with the dead body parts of bombers in numerous photographs.

The 82nd Airborne Division soldiers arrived at the police station in Afghanistan’s Zabol province in February 2010. They inspected the body parts. Then the mission turned macabre: The paratroopers posed for photos next to Afghan police, grinning while some held — and others squatted beside — the corpse’s severed legs.

A few months later, the same platoon was dispatched to investigate the remains of three insurgents who Afghan police said had accidentally blown themselves up. After obtaining a few fingerprints, they posed next to the remains, again grinning and mugging for photographs.

Two soldiers posed holding a dead man’s hand with the middle finger raised. A soldier leaned over the bearded corpse while clutching the man’s hand. Someone placed an unofficial platoon patch reading “Zombie Hunter” next to other remains and took a picture.

WOW. Macabre really doesn’t seem strong enough. This behavior is just disgusting—wickedness of the deceased aside.

Read the rest, and see two of the photos, here. Army officials, who launched a criminal investigation, apparently did not know about the pictures until LAT, which got 18 photos from one of the soldiers, showed them.

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