May 6, 2012 | 9:58 am

Biden: ‘Absolutely comfortable’ with gay marriage

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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Joe Biden on "Meet the Press" May 4. Photo by William B. Plowman/NBC

On “Meet the Press” this morning, Vice President Joe Biden said that he is “absolutely comfortable” with gay marriage, via TheBostonChannel.com.

“I just think that the good news is that as more and more Americans come to understand what this is all about, it is a simple proposition: Who do you love? Who do you love? And will you be loyal to the person who love?” Biden said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

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Asked if the president would support same-sex marriage in a second term, Biden said he didn’t know the answer. But he pointed to the Obama administration’s repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, a move that now allows gay and lesbian members of the military to serve openly.

Biden did not specifically address a ballot initiative to ban same-sex marriage being voted on in North Carolina this week.

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May 4, 2012 | 6:54 pm

Darth Seder—one way to celebrate Star Wars Day

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

In honor of Star Wars Day, College Humor offers this “Darth Seder” sketch.

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May 4, 2012 | 10:41 am

Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch, Jewish legend and hip-hop pioneer, has died

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

The Beastie Boys, Mike Diamond (left), Adam Horowitz and Adam Yauch (right), are photographed at the 2006 Sundance film festival in Park City, Utah in this Jan. 22, 2006. Photo by REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/Files

I had tickets to see the Beastie Boys at the Hollywood Bowl when Adam Yauch (aka MCA) was diagnosed with cancer back in 2009. I always assumed that Yauch, one of the three members of one of the most influential hip hop groups in history, would make a full recovery and I’d have another chance to see the Beastie Boys perform.

Sadly, I was wrong.

Adam Yauch, one-third of the pioneering hip-hop group the Beastie Boys, has died at the age of 47, Rolling Stone has learned. Yauch, also known as MCA, had been in treatment for cancer since 2009. The rapper was diagnosed in 2009 after discovering a tumor in his salivary gland.

Last year, the Beastie Boys released what (I assume) will be their final albums with all three original members. “The Hot Sauce Committee Part 2” had been delayed by Yauch’s treatment. It still rocked.

I’ve blogged a bit about the Beastie Boys here before. They were, after all not only hip hop pioneers (for, among other reasons, their innovative use of sampling) but Jewish heroes, hailing from that famously Jewish city, New York.

Yauch and Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz weren’t Matisyahu, but they embraced their yiddishkeit. And this 2003 cover of Heeb remains my favorite.

Their legendary “Sabotage” music video is after the jump:

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May 4, 2012 | 9:26 am

Methodists won’t divest from companies trading with Israel

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

At least for now, the United Methodist Church will not divest from three companies that trade with Israel. JTA reports:

Two-thirds of the approximately 1,000 delegates to the conference voted Wednesday in Tampa, Fla., against a motion to divest from Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions and Hewlett-Packard.

Divestment advocates claim that products manufactured by these companies are used to repress Palestinians.

However, the conference also passed a motion supporting a boycott of products manufactured in West Bank settlements. More on the closely watched vote from Laurie Goodstein at the NYT.

Next up, the Presbyterian Church USA, which will vote on a divestment measure at its general assembly that begins June 30.

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May 2, 2012 | 1:07 pm

Most prisoners who get a kosher meal are not Jewish

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

The Forward has an interesting story about the majority of prison inmates who demand a kosher meal—and they are overwhelmingly not Jewish:

A number of secular Jews, messianic Jews, Black Hebrew Israelites and, in many cases, people with no Jewish background at all eat a traditional Jewish diet.

Jews, according to one estimate, make up just one-sixth — or about 4,000 — of the 24,000 inmates who eat kosher food in American prisons. And since kosher food can cost more than twice as much as regular fare, it’s costing taxpayers millions to feed all those who want to avoid treyf.

“We want them to be very careful about who they give kosher food to,” said Menachem Katz, director of prison and military outreach at the Aleph Institute, a Chabad-affiliated social services group. “We don’t want them to give kosher food to every Tom, Dick and Harry if they say they are Jewish.”

But here’s the thing: Prisons can’t decide who’s a real Jew.

Beyond it being absurd to think that a warden could answer a thousands-year-old question about who can call himself a Member of the Tribe, it’s unconstitutional for government actors to make “religious decisions.”

The government may not inquire into whether a professed religious believer is recognized by any formal religious body or has beliefs that fit within the majority of the religion that he claims to belong to. If an inmate’s stated beliefs were clearly insincere—for instance, if a prisoner told the warden that he is Jewish but repeatedly told prison guards that he’s a Christian separatist—then the prison could deny the inmate a kosher meal. But, aside from that, the warden can’t get involved in deciding who is a Jew.

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May 2, 2012 | 9:41 am

The five kinds of Mormons

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

With all the musing on Mitt Romney’s faith, Salt Lake Tribune republished a 1994 column by Robert Kirby that breaks down Mormons into five categories. They are: Liberal, Genuine, Conservative, Orthodox and Nazi. The last one being defined as:

NAZI MORMONS: Ten percent of the LDS is church is NM. Of that 10 percent, 90 percent live in Utah, most within pot-lucking distance of BYU. NM’s claim Diet Coke is the same thing as heroin, and heaven is a multi-level marketing system of glory.

NM’s believe French kissing is cause for excommunication. They routinely take church advice and improve on it: If no single dating until 16 is good, no single dating until the draft age is even better. NM’s pay tithing based on their gross income plus the stuff they get from the bishop’s storehouse.

Now I don’t think that those are official categories used by the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints. But Peggy Fletcher Stack, whose reporting-on-Mormons credential I’ve never seen challenged, says Kirby’s classifications are a lot more accurate than the maniac, moderate and modernist categories offered by Father Dwight Longenecker, priest of Our Lady of the Rosary parish in Greenville, S.C., in a column on Catholic Online.

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May 1, 2012 | 8:57 pm

Madeleine Albright on discovering in her 50s that her family was Jewish

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Madeleine Korbel Albright. Photo by Wikipedia/U.S. Department of State

In her new book, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright shares what it was like to discover in her late 50s that her family was Jewish. A portion is excerpted at the Huffington Post:

I had no idea that my family heritage was Jewish or that more than twenty of my relatives had died in the Holocaust. I had been brought up to believe in a history of my Czechoslovak homeland that was less tangled and more straightforward than the reality. I had much still to learn about the complex moral choices that my parents and others in their generation had been called on to make—choices that were still shaping my life and also that of the world.

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By late in President Bill Clinton’s first term, I had seen several missives from people who had known my parents, who had the names and dates approximately right, and who indicated that my ancestors had been of Jewish origin. One letter, from a seventy-four-year-old woman, arrived in early December 1996; she wrote that her family had been in business with my maternal grandparents, who had been victimized by anti-Jewish discrimination during the war. I compared memories with my sister, Kathy, and brother, John, and also shared the information with my daughters, Anne, Alice and Katie. Since I was in the process of being vetted for secretary of state, I told President Clinton and his senior staff. In January 1997, before we had time to explore further, a hardworking Washington Post reporter, Michael Dobbs, uncovered news that stunned us all: according to his research, three of my grandparents and numerous other family members had died in the Holocaust.

In February 1997, Kathy, John, and John’s wife, Pamela, visited the Czech Republic; they confirmed much of what had been in the Post story and identified a few errors. That summer, I was able to make two similar though briefer trips. For me, the moment of highest emotion came inside Prague’s Pinkas Synagogue, where the names of our family members were among the eighty thousand inscribed on the walls as a memoriam. I had been to the synagogue before but—having no cause—had never thought to search for their names.

Albright’s story reminds me of my own mothers—except she lost no family (that we know of) in the Holocaust—or of Christopher Hitchens’. Not because the key details line up clearly, but for the general late discovery of a family secret of Jewishness. It reinforces for how little we often know about where we come from.

As I’ve written before, a desire to better understand where I came from led me on my Jew-ish journey:

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May 1, 2012 | 7:08 pm

Was Paul Pierce just Tebowing with a minute left in the fourth?

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Did I just see Celtics small forward Paul Pierce Tebowing during Game 2 against the Hawks? Guess so, via Awful Announcing:

Paul Pierce Tebows on the Hawks logo at midcourt after two free throws. That was random.

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April 30, 2012 | 11:18 pm

Rove: Colson ‘the ultimate story of redemption’

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Chuck Colson was an incredible story of religious redemption—and political rebound.

Late in life, Colson was an advisor to the George W. Bush administration. Karl Rove, who grew up as a Presbyterian in Utah, recently spoke with Christianity Today about “Colson’s impact politically, culturally, and spiritually.”

In an interview with Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Rove said:

He is the ultimate story of redemption. In all of my dealings with him in the last 15–20 years, I found him to be one of the most kind and gentle and thoughtful human beings I’ve ever met. His life was a witness to his deep faith, and he nurtured the faith of others in deep and profound ways. We can talk about all the things he did to influence our culture and stand for principles of faith. To me, as remarkable as they are, [it’s more remarkable] that he mixed that with a life in which he took a personal interest in the salvation of so many people he came in contact with and did so in a thoughtful, compassionate, and caring way. I personally benefited from it in the status of my faith and the condition of my soul. It was deeply moving to me and he made a profound difference in my life. What I saw was a profound influence in so many lives he came into contact with.

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He was more concerned about the policy. What could be done to broaden the role of faith-based institutions in the public square? What efforts was the President willing to make, whether it was children of prisoners or to help ensure faith-based groups had a bigger role in anti-recidivism efforts. His attitude was, “You have bright, young people involved in the politics. Can I talk to you about substantive questions of policy?”

Chuck was willing to talk politics, but he was more interested in policy. Chuck was interested in Sudan, Chuck was interested in faith-based institutions, Chuck played a role in encouraging the White House to adopt a program of mentors and support for children of prisoners. Chuck’s influence was not limited to, “What are evangelicals thinking?” He was willing to provide guidance on that, but he was more interested in, “Here’s what an evangelically-minded President ought to be concerned about in fulfillment of the admonition that ‘To whom much is given, from him much is expected.’”

Read the rest here.

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April 30, 2012 | 7:44 pm

Young suspended 7 games for alleged anti-Semitic outburst

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

I suspect that Bud Selig didn’t take kindly to Tigers outfielder Delmon Young for his alleged altercation last week. Young is being charged with hate crime harassment for allegedly shouting anti-Semitic epithets and scuffling with a group of tourists in New York. Today Major League Baseball suspended him seven games.

ESPN reports:

“Those associated with our game should meet the responsibilities and standards that stem from our game’s stature as a social institution,” Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. “An incident like this cannot and will not be tolerated. I understand that Mr. Young is regretful, and it is my expectation that he will learn from this unfortunate episode.”

The statement from the commissioner’s office also said that Young would be required to participate in a treatment program.

Young is eligible for reinstatement from the restricted list May 4.

Read the rest here.

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April 30, 2012 | 5:24 pm

Pat Robertson: Wrong for Christians to bully LGBT kids

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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.

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April 27, 2012 | 12:46 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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