Obscanity: You'll know it when you see it

Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church condones domestic violence.

“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” Luke 6:37

Jewish legacy inscribed on genes? – Los Angeles Times.

If they can prove it, more power to ’em. Until then, I’m going to stick with the more logical reason that as a people, we place a huge emphasis on education and literacy, and when an immigrant group has a high literacy rate in their native language, that translates to higher success achieving literacy in the new country, which in turn leads to a greater likelihood of economic success. And, you know, education.

The Bilerico Project | Rick Warren operatives trying to whitewash his anti-gay positions from Wikipedia entry.

What’s in an Orange? | Jewesses With Attitude.

A bit of background on the tradition of putting an orange on the seder plate.

When Same-Sex Marriage Was a Christian Rite – Colfax Record.

Well, duh. Read the works of John Boswell.

Moses is Departing Egypt: A Facebook Haggadah.

Jews on Facebook – you NEED to see this. NEED.

No, seriously. I’ve been in hysterics for the past 10 minutes. The good kind.

THE O.T. AT THE O.C.: What biblical icons do when they find themselves in Orange County.

*giggles*

Funny stuff. For Torah fans with a sense of humor. 😛

20 Things To Do With Matzah: A Post-Passover Greeting.

LOL.

Pam’s House Blend:: Freepers debate whether women should be able to vote.

Um….. no, I’m pretty sure I can think of more horrific episodes in American history linked to excessive mixing of church and government (from Salem right on up to Tweedle Dubya). Racism has been a pretty active player too. But the female vote? Sorry, no. The only bad thing that ever came from the female vote was Prohibition, and frankly I think that had just as much to do with the fact that women were sick of being beaten by their drunkard husbands. And oh yeah – also because Jesus hates the booze. Bit of a religion thing after all.

U.S. divorce rates: for various faith groups, age groups and geographical areas.

Guess what, folks? Not only do the “liberal, family hating” west and northeast have LOWER divorce rates than the marriage-protecting south and midwest (which, to be fair, probably has something to do with wealth and education as well as religion), but those who fight the MOST to prevent gay people from marrying – fundamentalist, evangelical Christians – actually have HIGHER divorce rates than atheists and agnostics! Jews are the highest in proportion by a slight margin, but hey, guess what? Judaism doesn’t prohibit divorce, and in fact the marriage contract itself usually includes protections for the woman in case of divorce.

But do the religious fundamentalists accept that they might ACTUALLY be hypocrites? Of course not. I love that the conservative Christian response is essentially to say, “But we know that can’t possibly be true, because these people are Christian, so of course they wouldn’t get divorced, because they’re living a Christian lifestyle, which doesn’t include divorce,” or “Well, they weren’t really Christian if they got divorced, so that doesn’t count.” But hey – these are the same people who say “These facts are true. We know they are true, because the Bible says they’re true. And we know the Bible is right, because the Bible says it’s right You see? There’s your proof. You can’t ignore the facts.”

Inaugural Irritant: Why Rick Warren’s Prayer Left Me Cold | The Wall of Separation.

I’m glad I’m not the only one who felt this way about Rick Warren’s speech. Everybody was so busy praising him for not condemning the queers that they seemed to miss how utterly disrespectful Warren was to people of other religions, namely to Jews. As I was watching him refer to Jesus, Jes?s, Isa, and Yeshua, the ABC News announcer noted something to the effect of, “Oh look, he’s being inclusive by mentioning the Hebrew word for God.”

I have just one thing to say to that: FUCK. THAT. SHIT.

Yeshua is NOT the Hebrew name for God. Warren’s speech was inclusive to Latino Catholics, and to Muslims (who see Jesus as a prophet), but it was an absolute slap in the face to Jews.

Yeshua is NOT the Jewish name for God. It’s the fabricated Christian-Hebrew (a.k.a. “Jew for Jesus,” a.k.a. impostor “Jew”) name for Jesus. What Warren was essentially saying was that he is inclusive to everybody so long as they worship Jesus – and for Jews that means conversion to Christianity. It was little more than a follow-up to Ann Coulter’s statement that Jews are incomplete until they accept Jesus. As the old joke goes, “We have religious freedom in this country. Everybody is free to worship Christ in their own way.”

Incidentally, the true Jewish name for Jesus is “Yeshu” – an acronym for “Yimach Shemo V’zikro,” or “May his name and memory be blotted out.” Centuries of forced conversion and wholesale slaughter will make people a little bitter.

Joe. My. God.: Hate Crime Or Not?.

There’s an interesting discussion making the rounds of NYC news blogs regarding what happened at a Jewish wedding reception last week. A 23 year-old Christian-raised cater waiter, who for five years had worked for a catering company that specialized in Jewish weddings, decided to express his sympathy for Palestinians by using the Woodbury Jewish Center’s PA system to broadcast some chants he’d recorded with his cell phone at last week’s pro-Palestine rally in Times Square. The chants? “Allahu akbar.”

Isn’t that what they usually yell right before they detonate their bombs? In this context, this is akin to yelling, “NOBODY MOVE!” in a bank. The words themselves don’t constitute the crime – it is the context, and the meanings that are generally attributed to those words in that particular context – that make it a crime. Same as shouting “fire!” in a crowded theater. He could easily have created a stampede among the 700 guests, who likely had their lives flash before their eyes…

Muslim’s scarf leads to arrest at courthouse | ajc.com.

I don’t know what freaks me out more – that this judge thinks he can get away with kicking Muslim women out of his courtroom for exercising their 1st Amendment rights, or that on the news article’s survey asking, “Should Muslim women be required to removed their head scarves before they can enter a courtroom?” 41.42% (roughly 3,000 right now) of people responding answered, “Yes, what the judge says, goes.”

Gay Marriage: Our Mutual Joy | Newsweek Culture | Newsweek.com.

Miller makes a pretty strong case against the sort of anti-gay, exclusive rhetoric that’s been tossed around lately. While she’s pretty strong on the Jesus, New Testament, and biblical marriage issue, I think she could have gone even further with the story of David and Jonathan. There was no brotherly love there, if you know what I mean. It’s beyond obvious if you actually read the story.

Miller gets one detail wrong – it’s true that “not many” Jewish denominations (if you can call them that) sanctify same-gender marriage. But this is a misleading statement. There aren’t “many” Jewish “denominations” in the first place. The very largest one (Reform) does officially recognize same-gender marriage, with the second-largest one (Conservative) recognizing same-gender unions but stopping short at the word “marriage.” And I’m pretty sure the Reconstructionist and Humanist Jews recognize marriage as well. So while “not many” Jewish “denominations” (and that is so not the right word) officially recognize same-gender marriage or unions, most American Jews belong to one that does.

Other than that detail, it’s actually a truly fabulous article, although you might not know it from reading the comments, which all seem to be suspiciously similar and overwhelmingly in opposition.

Gee… I wonder why?

Well, in case you hadn’t already guessed, the conservative wingnut groups have been BLASTING this article to all of their members, insisting that they take action while at the same time not-so-subtly suggesting that they don’t actually read the article before doing so (why take the chance that somebody might actually listen to reason?). I’ve gotten a few emails to this effect. One of them was from the American Foundation for Self-Righteous and Holier-than-thou Consumption of Pornographic Material, more commonly known as the American Family Association (AFA). Here’s the email they sent out (God, I love it when the AFA sends out emails):

Newsweek magazine has published a lengthy article stating that the Bible supports homosexual marriage. The article was written Lisa Miller, Newsweek religion editor.

Miller’s article is one of the most biased and distorted pieces concerning homosexual marriage ever published by any major news organization. The article is much too long for this e-mail.

Dr. Albert Mohler has offered a response to the Newsweek article. I suggest you read Mohler’s article and then read Miller’s Newsweek article.

And in keeping with my tradition of translating the AFA’s fabulous and not-so-opaque communications, here’s what they really mean:

Newsweek magazine has published a very, very, very, very, very long article stating that the Bible supports homosexual marriage. The article was written Lisa Miller, Newsweek religion editor – for now.

Miller’s article is one of the most biased (and long) and distorted (and long) pieces in favor of homosexual marriage ever published by any liberal news organization. The article is much, much, much too long for this e-mail. It’s fewer kilobytes than some of the pornographic images that we’ve sent you in the past, but I promise – it’s much, much more boring, and will take much, much too much time to read.

Dr. Albert Mohler has offered a response to the Newsweek article. It’s a lot shorter. I suggest you read Mohler’s article instead, just to get the basic points. Then you can click on the Newsweek article link and leave impassioned comments about how very WRONG the author is. Don’t worry about not reading the article. Just quote some Bible verses and nobody will know! In fact, since most of you haven’t read the entire Bible either, Dr. Mohler has even been kind enough to tell you exactly which passages to cite in your comments, and how to interpret them. God bless him!

OMG. So… I did read the article, AND some of the raving comments, on one of my study breaks. Best quote ever, in the comments section. This woman rails on the author, making personal attacks against her, questioning her journalism credentials, suggesting that she might be better suited to write for the National Enquirer, saying her editor is crazy and greedy for allowing the article to be printed, and just generally insulting her for daring to suggest that the Bible might actually condone inclusivity.

Then, she innocently laments:

“As an American, I am beginning to feel persecuted for my religious beliefs…and becoming a minority. Will Christian Americans be given the same level of tolerance we have given to others???”

Oh, precious, I hope so.

Hajj makes Muslims more tolerant, study suggests – CNN.com.

Missing atheist sign found in Washington state – CNN.com.

The scene in Washington state is not unfamiliar. Barker has had signs in Madison, Wisconsin, for 13 years. The placard is often turned around so the message can't be seen, and one year, someone threw acid on it, forcing the group to encase it in Plexiglas.

Boy, I guess acid is a popular tool of violent suppression, isn’t it?

Israeli Web site advises using wisdom of Quran – CNN.com.

CitizenLink: Hundreds Thank Mormon Church for Supporting Marriage.

The National Organization for Marriage has launched a petition drive in response to incendiary attacks from gay activists in California and around the U.S. AboveTheHate.com has collected nearly 1,500 signatures of people thanking the Mormon Church for its support of Prop. 8, California’s marriage-protection amendment.

Well, isn’t that nice of other churches to be so open toward the Mormon Church? Golly, it’s nice that they have gained such wide acceptance.

Oh, wait.

Maggie Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage, said: “The answer is to organize together in defense not only of marriage, and God’s truth about marriage, but in defense of basic, American decency about how we treat each other when we disagree.”

Maggie Gallagher. Gee, that name sounds familiar. OH YEAH. She’s a MORMON. A BIG Mormon. Her own direct ancestors were polygamists, and although she claims to be rabidly against polygamy, I’ve watched her defend it with my own eyes, live and in person.

So this petition wasn’t an act of open-mindedness and interfaith collaboration. She’s patting her own damned church on the back, and urging others to do the same. Gee. HOW sweet.

I’ll warn you now… my post today contains profanity. Deal with it.

D O G P O E T » Drag Queens and a Few Bricks:

Last Friday a couple hundred gays and their friends chased a small group of young Christian preachers out of the Castro, calling them “bigots” and chanting “Don’t come back!”

I wish I’d been there.

Read More.

I know people are going to be pissed about this story and complain that gay people are soooo intolerant, and not really “helping our cause.” But this guy is right. We’ve been “helping our cause” by being calm and rational for years, and we’re still being treated like shit. Just how much more of this are we expected to take?

How would they expect a crowd of Jews or black people to react if a bunch of white-robed Klansmen or swastika-clad neo-Nazis showed up to demonstrate on the street corner in Fairfax, or Brooklyn, or Compton, especially on Yom ha Shoah or the anniversary of MLK Jr’s assassination? We would demand that they get the HELL out of our neighborhood, and we’d be right. We would CHASE THEM OUT, and somehow I doubt people would have much sympathy for them, even though they’re just “expressing an opinion.”

Historically speaking, members of a civil rights movement being “calm and rational” works best when there is a contingent of people who are fucking pissed off and ready to do what they need to do. Martin Luther King Jr. looked awfully good to white people, compared to Malcolm X. You think radical women didn’t riot in the streets and take over buildings to demand their right to vote at the turn of the last century? And damned if we wouldn’t still be hiding in the bushes and fearing imprisonment for congregating if a bunch of trannies and drag queens hadn’t gotten fucking pissed off at Stonewall. I’m not saying I’m ready to go out in the streets and riot – and I’m certainly not advocating violence. That’s not me. I’m more inclined to be calm and rational. But I’m most definitely not going to tell people they should sit back and let these people trample all over them, especially when they came into the Castro to do it. I am sick to death of gay people having to be super-duper perfect in order to gain “sympathy” from people, and I’m sick of being held to standards that no other groups are expected to meet.

We got FUCKED on November 4. We literally had our rights torn away from us by a simple majority. We were reduced to second-class citizens – again. Six million people voted for bigotry and hatred. I know that’s not how some people see it, but it’s God’s honest truth. Frankly I think people should be relieved that the reaction isn’t stronger than it has been. This state certainly deserves a stronger reaction than it has seen thus far. I know people don’t think they’re being hateful by supporting Prop 8. I know they don’t see it that way. But hate is hate, and bigotry is bigotry, no matter how hard you try to couch it in love and prayer. “Love the sinner and hate the sin” is the biggest cop-out in the WORLD. And I know they say “Oh, you guys aren’t really helping your cause by protesting. We gave you domestic partnership rights – be happy with that.” Yeah. These are the same people who told us to keep our mouths shut when Jews got pissed off over Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. They’re the same people who told us, “We support Israel, so shut up and let us have our anti-Semitic movie… or else.”

I know some people see this about religious freedom and religious liberties. They say we should be “tolerant” of people’s religious beliefs about how we’re going to hell. But here’s what I want to know: WHEN has ANY other minority group been expected to sit back and let people walk all over them just because it’s their religion that tells them to do it? Some of the worst forms of bigotry and racism have been justified by religion. Slavery was justified by religion. The HOLOCAUST was justified by religion. The Crusades were PROPELLED by religion. Women were treated as property because of religion. Racism against black people stems from the Bible, according to multiple Christian sects (the Mormons didn’t even let black people enter their religion until the late 1970’s, and they were NOT happy about it). Most of the Native American population was wiped out because American settlers believed they had God’s mandate to take this land from them. And of course, we can’t forget that timeless classic, “We hate the Jews because they killed Christ.” But who would expect a black person to treat a Klansman with respect and tolerance? Who would expect a Jew to smile and be friendly to somebody wearing a swastika armband?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

So why the FUCK should I be friendly and respect the viewpoint of somebody who bases his opinion of me on a Biblical passage that says I should be stoned to death simply because of who I love?

Malignant Tumor Sees Every Day As Gift From God | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source.

Ah, Onion…

Wow… if I didn’t know this was an Onion article…

How long before this 5.5-foot glowing cross winds up on somebody else’s front lawn?

California Council of Churches: Marriage Equality.

Recent events have converged to make the freedom to marry a concern to all people in California. The California Council of Churches and IMPACT have long stood strong against discrimination against any of God’s children. At the same time, we recognize that many churches and people of faith believe they must oppose the freedom to marry based on what they have been taught the Bible has to say on the subject. Therefore, we have produced this study guide to help congregations in California struggling with differences of opinion on the subject of marriage equality to discuss the biblical texts, theology, church traditions, and civil rights from a place of compassion and love of neighbor — the central elements of Jesus’ teachings.

They have joined the barrage of organizations and entities filing lawsuits to invalidate Prop 8 – and bless ’em for it.

Lesbian mom asked to quit PTA over Prop. 8 – Sacramento News – Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee.

Robin McGehee, who enrolled her son Sebastian at St. Helens Catholic School, says she went to a vigil for the "No on Proposition 8" campaign last Thursday. After that, a priest from the Diocese of Fresno told her to step down because she had gone against church teachings.