Beware of ignorance and alleged infallibility

Greetings.

Jewish date:  30 Nisan 5770 (Parashath Thazria‘-Meṣora‘).

Today’s holidays:  Ro’sh Ḥodhesh (Judaism), Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter (Roman Catholicism), St. Adolph Hitler (Church of the SubGenius; I have no clue what they are thinking).

Worthy causes of the day:  “Please Include the Temple Mount in the Heritage Plan - אנא הוסף את הר הבית לרשימת אתרי המורשת Petition”, “Support Universal Subtitles -- Allow Everyone to Watch Online Videos! - The Petition Site”, and “Tell Sen. Kerry: Don't sell out the Clean Air Act”.

Topic 1:  “JewWalking”:  This video is a demonstration of the problem addressed in Religious Literacy by Stephen Prothero (a book I have previously described), that a lot of people in the United States are severely ignorant of religion.  In this instance, someone stood outside a Jewish Community Center and asked Jewish people around basic questions about Judaism—and many got many questions wrong.  This may be humorous, but the humor is a very bitter one.  Being ignorant about a topic makes it difficult or impossible to make correct decisions about it.  In religion, this may include matters of salvation, damnation, afterlife, and reincarnation—no small matters. Even if one comes to the conclusion that no religion can be correct, being ignorant of religion makes for severe trouble in understanding and dealing with religiously knowledgeable and active people, which includes a very sizable fraction of the planet.

Note:  Those wishing to know more about Judaism can always talk to me or ask their local Orthodox rabbi.  Clergy of all religions should be open to sharing what they know.

Topic 2:  “A Fallible Pope, an Imperfect Church”:  Rav Shmuely Boteach reflects on the recent scandals from the Roman Catholic Church and argues that the Church has to come to terms with its imperfection and not try to pretend otherwise.  Major rule:  Reality is what it is, regardless of how we want it to be.  Therefore ignoring one’s faults is a sure way to screw up.

Topic 3:  “That’s Random!  A Look at Viral Self-Assembly”.  This article deals with the often-misunderstood notion of randomness and discusses how it is harnessed biologically, specifically in the assembly of viruses from their basic components.  Videos are included showing this actually works.

Topic 4:  For today’s religious humor:  “Mecca Cat”:


Peace.

Aaron

Defending the indefensible

Greetings.

Jewish date:  23 ’Adhar 5770 (Parashath Wayyaqhel-Fequdhe).

Today’s holiday:  Feast of Frances of Rome (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Alliance for Justice:  Call for Investigation of Missing Torture Emails”, “MoveOn.org Political Action: Tell the party establishment to stay out”, and “CARE:  Voices Against Violence”.

Topic 1:  “When Court Jews Defend Moral Cowards”.  This article by Rav Shmuley Boteach has much less to do with court Jews than moral cowards who defend the indefensible.  Particularly taking a beating is Pope Pius XII, who is infamous for his failure to do much of anything against the Nazis and all their moral atrocities during World War II.  Religion is supposed to be about what is true, not what would be politically expedient to believe or what we want to believe.  Do note that all glossing over the Armenian genocide and Pius XII’s indifference is actually doing is making people angry.

Topic 2:  More anti-Semitism:  “What New Settlement?” and “Jerusalem on the Media Frontline”.  Both of these articles deal with dishonesty in reporting, the first with the untenable claim that adding 112 housing units to a preexisting city in Israel constitutes a “new settlement” and the second attacking the assumption that anything the government of Israel does regarding Arabs living in Jerusalem is necessarily not for their benefit.  Meanwhile, Muslims have been rioting on the Temple Mount, including throwing stones at Jews worshipping at the Western Wall, and blaming Jews and Israel for their temper tantrum and Israeli police trying to restore the peace.  This indecent, rationalizing sort of behavior is precedented; after all, Yasser ‘Arafat launched second intifada and made the excuse that ’Ari’el Sharon was somehow to blame for simply taking a stroll around the Temple Mount.

Topic 3:  Other articles which I wish to note but do not have time to discuss:  “Al-Qaida calls on US Muslims to attack America”, “Scientology in the spotlight amid fresh allegations”, and “Top home-school texts dismiss Darwin, evolution”.

Topic 4:  For today’s religious humor, courtesy of Barry and Nancy: “The economy is hitting us all pretty hard”:

Probably this was totally unintentional.

Peace.

Aaron

Orthodox Jewish introspection, religious oppression

Greetings.

Jewish date:  13 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath BeShallaḥ).

Today’s holidays:  Feast Day of Thomas Aquinas (Roman Catholicism and Thelema(!)), Feast Day of Carolus Magnus (Thelema).

Worthy causes of the day:  “Stop the corporate takeover of our government”, “Take Action | Oceana North America:  Tell Your Senators to Vote NO on the Dirty Air Act”, “Find a Lasting Solution to Medicare Doctor Payments: No More Cuts! - The Petition Site”, “Libel reform campaign petition statement”, and “Free Press: media reform through education, organizing and advocacy:”.

Topic 1:  I am always appreciative of anyone being introspective of their own religion, including when that religion happens to be my own, Judaism; we only can do repentance when we face up to what we are doing wrong.  In that spirit, I recommend “Reversed Wisdom: Daas Torah vs. Daas Baalei Batim” and “Daas Torah Vs. Daas Baalei Batim, Redux”, which tackle several shameful problems in modern Orthodox Jewish society.  People who are not Orthodox Jews may want to ask themselves if their own religious communities have the same or akin problems—and many of the problems are not limited to one religion by any means—and also think about what to do to counteract them.

Topic 2:  More religious oppression (and, no, these are not going to go away any time soon):  “Nigeria: Chilling messages sent before killings”, “Pope decries 'aversion' to Christians”, and “Rights group: Russian religious freedom in danger”.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “Concerns of Dyslexic Evangelicals”:


Peace.

Aaron

Blogging for Jesus and religious intolerance

Greetings.

Jewish date:  11 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath Beshallaḥ).

Today’s holiday:  Feast of Timothy and Titus (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy causes of the day:  “action.firedoglake.com | Tell House Progressives: Stand Up for Real Reform, Vote Down the Senate Bill” and “Payment Cuts for Medicare Physicians are Bad News for Older Americans - The Petition Site”.  Also:  I got my H1N1 influenza shot this morning.  Please consider getting your H1N1 flu shot and save someone else from getting the disease.

Topic 1:  “Pope to priests: Go forth and blog”.  It may sound a bit odd, but Pope Benedict XVI is being practical.  The mission of Christianity is to evangelize, so it makes perfect sense for the Roman Catholic Church to be pushing social media on the Internet.

Topic 2:  More religious intolerance:  “Horrors of religious violence found in Nigeria” (Muslim versus Christian), “Pakistani Christian Sentenced to Life under ‘Blasphemy’ Law” (Muslim against Christian), “Lahore: 12-year-old Christian domestic worker killed by Muslim employer” (Muslim against Christian), and “For bigots, Israel can do no right” (anti-Semitic against Jewish).  I know these themes are like a broken record, but these problems do not go away quickly or on their own.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor, this contribution by Barry:  “Son of Ceiling Cat walks on ice”:


Peace.

Aaron

Folly in the name of religion and anti-Semitism

Greetings.

Jewish date:  6 Ṭeveth 5770 (Parashath Wayyiggash).

Today’s holidays:  Saint Day of John of Kanty (Roman Catholicism), Founding of Agia Sofia (Greek Orthodox Christianity).

Worthy causes of the day:  “Libel reform campaign petition statement”, “We Need A Hero | Progressive Change Campaign Committee”, “MoveOn.org Political Action: Sign the petition”, and “Stop New Mining Near the Grand Canyon - The Petition Site”.

Topic 1: “Measles kills children of anti-vaccination sect”.  I have said it before, and I say it again (and probably many more times in the future, too):  Whatever god exists or karma does not favor those who act foolishly in the name of religion.  In this case, the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church (probably a Pentecostal group) in Zimbabwe holds that people should not make use of medicine, including vaccination.  Unsurprisingly, this group is suffering from a measles epidemic, and 30 people have died.  Keep in mind, wisdom literature (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes) is part of the Canon for a reason.

Topic 2:  “Dishonest Reporter Award 2009” and “Kaddafi Back in My Backyard”.  Both of these articles deal with current anti-Semitism.  The former reviews the worst anti-Semitic incidents in a number of categories in 2009.  The latter, by Rav Shmuely Boteach, vents over a number of recent incidents in the United States (the Libyan embassy setting up shop in Englewood, the settlement freeze), the United Kingdom (various hostile actions against Israel, trying to dictate who is a Jew), and the Vatican (the planned canonization of Pius XII); he pleads for Jews not to be complacent, to stand up for themselves, and to consider running for public office.  Rav Boteach is definitely right that bad things happen politically to those who do not stand up for themselves.  Politicians feel the pressure to do whatever they can to gain and hold on to power, even if it means stepping on people who do not deserve it.  No one should let politicians commit injustice by being a doormat.  The Dry Bones cartoon “Twenty Years Later” is also relevant to this topic.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “Can i haz”.


Peace.

Aaron