None of us has a right to always be right

Greetings.

Jewish date:  18 ’Adhar 5770 (Parashath Ki Thissa’).

Today’s holiday:  Casimir (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy causes of the day:  “Tell the FDA to Update Nutrition Label Info - The Petition Site”, “DemocracyForAmerica.com » Become a Citizen Co-Sponsor”, This is how we stop Blackwater for good.“”, and “Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) | Tell Democrats We Have Their Backs”.

Topic 1:  More anti-Semitism:  “Israel Apartheid Week Comes to Town” and “Conjecture vs. Fact Drives Vancouver Sun Reporting on Assassination”.  These articles deal with poisoning the well (working to avoid anyone listening to one’s opponents, usually accomplished through lying) and presenting speculation as if it were fact.  (Again, I acknowledge this topic gets a lot of play.  I plan on stopping harping on it once the problem goes away.)  More interesting is “Opposing the digital pogrom”; the government of Israel has gotten so fed up with anti-Semitic attacks from foreign reporters that it struck back with Masbirim (English translation via Google Translate), a site encouraging Israeli citizens to do pro-Israel PR when abroad.  Foreign reporters are reportedly not pleased with being parodied in the videos as being totally clueless, but considering that said reporters frequently have little or no idea of the context of what they are reporting on, the lampooning is fair.

Topic 2:  “Libya slaps embargo on Swiss, demands U.S. apology”.  Libya in this article illustrates the fallacy that one is always entitled to be right, no matter what.  Libya may not appreciate the Swiss ban on new minarets.  Libya may even feel that it is religiously proper to declare a jihad against Switzerland.  However, it is beyond all reason for Libya to expect the United States or Switzerland (or any other non-Muslim country) to necessarily agree to what Libya (or any Muslim country) wants.  The United States and Switzerland are religiously tolerant countries with civil liberties.  Jihad—the epitome of religious intolerance—is not appreciated in either country, and their citizens are free to criticize anyone, including heads of state.  As such, if Mu‘ammar al-Qaḏāfī’s son broke laws in Switzerland on how domestic help is supposed to be treated, then the Libyans should not expect the Swiss to be anything but displeased.  And if the Swiss feel that Muslim immigrants have been abusing their civil liberties, then Libya should not be surprised if the Swiss get wary or even take measures against abuse.  And if Mu‘ammar al-Qaḏāfī calls for a jihad, then he should not be surprised that a US diplomat does not approve.  And, as a US citizen, I invoke my own right of free speech and suggest that everyone in the US, Switzerland, and elsewhere, counter the Libyan boycott with a boycott against Libyan products; there is no point in rewarding a regime which expects to be kowtowed to at all times.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “Even Basement Cat”:


Peace.

Aaron

Have we really learned anything from the Holocaust?

Greetings.

Jewish date:  12 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath BeShallaḥ).

Today’s holidays:  Feast Day of Angela Merici (Roman Catholicism), Chaosloth (Discordianism).

Topic 1:  “International Holocaust Remembrance Day”.  Yes, International Holocaust Remembrance Day is what I term a “quasi-holiday”, but a lot of people still have to learn this quasi-holiday’s message:  tolerance.  This article notes that anti-Semitism is still a big problem throughout the West and the Islamic world, including—but by no means limited to—Iran threatening to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth and working on building nuclear weapons in order to make good on this threat.  (See also “Montreal Campus Radio Blames Israel for Abu Ghraib Prisoner Atrocities” and “Israel Prepares to Rebut Goldstone” for more contemporary anti-Semitism.)  While the extent of hate crimes against non-Jews of various belief systems in the United States is mentioned (212 in 2008), intolerance is pervasive over much of the planet.  The Islamic world is intolerant, often violently, of non-Muslims and even Muslims who disagree with those in power; they are busy ridding themselves of Christians and committing genocide in the Sudan.  The governments of the former Soviet Union have the bizarre notion that religions must register with the government, refuse registration of any group they do not like on the most pathetic excuses, and harass, jail, and expel anyone engaging in “illegal” religious activity.  China has an atheistic government which has the absurd notion that it has to control the religions of others and wipe out whatever it cannot control.  And then I periodically hear of smaller scale intolerance, too.  Not to mention that people bent on doing evil or their useful idiots will often invoke the Holocaust in an effort to justify or shield themselves from the consequences of the evil.  So what have we learned in the past 60 years?  Very often, nothing.  I sadly predict that when the Darfur genocide is over, lots of people will moan over the pointless tragedy, pretend that they knew nothing about it or that their governments could have done nothing, and resolve to never let anything like this happen again—only to do nothing the next time genocide occurs.

Topic 2:  “Faith Healing”.  Faith healing does not work and can be fatal, and this article does a good job explaining how people can be misled into believing they have been cured through faith.  Keep in mind:  If YHWH wanted us to be healed by faith, He would not have given us doctors.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “States Satan Failed To Collect Souls”:

Note:  Relevant commentary:  “Thirty-Nine Questions for Charlie Daniels Upon Hearing "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" for the First Time in 25 Years.”

Peace.

Aaron

Hate crimes, anti-Semitic libel, and demonic possession

Greetings.

Jewish date:  17 Kislew 5770 (Parashath Wayyishlaḥ).

Today’s holiday:  Saint Day of John Damascene (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy causes of the day:  “Petition For Jewish Rights In Jerusalem And Judea & Samaria” and “MoveOn.org Political Action: Senator Reid: We're Counting on You”.

Topic 1:  “EXCLUSIVE Analysis: Sorry, Islamophobia Pimps – 67% of US Hate Crimes Against Jews”.  This is genuinely surprising, since anti-Semitic hate crimes in the US do not get a lot of press, but this is FBI data being discussed here.  Considering there are a few million Jews in the US, the chances that any Jew being the victim of a hate crime in any given year is going to be on the order of 0.1% (back-of-the-envelope calculation), which would explain why it is easy to forget about the problem:  most Jews in the US are never going to suffer from it.  On the very bright side, religion-based hate crimes in the US are sufficiently rare (measured in per million), that few of any of us, even groups which complain about bias, ever become victims.  This is a nation which early on decided that religious tolerance was a value, and while there are always jerks out there unwilling to tolerate someone who believes differently, the vast majority of us are successful.

Topic 2:  “Stop the Spread of the Swedish Blood Libel”.  I cannot make up the atrocious quality of reporting documented in this article.  The repeated use of falsehoods frequently presented as truth (“factoids”) is a form of argument from repetition and is fallacious.

Topic 3:  Just to end on a lighter topic, some religious humor:  “MOM!! Call the priest!”:



I have no idea where this business of anyone being possessed levitating comes from, and any information on the topic would be appreciated.  I do know that demonic possession, on the other hand, is mentioned a lot in the Gospels, where the possessed manifest mental illness.

Shabbath shalom.

Aaron