I don’t listen to talk radio (left or right) but read Joe’s post about what Reb Fred may have said on a call-in show and I also read what Reb Fred wrote on his blog about the Koran book burning. Based only on the blog post, what I read was a condemnation of religious hatred and I find it hard to disagree with that sentiment. [Of note: Joe wrote, quoting Sam Spagnola, that "Greensboro Rabbi Fred Guttman called into the Brad and Britt Show this morning and analogized that the Koran burning preacher is a fair target to be killed for the greater good." I didn't hear the radio broadcast - if there's a copy, please let me know - but at best, this sounds like a gross mischaracterization of anything Rabbi Guttman could have said. If I'm wrong, I'd like to hear the original.]

With how much of this can you disagree? Reb Fred wrote,

I would like to state how offensive we as Jews find the plan of Rev. Terry Jones, leader of a small evangelical church in Gainesville, Florida, to burn copies of the Koran.

I find that hard to disagree with; burning another religion’s holy book is offensive, no matter what religion it is, because in America, we don’t do that.

Prior to the Holocaust, the German Jewish philosopher Heinrich Heine wrote that as people who will burn books will eventually burn people.

Well, we all saw THAT play out, didn’t we?

We join our voices with all who are calling for Terry Jones to call off this attack on religious freedom in a land of liberty.

And mine. And many others. Burning books, especially holy books, is repugnant.

This book burning is an affront to all decent people. It is an affront to all good Christians who try to live according to the golden rule taught by Jesus himself. There, I call upon all my Christian colleagues in the clergy, especially those of right wing evangelical churches, to issue strong statements so condemnation.

America was founded on, among other values, religious tolerance. “Bible” burning is diametrically opposed to that value. If you love the Constitution, you cannot be “for” burning holy books because you don’t like someone’s religion; it’s anti-American and decidedly un-exceptional. And it shows how much this group and those who don’t condemn them, “hate the troops.”

And Reb Fred ends with:

Finally, as we begin the New Year, let it be our prayer that the forces of intolerance and bigotry will be replaced by those of open mindessness, compassion, justice and peace.

Agreed. But we’re those damnable “social justice” extremists, right?

Beth David Synagogue sends out condolences on the death of our Palestinian friend and neighbor, Masoud Awartani (z”l).

Jews & genomes: Ashkenazic (“kugel without raisins”) and Sephardic Jews (“what’s kugel”) have more in common than previously thought. One explanation:

The genetics confirms a trend noticed by historians: that there was more contact between Ashkenazim and Sephardim than suspected, with Italy as the linchpin of interchange, said Aron Rodrigue, a Stanford University historian.

I always thought the Catholics were really the Lost Tribe of Israel.

Joe summarizes what would be ‘awful‘: “My concern is that the opposition to Knight’s policy may be rooted in prejudice, and may be motivated by a desire to restrict religious liberty.  That would be awful.”

Let me tell you a little story about what I think is “awful.”

I was at a meeting hosted by a group that was part of Guilford County government. Most of the people in the room were tech folks and were Muslim, Hindu, atheist, Jewish and more (when you get a group of tech folks together, you get a diverse group). In the small group of 12-15 people, there were likely fewer Christians than in the general population.

One GC guy led a pre-lunch prayer (it wasn’t on the agenda and eyebrows were raised) and we were all respectful, albeit surprised, of his way of doing things. We were all uncomfortable (you could feel it) but quiet. His words were generally neutral but then at the end he added, “through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.”

And everyone emotionally left the meeting. The meeting was useless after that. No one came back to the next meeting.

That, Joe, is what I consider awful.

Joe Guarino: “We must remember that the Jewish people have been hurt at least once or twice in their history, in other less hospitable places.”

Once or twice. Yup.

Every now and then, I give the N&R a hard time for some of their word choices. Often they revolve around articles that mention (any) religion (other than Christianity). Yesterday was no exception.

In an article about Temple Emanuel (that’s the one-M L Jewish “Emanuel”), I read a lovely heart-warming article about how temple members supported a family and prayed for the safe return of a member who was serving in Iraq. The story started with, “Friday night’s Shabbat service…” and I thought… wow, so far, so good. Then we find:

His wife of three years worked full time as an insurance adjustor and managed the kids with the help of friends and church members while he was away. [bold mine]

That’s the print version of how your life’s lens impacts your thinking. It’s not any sort of crit about this particular reporter because Dioni and I are Twitter friends and I like her; other reporters (and copy editors) have included the same religion-specific words in multiple other stories. But it’s a local lesson for all of us to see just how much the way we think impacts the way we understand and think about others.

Franklin Graham’s definition of practicing “true Islam:”

“True Islam cannot be practiced in this country,” he told CNN’s Campbell Brown last December. “You can’t beat your wife. You cannot murder your children if you think they’ve committed adultery or something like that, which they do practice in these other countries.”

Graham was uninvited to speak at a military National Prayer event. The Army rescinded its invitation to evangelist Franklin Graham for the upcoming National Day of Prayer at the Pentagon over controversial remarks he made about Islam.

Pondering: Can G-d create a rock so big that even G-d can’t lift it? (Overheard on a DVR’ed show this evening; unsure which.)