A series of essays about Judaism’s moral incompatibility with torture. Much of these arguments can be made in an Islamic context as well.
(via Andrew Sullivan).
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aziz
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abunoor
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thabet
The “Moral” IDF:
The Only Democracy In The Middle East:
Partner for peace:
Terror not on your telly:
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thabet
Defining ‘religion’ and ‘race’:
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thabet
I don’t understand what this discussion at The Spittoon blog, on Muslim views and beliefs regarding other religions, especially the People of the Book, has to do with ‘Islamist doublespeak‘.
I don’t object to the author being highly critical of Muslim doctrines and beliefs (Muslims can, and do, respond in kind if they so wish), but I don’t see why or how every Muslim who happens to believe his (or hers!) is the True Religion, as opposed to some other set of beliefs, is an ‘Islamist’. Might as well dump the label if that is the case.
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thabet
The state’s need to define the boundaries of ‘religion’ and ‘race’:
A London school, the [Jewish Free School], rejected a boy whose mother’s conversion to Judaism it did not recognise.
Faith schools may discriminate on religious grounds but the Court of Appeal held that this involved a test of ethnicity – which is unlawful.
More commentary from Simon Rocker and Ruth Gledhill.
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thabet
Tony Judt writes about Israeli ’settlements’ (colonies).
And on that subject, the Partner for Peace made moves to secure a lasting peace:
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aziz
Amalek and Jihad: the classic essay by Jonathan Edelstein.
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razib, murtad fitri
obama’s rabbi (michelle’s cousin).
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thabet
Will MEMRI translate this into Arabic, Urdu or Peshto?
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Lawrence of Arabia
Not surprisingly the Vatican was unimpressed by Richard Williamson’s non-apology for his rampant antisemitism (Holocaust denial is only the beginning).
On a related note, Williamson apparently approached David Irving for advice in how to present his conspiracy theories to the public in a manner that would not cause such an uproar. Irving suggested that he admit the extermination of Jews in three camps (without mentioning any numbers, because those “need to be checked”), but went on to say that Williamson was the target of a Jewish plot designed to distract from the attacks on Gaza:
Israel set off this storm against the church, led by a German pope, to distract the world from the massacre in Gaza.
To round out the insanity, upon his arrival in London, Williamson was met by Michele Renouf. Renouf had previously supported Irving during his trial for Holocaust-denial in Austria. Renouf claimed that Williamson was the victim of an unreasonable persecution by the adherents of a new religion: “Holocaustianity”.
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Lawrence of Arabia
The Catholic Holocaust denying bishop Richard Williamson apologized again for the consequences of his remarks on the Holocaust.
Not surprisingly, there is nothing in the remarks to suggest that Williamson has changed his mind. Nor has the Vatican reacted to any of the other whacko conspiracy theories to which Williamson subscribes, nor have they asked him to apologize for his rather blatant misogyny. But this is not all on Williamson, the failure of the Vatican to pursue these other matters also suggest that they see Williamson primarily as a PR problem in their attempt to reconcile with the fringe SSPX movement and strengthen traditionalists within the Catholic communion at whatever cost.
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aziz
Intriguing fact – there are about the same number of Jews worldwide as there are Nizari Ismailis.
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thabet
Here’s an interesting survey of attitudes towards other religions amongst Israeli Jews. 41% of those surveyed believe Christianity is closest to Judaism; 32% said Islam.
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Lawrence of Arabia
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willow
Interesting new user journal. Worth a read.
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Lawrence of Arabia
In a meeting with Jewish leaders today, the Pope called the Holocaust a crime against God and humanity and said any denial of its reality or magnitude was untenable. This was an attempt to mend fences after the whole debacle surrounding the Pope lifting the excommunications of four SSPX bishops, including the Holocaust-denying Richard Williamson.
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Lawrence of Arabia
The SSPX has fired Bp. Richard Williamson from his post as head of a seminary in Argentina because of his Holocaust denial. The Pope had demanded that Williamson recant his views if he wished to continue his service to the Church. The SSPX, a fringe group by any measure, has tried to distance themselves from Williamson on the Holocaust, saying that his opinions were private beliefs and did not represent the organization as whole. Unfortunately, other opinions of Williamson — misogyny, Islamophobia, some conspiracy involving Oklahoma City bombing, etc., etc. — do apparently represent the SSPX, though they are doing their best to hide it by scrubbing their website of his writings.
They haven’t finished scrubbing yet. A picture of Williamson can be found on the top right of the page, here.
[sadly, the links that rely on Google's cache of old web pages are slowly expiring. The misogyny link has been lost for now. -LoA, 25 Feb 09]
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Lawrence of Arabia
The NYTimes gives a summary of the whole sordid Pope-unexcommunicates-Holocaust-denying-Bishop-without-consulting-or-telling-anyone-and-starts-a-public-relations-nightmare affair.
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Lawrence of Arabia
Meanwhile, in Austria, the Pope has decided to appoint a man to the post of bishop, that thinks Harry Potter promotes Satanism and that God had it in for New Orleans because of the loose sexual morals promoted by the city. Needless to say, Austrians seem unimpressed, and it is just another case where one wonders what B16’s priorities are and who he is taking advice from, if anyone.
Across the border in Germany Angela Merkel has said that the Pope’s decisions regarding Bp Richard Williamson “cannot pass without consequences”. At the same time, a German theologian has suggested that it might be best if the Pope resign.
American Archbishop and Cardinal Sean O’Malley, tried to offer a bit of a defense for the Pope’s actions with regard to SSPX, arguing that it was beneficial to have this group back under the control of the Papacy instead of letting them run free while speaking for Catholicism. But the American Conference of Catholic Bishops, headed by Cardinal George, spoke as a whole today, issuing a statement that condemned Richard Williamson’s claims concerning the Holocaust.
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Lawrence of Arabia
The Pope now claims that he did not know about the views of Bp Richard Williamson on the Holocaust at the time he lifted the excommunications against the bishops associated with the fringe Catholic group, the SSPX. It is hard to know whether such a statement is absurd or absurd. It is absurd if he really didn’t know. Ratzinger-turned-Benny16 has a long history with the SSPX, first as JP2’s point in the negotiations around their excommunication in the 1980s, and now, again taking it upon himself to begin normalizing relations with that same group. But it is likewise absurd to believe that he did not know, when they turned out to be exactly who everyone knew they were. How is it credible to say that you didn’t know, when only a passing familiarity with the SSPX makes it obvious.
In any case, the Papacy of Benedict XVI has severely damaged its own credibility and its voice in the international sphere.
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Lawrence of Arabia
The Vatican’s Holocaust-Denying-Bishop PR nightmare that just won’t end.
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Lawrence of Arabia
The Pope tries to normalize the Vatican’s relationship with Judaism after last weeks fiasco. I am not sure the words are going to offset the action quite so easily.
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Lawrence of Arabia
In the process of trying to recuperate a fringe conservative group that broke away from the Catholic Church in 1988, the Vatican has landed itself in an even bigger mess. In the process of bringing the SSPX into the fold, the Papacy has also reinstated a Holocaust denier as a bishop. The leaders of the Jewish community in Israel have reacted in precisely the manner one would expect.
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razib, murtad fitri
another of my jeremiads against the term ‘judeo-christian’. i’m asking why the term has utility, and if i’m full of crap. i contend most people are rather dumb & ignorant, and that’s why the term flourishes, but it muddies even the minimal knowledge of the typical stupid person than would otherwise be the case.
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abunoor
Aziz and Razib have previously discussed whether there is value in using the analogy of Protestants and Catholics to discuss Shi’a/Sunni differences.
I have to come down on what I think is Razib’s side of that debate, that I don’t find much value in the analogy, although maybe talking about the differences between Protestant and Catholic practices, structures, and beliefs is a way to start talking in general about the ways in which religious traditions can differ using examples with which people may be familiar.
A much more common post-9/11 attempt to analogize Christian church history with Islam and Muslims is the oft stated call for Islam to have a reformation. The underlying assumption here is that it was the reformation in Christianity that allowed Christians to adapt successfully to modernity.
Again, I would have to say that this analogy is not very helpful, except in as much as it opens up the discussion to the various constituent components of the tension between modernity and traditional religion.
However, I have always found it strange that there was not more discussion making the analogy which actually is useful although of course like any analogy limited. The different possible approaches for a religious tradition in coming to terms with modernity are most easily understood by looking to the Jewish tradition of Orthodox, Reform, and Conservative approaches as well as all the various twists on those three main distinctions that have developed.
The most important limitation on the analogy I see is that I think the fact that a Judaism is not a universal or proselytizing religion, but is in fact viewed in modern times as an “ethnic” or “national” group, perhaps fundamentally changes some dynamics.
However, and perhaps they know this very well, but I rarely see it articulated, those both within and without Islam that call for “reformation” are not really calling at all for anything like the Protestant reformation of Christianity but are in fact calling for a Reform Islam movement that would resemble Reform Judaism.
Just one further side note, I know that Shaykh Yasir Qadhi, who I think will be a very important figure in the future intellectual development of Islam in America from one side (the Orthodox or Modern Orthodox one) of this discussion, I know has taken careful note of the intellectual and social evolution of the Jewish community, especially here in America and I know sees many important lessons for the Muslims. As one symbolic indication of this, he has actively and consciously began adopting the using the term “Orthodox Muslim.”
I think these concepts open up tons of interesting discussions. Has anyone seen this analogy discussed in any detail. Does anyone agree with me about how interesting it is?
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aziz
Today is Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. I find some interesting parallels…
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thabet
More on the “Harediban”.
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Andrea Useem
Okay, this is not a memoir about converting to Islam, but this 30-something woman’s story about embracing Jewish law really brought up a lot of questions for me about a modern woman’s relationship to traditional religious law.
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thabet
Another battle in the Jewish “culture war”.
(Via Angry Arab.)
