Religion

Religious War

כ"ד באלול ה'תש"ע (3 September 2010)

One of the most momentous conversations of my life came about ten days after 11 September 2001. I lived in New York at the time and, having been about two blocks from the World Trade Center when the first tower fell, was very much in a “12 September” mindset then as I am today. Some [...]

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Obama Is Not a Muslim or a Christian

י"א באלול ה'תש"ע (21 August 2010)

Half Sigma has written a couple posts in the past few days proclaiming that President Obama is not only not a Muslim, but that he’s not a Christian either: Obama: Muslim, atheist, or Christian? Is Obama a Muslim? I know he doesn’t claim that all his ideas are original, but I was saying that Obama [...]

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Ramadan & Islam in America

י' באלול ה'תש"ע (20 August 2010)

I won’t be the first to observe that US President Obama’s Ramadan statement is so full of factual errors that it hardly contains even the whiff of truth: On behalf of the American people, Michelle and I want to extend our best wishes to Muslims in America and around the world. Ramadan Kareem. Nothing untrue [...]

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What is a Jew?

י"ד באב ה'תש"ע (25 July 2010)

In response to my post on 9 Av, Will S. asked why non-religious Jews choose to remain Jewish by choice: Is it just shared experience, and/or sense of high degree of persecution by outsiders, that inculcates the sense of “we’re a people” in secularist Jews, making them want to live amongst their own rather than [...]

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9 Av

ח' באב ה'תש"ע (19 July 2010)

Today is a calamitous day in Jewish history, when we observe the destruction of both Temples, by the Babylonians and Romans respectively. It’s not a holiday the observance of which is mandated in the Torah, so I consider it entirely optional to participate in the public mourning. Nevertheless, I am always surprised and disappointed how [...]

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Soccer Equals Islam

כ"ח בתמוז ה'תש"ע (10 July 2010)

More proof that soccer is not only the lamest sport in history, but that it’s also evil: according to Haaretz, nine out of ten Islamists and mujahidin prefer soccer to more civilized sports like football (the real kind) or tennis. Consequently, if you watch soccer on television, in the best case scenario you’re inadvertently endorsing [...]

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