The Jewish Reporter » Religion

CHRISTIANS UNDER INCREASING LEGAL FIRE IN EGYPT

Gary — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:44:58 +0000

Under Egypt’s new Islamist-led government, blasphemy (insulting Islam) cases against Egypt’s Coptic Christian community have been on the rise.

The trial of Dimyana Abdel-Nour, a Coptic Christian teacher in Luxor, has gained media attention. Three of her students, aged 10, said that Abdel-Nour said former Coptic Christian Pope Shenouda was better than the Prophet Mohammed. Abdel-Nour was imprisoned for a week and released on nearly $3,000 bail, a large sum for a case like hers. Read more here.

THE THEOLOGICAL INCOMPATIBILITY BETWEEN JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY

Gary — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:41:45 +0000

By JONATHAN WOLFMAN

A reason people do not realize that Judaism and Christianity are not and cannot be theologically compatible (let alone “merged” as some have suggested) is because they know that Jesus’ friends and followers were Jews, that the man lived and died a Jew, and that the earliest Christian evangelists were all Jews and that Christianity emerged from Judaism in place and in time. They assume, then, that Judaism and Christianity must be compatible theologically. They could not be more mistaken.

The central tenet of Christianity – that human blood may atone for sin (a specific human’s blood) and is necessary for redemption from sin and spiritual death is so contrary to Judaism and always has been that the two belief systems are unbridgeable. Judaism forbids human blood sacrifice for any reason and for all time very early in fact, in the Genesis playlet in which God first orders Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his son, and then stays the patriarch’s hand.

For Hebrews, and later, for Jews, far from being about the appropriateness of contemplated human blood as sacrifice, that scene is about (and is solely about) obedience.

I make no case here against Christianity. None. (If some insist that I do that’s about those making the charge.) My case is that no religion (not simply Christianity) in which there is blood sacrifice/blood atonement cannot be theologically compatible with Jewish thought. This is (among other reasons) because the first of the Hebraic commandments is about the One, Incorporeal God.

And whether or not you believe in God – and I do not – is beside the point. This is about comparative theology, not what you or I may believe or not believe.

Judaism, ancient, modern, and contempoary, and throughout all branches and iterations of Judaism, deems it idolatrous even to entertain, let alone to accept, the idea that a man can also be in any manner divine, or, conversely, that the divine can be in any way a human. And idolatry is what Judaism teaches that we must first, last, always and in every way and for all time avoid and reject. This is the essence of Commandment One.

And acknowledging this is not remotely mean-spirited or “tribal.”

Respecting others’ religions and cultures, respecting atheism and agnosticism, working together with others to improve social conditions, building friendships and partnerships with all sorts of people, is not about agreeing that all religions/cultures are essentially the same or that they should be. That latter is magical thinking befitting of children, not so much conscientious, well-read adults.

Accepting and recognizing the complexities and differences between and among theological and cultural systems is, in fact, respectful of people and of our diverse traditions.

Jonathon Wolfman blogs at http://open.salon.com/blog/jlw1.

GLOBAL RISE IN ANTISEMITISM, PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIAN MINORITIES

Gary — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:55:10 +0000

The newly released International Religious Freedom Report for 2012 by the U.S. State Department study found an increase in antisemitism as well as persecution of Christians and other minorities.

“Holocaust denial and glorification remained troubling themes, and opposition to Israeli policy at times was used to promote or justify blatant antisemitism,” the report says. It singles out Venezuela, Egypt and Iran as areas of “great concern” for expressions of antisemitism “by government officials, by religious leaders, and by the media.” Read more here.

200 FIREBOMBS THROWN AT RACHEL’S TOMB LAST 3 MONTHS

Gary — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:52:41 +0000

Over the past three months, some 200 firebombs and 80 explosive devices have been thrown at worshippers and Israeli soldiers at Rachel’s Tomb on the outskirts of Bethlehem in the West Bank.

The figures were provided by senior Israel Defense Forces and Border Police officers during a meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Israel Hayom reported. Read more here.

WOMAN OF THE WALL LEADER’S HOME SPRAY PAINTED BY VANDALS

Gary — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:38:02 +0000

Vandals have spray painted slogans on the home of one of the leaders of the liberal Women of the Wall group, which campaigns for equality of worship at Jerusalem’s holy site of the Western Wall. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld confirmed that officers were investigating the graffiti attack on the door and hallway leading to the apartment of Peggy Cidor, a founding member of the women’s organisation, which campaigns against segregating worship at the wall by gender. Read more here.

CONGRESSMAN RAISES ALARM OVER ATTACKS ON CHRISTIANS IN SYRIA

Gary — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:26:10 +0000

Rep. Christopher Van Hollen of Maryland, ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, is warning of what he calls the “unintended consequences” of US military intervention in Syria, including providing arms to rebel forces.

In an nterview with Al-Monitor, Van Hollen praisesthe current initiative by US Secretary of State John Kerry to organize an international conference on Syria hosted by the United States and Russia. ”The only way to get some kind of resolution to the conflict in Syria is through a political negotiating process,” Van Hollen says.

CHIEF RABBI OF FRANCE ACCUSED OF PLAGIARISM

Gary — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:29:19 +0000

It was a defense of traditional marriage. Many considered it well written, well thought out. But now we are learning that the article by the chief rabbi of France was allegedly plagiarized. Some of his words allegedly borrowed from a pope. Read the article here.

IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER: NEXT PRESIDENT SHOULD BE PIOUS AND RELIGIOUS

Gary — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:59:28 +0000

ORTHODOX JEWISH YOUTH MOB WESTERN WALL TO PROTEST WOMEN PRAYING

Gary — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:13:02 +0000

Haredi Orthodox youth mobbed the Western Wall plaza by the thousands to protest Women of the Wall as they held their monthly prayer service.

The youth, many of them students from haredi Orthodox yeshivot, had filled the Western Wall Plaza by 6:40 a.m. on Friday, 20 minutes before Women of the Wall, a women’s prayer group that holds monthly services at the Wall, began praying. Because haredi Orthodox women had packed the women’s section of the plaza earlier in the morning, Women of the Wall were forced to pray in the back section of the plaza, further away from the Wall itself.

IRAN, EGYPT, OTHER MUSLIM COUNTRIES TOP LIST OF VIOLATORS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Gary — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:14:28 +0000

Egypt and several other Muslim nations are among the world’s top violators of religious freedom, particularly for their anti-Christian and anti-Semitic persecution, according to the 2013 annual report released by the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

The report singled out Iran’s theocratic leaders, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for their suppression on non-Islamic religions.

Read more at JNS.org.