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Posted in: Motives unclear in Tel Aviv attack
08/05/09 12:55 PM
Dear Will Edwards: You hope that "G-d rids Israel of homosexuals", but that is not likely because it is G-d who created homosexuals. Historical evidence shows that gay men and women have been part of humankind since the earliest records we have. G-d, therefore, has had thousands of years of recorded history and likely tens of thousands of years of prehistory within which to "rid" our species of homosexuality. He has not. I do not know how genuine, or disingenuous, you are in condemning these murders. But, statements like yours, calling gays "heinous" and praying for gays to be gotten "rid" of, encourage the mentally unstable to commit these acts of violence -- in my opinion the blood is on your hands. On the point of hate crimes, the term "hate crime" is merely a recent and fashionable phrase to describe an element of a crime that is not at all new to our legal systems. Courts have long taken into account the intent of the perpetrator in meting out punishments. A criminal's intent is all that separates first degree murder from involuntary manslaughter. Understood in the proper legal context, a "hate crime" is nothing new. In the commission of a true hate crime the "victim" is more than just the individual person attacked. For example, in the American Jim Crow south, when a cross was burned on the front lawn of a black family, or a black man was lynched, the "victim" was more than just the direct individuals. The whole community of black people were the intended victims and the intent was to scare them and intimidate them and get them to leave. This makes the crime worse than a simple manslaughter, and the punishment should match. So too with the Tel Aviv murders, the intended victims were the gay community, not just the two unfortunate souls who were killed. Finally, you pose the question, "just how sick in the head do you have to be?" My answer: A person must be pretty sick indeed to hate and fear gay people so much that they would justify killing innocents.
Posted in: In Beit Shemesh, residents struggle to counter violent religious coercion
07/20/09 03:50 PM
William Jones: If you think the dress of the Jewish woman is "wistfully beautiful", then you are missing the point as to why the picture is being displayed with this particular article. The picture ceases to convey any sense of beauty when you realize it is style of dress that has been forced upon a woman by threat of violence. Go back and read the article about the fact that a "woman and a male soldier who tried to protect her were beaten when the woman refused to move to the back of a public bus." So now women must sit in the back of the bus? With their faces covered in full-body scarves no doubt? Otherwise the Jewish self-appointed religion police will beat you? Not very beautiful a picture to me, wistful or otherwise. A pox on ALL fundamentalists!
Posted in: Op-Ed: Palestinians' plight, Holocaust are not analogous
07/16/09 01:31 PM
Ari H: Excellent points all. Let's say, just for the sake of argument, that I agree with Cheryl that the "comparison and linkage is intellectually false and offensive." My response would be, "So what?" Fine, be offended and call the falsehood out as you wish. Good! Now that we have disposed with this affront, Cheryl, can we get on with discussion of the present issue which is the treatment those Palestinians who are non-terrorist non-violent civilians. I don't need analogies to historical events, whether accurate or false, to see that there is a problem today that must be addressed.
Posted in: Appeals court tosses Jerusalem passport case
07/14/09 01:19 PM
Dear Victor: No president can tell the courts to "shove it", not even a hypothetical President Huckabee. Further, we would not want them to. The United States is a nation of laws. If you do not like the law, you don't have the right to tell congress or the president or the courts to "shove it". That's anarchy. That said, it isn't the courts who are the source of your concern in this case. As reported, "The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., upheld a lower court decision that the judiciary did not have jurisdiction in the case because the Constitution exclusively grants the power to set foreign policy and recognize foreign governments to the executive branch." There you have it! The power of the executive (President Obama) is being respected by the courts. If you want to change the law on this specific issue, then you should advocate for Obama to issue an executive order to the State Department to implement that 2002 law without the carve-out that his predecessor Mr. Bush put in.
Posted in: Jewish leaders share praise, concerns with Obama
07/14/09 01:09 PM
Shaul Levy stated, "Israel needs MORE land not less. and if Israel does not get the land it needs it will destroy the persian gulf oil fields and the world will suffer!" And this is why we should all be thankful Shaul Levy is not in charge of anything important.
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