Undoubtedly, one of the ugliest faces of humanity overall is intolerance of others' belief systems, and the condemnation and ridicule forced upon people who must suffer being the targets of such hatred. Intolerance presupposes a form of egotistical, moral superiority. Regardless of the social strata of the people who are judging another for the allegedly grievous error of belonging to a different religion, having a different skin color, or born into a lower social class, such intolerance is, well, intolerable. Read the posts by people online, regardless of the topic, and you will be sickened by the amount of cowardly people who vomit their venom toward others. Like rattlesnakes hidden in shadows, "trolls" assume that the anonymity of the internet is a perfectly fine place to advertise their own cruel attitudes.
I have noticed that in the past 5 years alone, intolerance has escalated to all out verbal warfare on so many of the news and blog sites that it is difficult to find a conscious, intelligent and respectful opinion, especially when it comes to religious or political matters.
"Reliably, once every few weeks there will be an issue in the news that casts anti-Semitic shadow. Most of the time it involves Israel, but often it is another issue -- the defacing of a synagogue, the banning of kosher meat in parts of Europe, the odious outburst of a Hollywood star or the anti-circumcision campaign marked by an ugly comic book with Jewish caricatures.
Again we are dragged into the morass I thought we had all left long ago. When I write something suggesting anti-Semitic undertones in these controversies, a chorus of oversensitivity accusers snaps unfailingly into action. Jews are too thin-skinned, we are told. Criticisms of Israel are not anti-Semitic. The synagogue was defaced by delinquents, not anti-Semites. Circumcision bans are about intactness, not antipathies. This predictable roundelay is repeated so many times that I feel as though I could just fill in the words and dance the steps for each side and be done with it."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-david-wolpe/is-it-anti-semitism_b_873767.html
"Anti-Semitism has never gone away. Still, how does one judge? When people clamor for justice in Israel but ignore massacres in Syria, Libya, starvation in North Korea, on and on -- are they interested in criticizing only if the malefactor is a Jew? Is it justice or hostility that the United Nations has censured Israel more than any other nation on earth, including nations where widespread rape, massacre and even genocide has been a feature of recent history such as The Congo, Bosnia and Rwanda? I understand the counter arguments. But I also know with a certainty that sickens me that in publishing this article there will be a flurry of hate filled responses. If I published an article on China, or Albania, or North Korea, or Ireland, or Russia or any other country on earth, there would be no cascade of hastily penned hatred toward its inhabitants."
Rabbi Wolpe speaks from his heart on this matter, and you can feel his anguish in the words he has written herein. Such pain should not have to be endured by anyone regardless of religious orientation. It shames me as an American, and a spiritual being, to learn that the people of this country are allegedly the worst perpetrators of hatred toward Jews than anywhere else in this world. What does this say about one of the foundations of American society which is the right to practice one's belief in freedom?
I have noticed that in the past 5 years alone, intolerance has escalated to all out verbal warfare on so many of the news and blog sites that it is difficult to find a conscious, intelligent and respectful opinion, especially when it comes to religious or political matters.
"Reliably, once every few weeks there will be an issue in the news that casts anti-Semitic shadow. Most of the time it involves Israel, but often it is another issue -- the defacing of a synagogue, the banning of kosher meat in parts of Europe, the odious outburst of a Hollywood star or the anti-circumcision campaign marked by an ugly comic book with Jewish caricatures.
Again we are dragged into the morass I thought we had all left long ago. When I write something suggesting anti-Semitic undertones in these controversies, a chorus of oversensitivity accusers snaps unfailingly into action. Jews are too thin-skinned, we are told. Criticisms of Israel are not anti-Semitic. The synagogue was defaced by delinquents, not anti-Semites. Circumcision bans are about intactness, not antipathies. This predictable roundelay is repeated so many times that I feel as though I could just fill in the words and dance the steps for each side and be done with it."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-david-wolpe/is-it-anti-semitism_b_873767.html
"Anti-Semitism has never gone away. Still, how does one judge? When people clamor for justice in Israel but ignore massacres in Syria, Libya, starvation in North Korea, on and on -- are they interested in criticizing only if the malefactor is a Jew? Is it justice or hostility that the United Nations has censured Israel more than any other nation on earth, including nations where widespread rape, massacre and even genocide has been a feature of recent history such as The Congo, Bosnia and Rwanda? I understand the counter arguments. But I also know with a certainty that sickens me that in publishing this article there will be a flurry of hate filled responses. If I published an article on China, or Albania, or North Korea, or Ireland, or Russia or any other country on earth, there would be no cascade of hastily penned hatred toward its inhabitants."
Rabbi Wolpe speaks from his heart on this matter, and you can feel his anguish in the words he has written herein. Such pain should not have to be endured by anyone regardless of religious orientation. It shames me as an American, and a spiritual being, to learn that the people of this country are allegedly the worst perpetrators of hatred toward Jews than anywhere else in this world. What does this say about one of the foundations of American society which is the right to practice one's belief in freedom?
No comments:
Post a Comment