Today's Musings1. Ahmadinejad is not Hitler.
That does not trivialize the danger that Iran poses to the world, and particularly to Israel.
Ahmadinejad is evil and is an Islamic fanatic. However, Ahmadinejad has not gone from country to country and village to village, forced Jews out of their homes and mass murdered thousands of them every day for many years.
2. I am baffled when I hear people who otherwise hold staunch anti-abortion ("pro-life") views note disapprovingly that Sarah Palin (or any other social conservative) opposes abortion "even" in cases of rape or incest. Rape and incest are terrible things, but if abortion is otherwise unacceptable, why should pregnancy resulting from rape or incest be treated differently?
3. During the latest episode of Bill Maher's HBO program, Andrew Sullivan had the gall to interrupt Maher's weekly rant mocking religious people.
Whatever the merits of Maher's disdain for organized religion, it's quite interesting - at least to me - that his audience invariably roars with approval in response to whatever he says, and that Maher's guests either pile on or say nothing at all. This despite the fact that most of the audience and guests are likely - like Sullivan and a majority of Americans - themselves people who hold moderate religious views.
4. I am not a proponent of gay marriage. But I don't really understand why rabbis sometimes feel a need to warn about its supposed dire consequences.
Putting aside the fact that the battle is already essentially over and the world still goes on, why should gay marriage be a major issue? Perhaps there's a generation gap here, but it's very low on my list of priorities and there many other things that seem a lot more dangerous.
posted on 9/24/2008
