Sunday, November 29, 2015

Powerful Jewish Response to U.S. Muslim Registry


 


The mostly Christian right advocacy for either banning Middle Eastern Muslim immigrants from our land or the creation of a registry for them to clearly identify them to either shun or persecute has drawn a powerful response.  Was it from the Catholic hierarchy in America?  Not that I'm aware of.  Was it major Protestant denomination leadership?  Haven't seen much of that either.  Then who?

Holocaust survivors, displaying pictures of the infamous Star of David coat insignia and arm tattoos they were required to wear in numerous Nazi occupied countries in pre-WWII europe.  Wrap your mind around that.  The very victims of anti-semitism Christian fascists persecuted in that era (and still are advocating today in their enclaves) are also being vilified throughout  the middle east and much of the world of Islam.

Yet these good Jewish people, observant and non-observant alike,  speak out when the rest of humanity is mostly silent about the horrific potential of the leader of the allied forces against fascism
now practicing the same persecution  their fathers and grandfathers fought a world war to end.  That is, should the current rabid pack of Republicans have their way.

So, I for one want to applaud both the good Jewish and Muslim people speaking out against hate and thank them for their courage in doing so.  I'm no fan of organized religion in any form but occasionally rationality prevails from within their ranks and deserves recognition and praise.

These are the successors to the tradition of Jewish-Islamic collaboration exemplified by the great Spanish Jewish scholar of law and ethics Maimonides who in 12th century was revered also in Islamic circles.  Check him out via google.  He was amazing.