Blog


About


Books

 Latest Post: Flash!

Agnostic
A Spirited Manifesto
Available April 4, 2016

   Who is the AT?   Books by LH
  • Agnostic

  • The First Muslim

  • After The Prophet

  • Jezebel

  • Mary

  • More from LH

     

Anti-Sleaze

Posted May 29th, 2011 by Lesley Hazleton

Is Reza Aslan considering a run for political office?  This recent TEDx talk sure sounds like it.

Aslan wrote the best-selling ‘No God But God,‘ by far the most readable introduction to the history of Islam, and his recent anthology of 20th-century Middle East literature, ‘Tablet & Pen,’ is a fixture on my bedside table.

Like any good politico, he starts out all rosy-eyed.  Bear with him.  He draws clear parallels between prejudice in the U.S. against Jews and against Catholics — both groups seen at one time as un-American, foreign, “other” — and the current politically manipulated wave of Islamophobia.  And he draws the clear conclusion:  anti-Muslim zealots are so angry because they know they’re on the losing side of American history.

As they say in the Middle East, “from your lips to God’s ears.”

See what you think:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/VgLAzwgizdk]

Share this post:  Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail
File under: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, US politics | Tagged: Tags: American Muslims, Catholics, diversity, Islamophobia, Jews, No God But God, Reza Aslan, Tablet & Pen, TEDxConejo | 1 Comment
  1. Philip says:
    June 5, 2011 at 8:56 am

    Canada has a similar “story” and yet we do not have the extreme anti immigrant attitudes in the mainstream culture. Canada was more like the United States before we became officially bilingual and multicultural. This changed the narative somewhat such that we believe multi-culturalism and multi-linguistic skills are positive values. We are eager to embrace them so they can enrich the Canadian story, Of course, such “stories” are also cultural myths. We know that the newcomers which we accept as adding to the cultural mix will in the end have children that will embrace the Canadian culture more than than their parents culture. They will speak English or French, learn to love hockey and maybe even learn to appreciate the Queen. They will also accept abortion as a necessary medical procedure, same sex marriage as a right, and oppose the death penalty, etc. The wider Canadian culture will come to enjoy the rich variety of ethnic celebrations and even embrace them. Such as this year the Bollywood awards are being held in Toronto and not India. The parliament of Canada allows the carrying of the kirpan in its chambers. Slowly visible minorities appear “normal” on radio and TV news shows They are increasingly becoming members of parliament. Sikhs and Muslims and those of African and Asian origin are achieving positions of influence. There is little or no comment or concern over this. In fact the current Conservative government won a majority because it sought out the “ethnic vote”. They were criticized for being so blatant about it.

    Canada is moving quicker and with more grace to be transformed by the current wave of immigrants, which we know we need economically, than the United States. The result is a more liberal culture with less strife.

Too Many Jews?

Posted May 15th, 2010 by Lesley Hazleton

If the headline read “Pat Buchanan:  Not Enough Muslims on the Supreme Court,” that’d be something.   Instead, what we get is the utterly predictable:  “Pat Buchanan:  Too Many Jews on the Supreme Court.”

Surprise surprise, Pat’s been Jew-counting.  Those damn Jews are taking over our most sacred institutions.  When all else fails — and the lesbian “smear” campaign against Elena Kagan is clearly faltering (amazing that it’s 2010 and we still talk of “accusations” of lesbianism) — there’s always good old antisemitism to fall back on.   As Jean-Paul Sartre put it:  “If Jews didn’t exist, antisemites would have had to invent them.”

Count ’em, says Buchanan from his current perch as a commentator on MSNBC.  Three of ’em if Kagan gets the nod!  Out of nine.  It’s a calamity for Christian America — a separate little cabal there on the bench, out to corrupt the purity of Christian values.  What do you mean, Judeo-Christian?  Nobody pays any attention to that Judeo bit.  That’s just another sop to the Jews, adulterating Christianity.  We have to put a stop to them.  We have to stand up to this canker in our society.  Who the hell do they think they are?

None of the three are religious?  Ha, you don’t believe that, do you?  It’s in their blood — the stain, as Philip Roth put it, the fatal flaw, as bad as being black.  And hey, if they’re not religious, that makes it even worse.  What do they believe in?  Abortion?  Gay marriage?  Civil rights?  The Antichrist?

Thank God (as it were) we have no less an authority than Richard Nixon’s assurance that Buchanan is neither an antisemite nor a Jew-hater (the precise distinction clear only to Nixon), but “a good patriotic American.”  The Nixon seal of approval is always reassuring.

Is it worth pointing out that only four Jews have sat on the Supreme Court before?  That a third of all justices have been Episcopalians, who are 1.7% of all Americans?   That the Constitution upheld by the court forbids discrimination on the basis of religion?   No — that’s only stooping to the level of Buchanan demagogery.

Come on, Obama:   rock Buchanan’s world and  nominate a Muslim next time.

Or even — gasp! — an atheist.

Share this post:  Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail
File under: atheism, Islam, Judaism | Tagged: Tags: antisemitism, demagogery, Elena Kagan, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jews, Muslims, Pat Buchanan, Philip Roth, Supreme Court | 5 Comments
  1. Steve Giordano says:
    May 15, 2010 at 11:11 pm

    Wasn’t someone counting Catholics on the Court recently? Some astronomical number, like four or five, I forget.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      May 16, 2010 at 10:24 am

      I think it’s six. Feeling Waspish, anyone?

  2. Lynn Rosen says:
    May 16, 2010 at 8:32 am

    Gasp, indeed! They’ve had to really scrape the dregs to find this hook! Gasp and grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

  3. Pietra says:
    May 17, 2010 at 11:08 am

    Little is more feared or reviled in this country than those of us who either don’t believe in god or are unable to accept organized religions’ versions of a “higher being.” And, yes, the other justices are Catholic (I wish more of them were catholic LC).

  4. Jennifer Reed says:
    May 17, 2010 at 12:17 pm

    It points to the fact that maybe status as a robust democracy should not keep out people whose views it found offensive.

    In particular reguard to Israel barring Mr. Chomsky today he said: “There were two basic points,” he told the interviewer. “One was that the government of Israel does not like the kinds of things I say — which puts them into the category of I suppose every other government in the world.”

Order the Book

Available online from:
  • Amazon.com
  • Barnes & Noble
  • IndieBound
  • Powell's
Or from your favorite bookseller.

Tag Cloud

absurd agnosticism art atheism Christianity ecology existence feminism fundamentalism Islam Judaism light Middle East sanity technology TED TALKS ugliness US politics war women

Recent Posts

  • Flash! September 1, 2019
  • “What’s Wrong With Dying?” February 9, 2017
  • The Poem That Stopped Me Crying December 30, 2016
  • Talking About Soul at TED December 5, 2016
  • ‘Healing’? No Way. November 10, 2016
  • Psychopath, Defined August 2, 2016
  • Lovely NYT Review of ‘Agnostic’! July 14, 2016
  • Playing With Stillness June 22, 2016
  • Inside Palestine June 20, 2016
  • Virtual Unreality June 6, 2016
  • The Free-Speech Challenge May 23, 2016
  • Category-Free April 20, 2016
  • Staring At The Void April 13, 2016
  • Sherlock And Me April 3, 2016
  • Hard-Wired? Really? March 22, 2016
  • A Quantum Novel March 9, 2016
  • This Pre-Order Thing March 4, 2016
  • The Agnostic Celebration February 29, 2016
  • The First Two Pages February 23, 2016
  • Two Thumbs-Up For “Agnostic” February 10, 2016
Skip to toolbar
  • About WordPress
    • WordPress.org
    • Documentation
    • Support Forums
    • Feedback