RELIGION
PRIDE AND STRAIGHT PARENTS
Pride Month in San Francisco concludes Sunday with the annual parade up Market Street. Carolyn and I have a personal connection. We have a trans son, Yosi, and a gay son, Aaron—and gay son-in-law Jeremy. Also, a straight son, Seth. We love them equally. Pride serves as a celebration for two straight parents who learned…
Read MoreTRUMP’S 10 COMMANDMENTS
Once, presidents of the United States wrote books after they left the White House. Donald Trump hustles a book he didn’t write. Trump is flogging his “God Bless the USA Bible” for $60 a pop. It comes complete with the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Pledge of Allegiance and lyrics to Lee Greenwood’s song “God Bless…
Read MoreDOES JESUS HATE DEMOCRACY?
For many Donald Trump supporters, Monday’s Republican primary win was all about Jesus. Before the caucuses, CNN interviewed a Trump supporter—a white, middle-aged woman and evangelical Christian. “God puts leaders over us,” she said. The reporter failed to seek clarification: “Did God put Joe Biden over us?” The woman might have mustered one of several…
Read MoreWHOSE TEN COMMANDMENTS?
Texas’ House recently ended its biennial session considering—but not voting on—a Senate-passed bill. It would require all Texas public-school classrooms to post the Ten Commandments. This is as troubling as it is unsurprising. Said Texas State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R), “There is absolutely no separation of God and government, and that’s what these bills are…
Read MoreFAITH GONE AWRY 
This week’s Torah portion, “Shelach-Lecha” (“Send” or “Send for Yourself”), shares something with Texas Republicans’ 2022 platform. It’s frightening. Numbers 13 tells of twelve Israelite chieftains sent by Moses to scout out Canaan, the land God promised to Israel. On returning, ten “spies” display a grievous lack of faith. They concede that the land “does…
Read MoreBULLSHIT!
I have an awkward relationship with WordPress, which I use to publish my posts. A former American president has an awkward relationship with the truth. My problem is easier to deal with. WordPress analyzes a post’s “readability.” My drafts always receive a frowning icon and a warning: “Needs Improvement.” One exception stands out. “Putin’s Secret…
Read MoreAFTER COLLEYVILLE, WHAT?
A British Muslim, Malik Faisal Akram, took four hostages at gunpoint—including Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker—last Saturday at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. The hostages escaped. Akram was killed. Why do antisemitic acts still take place? When have they not? In 2017, white supremacists marched in Charlottesville chanting “Jews will not replace us.” In 2018, a…
Read MoreWHAT IS A JEW?
On December 11, President Trump held a Chanukah party at the White House where he signed an executive order combatting anti-Semitism. The New York Times reported that the order defines America’s Jews as sharing a national origin. It doesn’t. So what is a Jew? The order relates to Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act…
Read MoreGOD SETS THINGS STRAIGHT
Days before Thanksgiving, energy secretary Rick Perry reassured Donald Trump that God mandated his election to the Oval Office. Perry told the president “. . . if you’re a believing Christian you understand God’s plan for the people who rule and judge over us on this planet in our government.” As a Jew, I wondered.…
Read MoreCIRCLED WAGONS
Lindsey Graham (R.-So. Carolina), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made a startling statement last Tuesday before flip-flopping on Wednesday. It revealed much about the impeachment inquiry and how a large segment of the country is circling the wagons. Graham said he wouldn’t read the transcripts of closed-door hearings—open to Republican committee members—released by House…
Read MorePASSOVER AND PARADOX
Tonight, Jews observe the first night of Passover. Sunday, Christians celebrate Western Easter. Christians will declare, “He is risen.” For a week, Jews will forego eating anything risen—bread, bagels, cake. Calls will go out to unify Jews and Christians by following the commandment in Leviticus to love thy neighbor. There’s a paradox here. Linked as…
Read MoreHOOPS, GENESIS AND CANCER
Last Monday, Boston Celtics basketball star Kyrie Irving apologized for saying that the earth is flat. A plethora of questionable beliefs challenge science. They threaten our individual and national health. The Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky dismisses evolution. Its website states, “The Creation Museum shows why God´s infallible Word, rather than man’s faulty assumptions, is…
Read MoreIN THE NAME OF GOD
The famed evangelist Billy Graham was buried today. As a kid in the ’fifties, I saw bits of his massive TV revivals. Later, more evangelical leaders spoke publicly in the name of God. Is God pleased? Since the social upheavals of the ’sixties, many evangelicals have circled the wagons. A movement that shunned politics turned…
Read MoreMONOTHEISM AND MYTH
Jews, Christians and Muslims know that monotheism began with Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch whom Torah students have studied these past three weeks. But like Elvis sightings, that’s an urban legend. Secular scholars point to monotheism’s birth in what Karl Jaspers termed the Axial Age—700 to 200 BCE. Karen Armstrong writes that as urban civilizations developed,…
Read MoreTHE PERILS OF BELIEF
A famous dictum, espoused by Aeschylus and repeated by former U.S. senator Hiram Johnson (California), states that the first casualty of war is truth. In our time, social media, faux news organizations and politicians have rendered truth a severe casualty. They’ve bombarded it—even shredded it—with belief. Even basketball stars have joined their ranks. Kyrie Irving…
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