LA Times: "Why God chose the Jews"

[Daniel from Montréal]

Op-ed (and humour?) piece

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-klavan14jan14,1,925872.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-soccer&track=mostemailedlink

THERE IS ONE good thing about anti-Semitism: It lets you know who the bad guys are. Right, left, black, white, freak or straight, the minute someone starts rattling on about the evil Jews, you know your train just pulled into Slimeball Station.

All bigotry is wrong, of course, but there's something about this particular form of prejudice that is weirdly reliable as a sign of deeper wickedness. Perhaps it's because the Jews contributed so much to humanity's moral code that to hate them as a race is to despise the restraints of morality itself

Whatever the reason, true, virulent anti-Semitism is such a good indicator of the presence of evil that I'm tempted to believe that when God made the Jews his chosen people, this is what he chose them for: to be a sort of Villainy Early Detection System for everyone else.

[odessit19]

Well, no one said being chosen would be easy, but IMO the Chosen aspect of it was to show the rest of humanity the moral code of life.

[christopher d]

Interesting piece in the Times. Might get more play in this forum...

[Shurik]

To an anti-Semite it is not even that bad that god himself was a Jew. Hey, it could happen to anyone. As they said in Azerbaijan, "once we had an Armenian driving a trolly in Baku and nothing terrible happened". But what really warps the mind is that god himself was invented by Jews. Everything people know about the supernatural was told to them by Yids. This, to an anti-Semite, is an idea so excruciating, you wonder how they manage to walk the earth without their heads exploding.

[odessit19]

To an anti-Semite it is not even that bad that god himself was a Jew. Hey, it could happen to anyone. As they said in Azerbaijan, "once we had an Armenian driving a trolly in Baku and nothing terrible happened". But what really warps the mind is that god himself was invented by Jews. Everything people know about the supernatural was told to them by Yids. This, to an anti-Semite, is an idea so excruciating, you wonder how they manage to walk the earth without their heads exploding.

I am not sure if everyone understand the Azerbaijan/Armenia reference. It is sort of like Huegenots and Catholics during Catherine de Medici era and St. Bartholomew night.

[Shurik]

To dumb it down further: white folk and black folk for about 75% of US history.

[yasik19]

To an anti-Semite it is not even that bad that god himself was a Jew. Hey, it could happen to anyone. As they said in Azerbaijan, "once we had an Armenian driving a trolly in Baku and nothing terrible happened". But what really warps the mind is that god himself was invented by Jews. Everything people know about the supernatural was told to them by Yids. This, to an anti-Semite, is an idea so excruciating, you wonder how they manage to walk the earth without their heads exploding.

:D lol

[christopher d]

I found the piece a bit offensive upon first reading, to be perfectly honest. Cheap apologies like "all bigotry is wrong, of course" don't hold alot of water with me. Anti-Semitism certainly helped launch WWII in Europe, but with all of the worlds' ills, to pick one out as a divine barometer smacks of significant bias, regardless of the author's national origin or religious predeliction.

But upon a more careful reading, it starts to make a little more sense. This paragraph in particular sets it up nicely; with the scales involved holding the key to the author's argument (as I see it)Now, I understand the situation in the Middle East is morally and politically complex, as is the situation in South America. I know that honorable people can hold conflicting opinions about the issues in these places. But when the entrenched misery of an area nearly as large as the United States is consistently blamed on 5 million people in a country the size of a shoebox, or when the ills of the world are loaded onto less than 1% of its population, I begin to become suspicious.

[DJPoopypants]

But when the entrenched misery of an area nearly as large as the United States is consistently blamed on 5 million people in a country the size of a shoebox, or when the ills of the world are loaded onto less than 1% of its population, I begin to become suspicious.

Er....don't politicians and religious leaders tell us that most of the ills of society can all primarily be traced back to the liberal conspiracies from Hollywood, NYC, and San Francisco? Is that any different?

[Matrim55]

This columnist and thread confirm what many have long known: Jews are annoying.

[yasik19]

Er....don't politicians and religious leaders tell us that most of the ills of society can all primarily be traced back to the liberal conspiracies from Hollywood, NYC, and San Francisco? Is that any different?

are you serious?

[odessit19]

This columnist and thread confirm what many have long known: Jews are annoying.

Well, ruling the world is a bit tiresome at times.

[christopher d]

Well, ruling the world is a bit tiresome at times.
Finally, the reason behind the Russian Literature threadjacks is exposed! It's a break from running the media/government/banking industry/UN/whatever else

[yasik19]

Finally, the reason behind the Russian Literature threadjacks is exposed! It's a break from running the media/government/banking industry/UN/whatever else

rep.

[DJPoopypants]

are you serious?

Certainly. Without a doubt. Religious leaders do blame hollywood for more sex, violence, drug-use, whatever - don't they? And conservatives harp on the liberal elite, especially NYC and San Fran.

Is that equally silly? Probably. But does that message resonate with thousands of people? Oh yeah.

So perhaps both these examples (anti-semitism, anti-hollywood) are both manifestations of the 'blame the other' tactic that inflames passions around the world. In other words, what these muslims are doing is the same feature of human nature common throughout the world - the only difference is in the details.

And perhaps both have a point. Hollywood paints itself as a reflection of the times, but in our culture of celebrity, they lead opinion as well. or at least capitalize on it. And as for israel - are muslims that crazy? One could definitely say that israel is perhaps the most advanced, richest, most influential countries in the middle east. And when it comes to their neighbors, what does israel have to gain by significantly helping them out - these countries who hate them? Would israel stand to gain by keeping their neighbors so poor that they do not significantly threaten israel? Sure they do. Is it inconceivable that they wield their influence to keep them that way - to block arms sales to Iran, not invest in projects in Syria, etc?

I ain't saying Israel causes the problems of the middle east - but, y'know, for a country so influential that Pat Robertson grovels for their shekels, they don't seem the type to resolve the social problems around them (perhaps nor should they, when confronted with such negative attitudes).

[minorthreat]

Finally, the reason behind the Russian Literature threadjacks is exposed! It's a break from running the media/government/banking industry/UN/whatever elseNot to mention that 2/3 of Sleater-Kinney are Jewish. :D

[odessit19]

Certainly. Without a doubt. Religious leaders do blame hollywood for more sex, violence, drug-use, whatever - don't they? And conservatives harp on the liberal elite, especially NYC and San Fran.

Is that equally silly? Probably. But does that message resonate with thousands of people? Oh yeah.

So perhaps both these examples (anti-semitism, anti-hollywood) are both manifestations of the 'blame the other' tactic that inflames passions around the world. In other words, what these muslims are doing is the same feature of human nature common throughout the world - the only difference is in the details.

And perhaps both have a point. Hollywood paints itself as a reflection of the times, but in our culture of celebrity, they lead opinion as well. or at least capitalize on it. And as for israel - are muslims that crazy? One could definitely say that israel is perhaps the most advanced, richest, most influential countries in the middle east. And when it comes to their neighbors, what does israel have to gain by significantly helping them out - these countries who hate them? Would israel stand to gain by keeping their neighbors so poor that they do not significantly threaten israel? Sure they do. Is it inconceivable that they wield their influence to keep them that way - to block arms sales to Iran, not invest in projects in Syria, etc?

I ain't saying Israel causes the problems of the middle east - but, y'know, for a country so influential that Pat Robertson grovels for their shekels, they don't seem the type to resolve the social problems around them (perhaps nor should they, when confronted with such negative attitudes).

So you break into my house, damage it, kill some of my family members AND I help you because you are a poor neighbor. Good one.
Are you actually comparing anti-semitism, which has been around for thousands of years with millions of death, to anti-hollywood?:eek:
Are you Susan Sarandon or Tim Robbins?

[yasik19]

Certainly. Without a doubt. Religious leaders do blame hollywood for more sex, violence, drug-use, whatever - don't they? And conservatives harp on the liberal elite, especially NYC and San Fran.

Is that equally silly? Probably. But does that message resonate with thousands of people? Oh yeah.

So perhaps both these examples (anti-semitism, anti-hollywood) are both manifestations of the 'blame the other' tactic that inflames passions around the world. In other words, what these muslims are doing is the same feature of human nature common throughout the world - the only difference is in the details.

And perhaps both have a point. Hollywood paints itself as a reflection of the times, but in our culture of celebrity, they lead opinion as well. or at least capitalize on it. And as for israel - are muslims that crazy? One could definitely say that israel is perhaps the most advanced, richest, most influential countries in the middle east. And when it comes to their neighbors, what does israel have to gain by significantly helping them out - these countries who hate them? Would israel stand to gain by keeping their neighbors so poor that they do not significantly threaten israel? Sure they do. Is it inconceivable that they wield their influence to keep them that way - to block arms sales to Iran, not invest in projects in Syria, etc?

I ain't saying Israel causes the problems of the middle east - but, y'know, for a country so influential that Pat Robertson grovels for their shekels, they don't seem the type to resolve the social problems around them (perhaps nor should they, when confronted with such negative attitudes).

ok. my point is it's very silly to compare liberals and Jews. When liberals have gone through 1/1000000 of what the Jews have gone through the course of history, then we can talk about the similarities. Also, blaming Jews for all the troubles in the world, while constantly carrying out attacks against Israel, is really not the same thing as blaming Hollywood for drug-use. It's not details, when it comes to human life, as you reasonated, so it's not the same thing at all. At all. Last time i checked, nobody swore to destroy all liberals by wiping them off the planet.

As for Israel keeping their neigbors poor, where do you get such ideas? Who exactly do the Israelis keep poor? Palestinians? No, the Palestinians are doing it to themselves. Or is Israel keeping poor all those oil-rich countries in the region? Come on, you are pulling straws with your argument. Israel is not sinless, but what you are suggesting is ridiculous.

[Daniel from Montréal]

The Jews have been accused of killing children and using their blood for matzah. We're talking a cracker made of water and flour here. It's ridiculous. As ridiculous as believing that 0.2% of the world population control the world in some vast conspiracy.