Why do we give Jews a 'Pass'?

I was reading an article in the "Atheist Revolution" blog and I came across this snippet:

When I encounter a parent telling her children about Santa Claus, I may find it unfortunate that someone would lie to one's own child merely for entertainment purposes. The potential for harm here seems trivially small. I cannot say the same for the Muslim parent instructing his son in the virtues of martyrdom or the Christian who tells her daughter that her Jewish friends will go to hell because they have not been "saved."

Could we not add something like the following to the last sentence:

...or the jew who tells his kids that he's "chosen" and has a covenant with god that entitles him and his "people" to the land of Israel, and then uses that as justification for a bloody occupation of Palestine.

The one-year anniversary of Operation Cast Lead is approaching (Dec. 27th) and I think we should take a look at where we've come since then. The Goldstone Report: buried. Settlements: expanding. Palestinian house demolitions: continuing.

As atheists, we should be appalled whenever religion is used to justify actions that result in suffering or death. We do not seem to hesitate to speak out when a child dies because a Christian Scientist eschewed Western medicine in favor of prayer. We do not seem to hesitate to speak out when a Muslim nutjob finds motivation in his religion to grab some firearms and gun down some people. Why are we silent when an ethnic group uses a story about chosen people and covenants in The Big Book of Jewish Fairy Tales (aka, the Old Testament) to justify what is looking more and more like a slow, methodical ethnic cleansing campaign? Why do the Jews need to have Jerusalem all to themselves? Why is it so important to them to have a Jewish majority that they'll turn Gaza into a prison camp and The West Bank into Swiss cheese where the Palestinians are forced to live on smaller and smaller plots of land and endure more and more restrictions on their movement? If this were being done to a Jewish population they'd be screaming about a second holocaust.

The bottom line is that all three major religions are guilty of many modern-day atrocities and have a great deal of blood on their metaphorical hands. Why do we only bewail the actions of two of those three major religions?

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Chang on August 12, 2012 at 2:12am

Really, that's it?

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Chang on August 12, 2012 at 2:57am

Note the time stamp. Unsubscribed... I have better things to do than to convince racists that they are racist. There are billions of people in the world. If even 1% if racist, I'd be here until death.

Permalink Reply by Doc on August 12, 2012 at 3:02am

Be sure to erase your childish taunts and scrambled logic on your way out.  As I said, it embarrasses you -- whether you realize it or not.

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Chang on August 12, 2012 at 3:18am

Spoken like a true religious person. I suppose, as atheists, we all embarrass ourselves, and you'd know all about that wouldn't you? Fortunately for me, I couldn't really care about your sense of objective morality, nor what racists or people who just don't know any better think of me. You could have foreseen that I wouldn't give in to such a cheap taunt after several responses. When you have to shame other people, I can only laugh at you.

Permalink Reply by Glen Rosenberg on August 12, 2012 at 3:02am

JC, where is your profile?

Whadja godda hide?

Permalink Reply by Edward Teach on August 12, 2012 at 3:22am

Check out Axis II diagnoses in the DSM. You'll find everything you want to know about JC. Intellect without maturity and judgement makes for a kid who doesn't play well with others. I can't believe you fellas have been feeding that bottomless pit of fractious hubris all night!! Time better served beating yourself in the head with a hammer. There's a mad meteor shower tonight... Much more pleasant ;-)

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Chang on August 12, 2012 at 3:25am

Thank you, Edward Teach, for your enlightening insults. Very mature. I should follow your example.

Permalink Reply by Doc on August 12, 2012 at 11:03am

@Edward Teach, you're right, all the way around.

Permalink Reply by Glen Rosenberg on August 13, 2012 at 3:01pm

You are the only Elissa I know. Or dont know to my detriment.

Permalink Reply by Glen Rosenberg on August 14, 2012 at 12:24am

Elissa,

If you read that you probably also read the Mysterious Stranger which I thought was loads of fun.

As for Jonathan he consistently argues against the stereotypical construct of the mythical Jew and fails to respond to what you have actually said. In so doing he brands himself an anti-semite.

Permalink Reply by Glen Rosenberg on August 15, 2012 at 8:29am

Seems like a balanced and reasonable response, Sassan K.

Permalink Reply by Glen Rosenberg on August 15, 2012 at 11:57am

I think it is also true that rejection of religious indoctrination is an indication of intelligence. In fact the greater the orthodoxy and cultism of the indoctrination the greater the intelligence required for rejection of same.

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