Via the AP. An advocacy group for Holocaust survivors is mounting a public relations campaign against the inclusion in a LDS genealogical database the names of Jews killed in the Holocaust, presumably for possible later proxy baptism. The inclusion of these names violates an earlier agreement between the group and the church and may have been done without proper authorization.
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Editor's introduction: "Portraying humans as basically hating war might actually hinder the important work of deterring it, suggests research psychologist Lawrence LeShan. New psychological studies explain what history has long shown to be true—that war holds a deep attraction for large numbers of people in most cultures around the world. In accepting and understanding this hard truth, we may be better equipped to bring peace on earth. A timely new edition of his book The Psychology of War arrived last fall, just as the White House began beating the drums—and much of the American public eagerly fell in line—for a new war." Adapted from LeShan's The Psychology of War: Comprehending its Mystique and Madness, published in spring 2003. Webcite: http://www.webcitation.org/5cARUYfIL
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Webcite link: http://www.webcitation.org/5bwESLQNr
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Brian Williams interviews McCain and Palin on the NBC Nightly News, Oct. 23, 2008. There's a lot in this interview, but I'm clipping it mainly because of what it shows about the slipperiness of the term "terrorist" in modern-day political speech. A lot of critics have jumped on Palin for saying that she wasn't "sure" if the word "terrorist" would be appropriate for abortion-clinic bombers. To be fair, the quotation has often been taken out of context. She is pretty clear in condemning such bombings, even if she's uncomfortable with labelling them "terrorism." (However, the deeper point is that she seems to have a special category of violent criminal for whom she considers the word "terrorist" to be appropriate, and apparently Bill Ayers is the only person who fits in that category, as far as I can tell.) Presumably Palin associates the idea of "terrorism" with a kind of anti-American ideology, whatever that might mean, and isn't sure whether abortion-clinic bombers truly fall into that group. Just guessing, though. Discovered via joneilortiz's Friendfeed stream.
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An odd little tidbit.
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A thought-provoking piece on the deeper (and darker) meaning of America's unwavering support for Israel.
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This is only an excerpt from the full interview. Even the excerpt is worth a read though. Grossman is an Israeli writer who manages to combine a powerful and ongoing activism for peace and justice for Palestinians, a strong and unapologetic sense of Israel's Jewish, Zionist, and historical distrinctiveness, and a genuinely poetic sensibility. His son Uri, a tank commander, was killed in the summer-before-last's fighting in Lebanon. Themes of the interview overlap strikingly with Appleby's work, I think.
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PVT Michael Handman, 20, claims to have been the victim of intense anti-Semitic harrassment (being called "kike" and "fucking Jew," being forced to remove his kippot), and then subsequently being beaten to the point of requiring hospitalization. Mikey Weinstein's Military Religious Freedom Foundation is now looking into the case.
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Interesting how Benedict unproblematically draws this connection between religious belief and national identity.
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These passages describe Moses's encounters with God in the Tent of Meeting and his thwarted desire to look YHWH in the face.
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A ten-year-old girl who was standing insode a basement community room at a Dayton mosque was sprayed wtih an aerosol by two men standing outside an open window. Police say there is no evidence that the attack was motivated by bias since the attackers did not speak. Seen on Cee Bee's Friendfeed stream.
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The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem along with other local Christian leaders expresses its opposition to the mostly-American phenomenon of Christian Zionism.
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Mennolink.org's online hub for their peace and justice ministry.
in list: RELS327 links (Rein, Fall 2008)
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Basic information on Maha Ghosananda and his Dharma center in Phnom Penh, from Buddhanet.net
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Edward Tick is the author of "War and the Soul." Archived at webcite: http://www.webcitation.org/5b9I5YN5E
in list: RELS327 links (Rein, Fall 2008)
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A end times organization spun off from a "hyper-charismatic" wing of the Assemblies of God that sees itself as an eschatological army in the making. Pretty intense. Seen on @melmcbride 's Friendfeed stream.
in list: RELS327 links (Rein, Fall 2008)
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Notation: * = Private bookmark and comment|… = Clipping [?] | … = Public highlight [?]
