Luriantics

Though I am late to the fray on this particular story, I’m catching up on my Forward reading and was struck by this article. The Conservative rabbinate has recently, and rightly, begun an examination of the working conditions within kosher food plants after hearing reports of inappropriate labor practices.

Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum, a columnist for an Orthodox periodical, said Jews should “repulse any attempts of introducing such alien impositions…[and that the] injection of social or humanitarian considerations, especially by outsiders, would be an unallowable breach of the time honored halachic administration of kashrus standards.”

I’m offended, frankly. It’s as if social and humanitarian considerations are an added burden in the pursuit of a truly Jewish life. Everything I’ve learned, and what I love about my Judaism, is that social and humanitarian considerations are the foundation of Jewish values. It makes me wonder what is more important to them: the rules or the intention.

Further on in the article, one gets the impression that the Orthodox are willing to play to make enemies left and right with this one.

The rabbinic administrator at the Central Rabbinical Congress, Yitzchok Glick, told the Forward that he had spoken with kosher companies and told them not to permit Conservative rabbis into their factories.

“We said that they shouldn’t allow them in,” Glick said. “The Orthodox kosher producers are all of the same opinion. They will adhere to our proclamation. They will not allow them into the plant.”

For all my disagreement, I’m happy to see this dust-up happen. For me, Kashrut is about knowing where your food came from, respecting the people who grew or slaughtered it for you, making it without the use of hormones and pesticides, and blessing the bounty God has provided at every point. I welcome the Conservative rabbis’ attempts to reach a more just agreement on Kashrut, and it may just turn me into one myself!

Full disclosure: My fiancee and I disagree on Kashrut. She wants to do it; I think the rules are just rules for rules sake. But with changes like these happening, I might be persuaded to Kasher our home.

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Barack Obama is set to go through the Support for Israel ringer, like every Presidential candidate and many Congressional candidates, early in March. With Hillary pandering fast to right-wing lobbying group, it will be interesting to see how Obama addresses the crowd. Unfortunately, Democratic (with a big D) political thinking on Israel is rarely about the best policy the United States can pursue, but about how to secure Jewish money for your campaign.

AIPAC’s rise to power in the past 20 years has been metoric. They claim today that this Congress is the most pro-Israel Congress ever. For all their claimed success and power, I’m definitely not their biggest fan. Here’s hoping that this new pro-peace organization started by pro-Israel activists takes off. A little healthy competition would be great for the debate over Israel policy amongst Jews and Americans.

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A quick digest of Maureen Dowd’s blog problems after she published a nasty hit piece on Obama (linked from Pottersville who has reprinted the piece to help avoid NYTimes subscription requirements). Dowd’s piece was the first of the season targeting any presidential candidate.

I’ve never been a big fan of Dowd, but not because I dislike her, just that her NYTimes columns haven’t struck me the way that they do the middle-aged liberal woman crowd. Media Matters took her apart with the usual long view they do so well. I wonder if this is her way of supporting Hillary.

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A close friend of mine just finished the interview process with GreenCorps - an elite environmental internship - and wasn’t offered the job. Now - you’ll have to take my word for it - she was SUPREMELY qualified for the position.

I’m disappointed that GreenCorp blew an opportunity to have one of the best. Yes, I am mouthing off because a close friend didn’t get what she applied for. But I’m still convinced that her rejection is only the tip of the iceberg of the problems the progressive movement has in training, and retaining, our most dedicated young people. For my friend - who will remain intentionally anonymous - it’s only a matter of time before she finds a position in the progressive movement. But for those who aren’t as dedicated, we need to rope them in early when they are young and impressionable.

There are already enough challenges to joining the movement right out of college. Read the rest of this entry »

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Faith in Public Life offers a succinct calendar on the latest round of the ‘religion in politics cage-match.’ If you’re wondering, the cage is the Internet.

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After my screed against Mara Vanderslice last night, I decided to do a little more research about her. Here’s what I found out.

• Bill Donahue hates her. Well, one point for you Mara. Any enemy of Bill Donahue is a friend of mine.
• She is an evangelical.
  

  She joined an evangelical Bible-study group at Earlham College, a Quaker school in Indiana, and says she was born again one day while singing the hymn “Here I Am, Lord.”

  Not a Methodist, Unitarian, or United Church of Christ member. A biblical literalist. Not my cup of tea, but hey, folks can believe what they want.

• She has dedicated her life to the Democratic party. She wants to see the party, and our platform succeed.
• As an evangelical, she thinks we win if we reach out to evangelicals on their issues.
  

  Party strategists and nonpartisan pollsters credit the operative, Mara Vanderslice, and her two-year-old consulting firm, Common Good Strategies, with helping a handful of Democratic candidates make deep inroads among white evangelical Protestants and churchgoing Roman Catholic voters in Kansas, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

  And from what I’ve read, her strategy is working.

I just wish it didn’t mean compromising on my values Read the rest of this entry »

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Barack Obama recently made a stop to help Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) out at a San Francisco fundraiser and absolutely dazzled the gathered rich folks. Check out the video here. Boxer stopped short of endorsing him, and I will too. I’m just not sure he’s going to hit back hard enough when Rove’s attack dogs come out. But this video shows his potential as a campaigner, and it could be a wonderful watching him ride his charisma all the way to the Oval Office.

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Atrios was right to call out Mara Vanderslice, Kerry’s campaign director of religious outreach in 2004, for suggesting that

atheists and agnostics lack a conscience and a sense of values, and these things only come from religion and the religious.

Kos agreed with Atrios, and took the opportunity to digest recent electoral victories - like Jim Webb’s in VA and Jon Tester’s in MT - have restored a sense of strong values to Democratic candidates without vacuous references to religion.

Then, in rides Jim Wallis on his white horse, to slap everyone’s wrist for classic secular leftism that leaves no room for religion. But he missed the point — it’s not that religion can’t be the source of progressive values, it just can’t be the ONLY source. And if we’re going to take our country back from the people that are convinced there’s only one way, we have to be the torch bearers of multiple ways to infuse values in our politics. I think, as a religious lefty who was raised by religious lefties, that there is more than one way to have values.

Then, Pastor Dan takes a well-deserved shot at Wallis’ elitism:

So Mr. Wallis, let’s make [a deal]. How about if you realize that there are other people in the religious grassroots working carefully and productively to make common cause with secular progressives - they’ve been doing it long before you came on the scene, and they’ll be doing long after we’re both gone - and how about if you save your patronizing lectures. In return, we won’t call you a horse’s ass. How about it?

Booyakasha, Pastor Dan. You got it.

But wait, how did this all start again? Someone is taking John Kerry’s religious outreach chair seriously. Taking her seriously is like taking Neville Chamberlain’s chief negotiator seriously. I say we blame her for the whole thing and move on.

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Ok, folks. I’m here. Finally. So let’s get down to business.

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