Friday December 24, 2004

Preach it, Shmuley!

There is nothing more appropriate on the eve of a Christian holy day than to examine whether the example of Christ is being followed this day in age. An observation from Rabbi Boteach:

There are far too many religious Christians who are undermining Christian aims with appalling public statements that deeply discredit the wholesomeness of the Christian message. Those fraudulent TV evangelists who are more interested in money than souls are obvious culprits, but so are abominable mutterings like that of Jerry Falwell, who said two days after 9/11 that the United States was being punished for its sins.

Religious Americans have a propensity for blaming the secularism of American society on atheists, but seem blind to how their own bad example can contribute to the public's rejection of a spiritual message.

In recent weeks, fundamentalist leaders and pundits have been shouting some horribly anti-Jew sentiments, many reminiscent of pre-Holocaust slander. On the day many Christians celebrate the birth of the Jewish messiah, why not ask ourselves what we can do to halt the growing hatred of Jewish people in America?