Mayday, Mayday! Russia IS a problem child

I see what I did there with that headline.

I've long, on this forum, called out the US and other NATO countries for pushing a proxy war in Ukraine. I've fought back against the Uki-tankies of NAFO Fellas on Twitter. That said, I do not, contra a Norman Finkelstein, call Russia's invasion "justified." Per Walter Kaufmann, this is one of those times that word doesn't work for me.

Plus, beyond war crimes (which Ukraine also commits) I see that Putin's Russia is back almost to the USSR days on suppressing religious freedom. Actually, Tsarist days would be more accurate. The Russian Orthodox Church's relationship with the Russian state under Putin is similar to the caesaropapism of Tsardom. Judaism is certainly in a better state. I'm not sure what the Tsarist angle on Islam is, as the first semi-significant Islamic lands only came under Russian rule in the last century of the empire, and the real significant lands of Central Asia only in its last 40-50 years. It seems relatively benevolent, though, for one simple reason, which leads us to the next paragraph ...

But? Ties to a church perceived as "American"? Here, it's USSR days. No Baptists allowed. Not in occupied portions of Ukraine, per the story, nor, more and more, in "mother Russia" itself.

That said, we, as in the USG, created this problem by and large. The Slickster gave drunken Boris Yeltsin drunken sailor money so he wouldn't lose to the Commies in 1996. This was after Jeff Sachs and others pushed Yeltsin into shock therapy that wrecked the Russian economy and led many people to consider putting them back in power? His fault? No. Blame Russia! And,  yes, this is the same Jeff Sachs who is now at Columbia, supporting the proxy war idea and supporting Jill Stein. Penance?

At the same time, we didn't force Putin to become president for life. Some of this is the old Brer Rabbit and Tar Baby syndrome.

Dowd hits this one out of the park

Why did Powell not only endorse Obama but protest against anti-Islamic bigotry? MoJo Dowd discusses a special tombstone of a dead Iraq war veteran

Dowd notes the headstone had not only the soldier’s awards, but a crescent and a star to denote his Islamic faith.

“I stared at it for an hour,” (Powell) told me. “Who could debate that this kid lying in Arlington with Christian and Jewish and nondenominational buddies was not a fine American?”

Who, indeed?

Well, yes, it’s an election, but Obama still can’t, or won’t, come out and say something like:

“Rumors to the contrary, I’m a Christian and have been for decades. That said, there’s nothing wrong with being a Muslim and I hope more and more of our country comes to that realization.”

At least, can he say that Nov. 5?

‘Messianic Jews’ attacked in Israel while US evangelicals twiddle thumbs

Your semi-regular Sunday religious commentary here. Messianic Jews (why not avoid your own quasi-hypocrisy and call yourself Jewish Christians, or just Christians) number about 10,000 in Israel, and many Jews just don’t like them.

A bombing and a church used by Jewish Christians (my blog, and my terminology prevails) are the most serious manifestations of the enmity.

Part of the problem is the Jewish Christians, which include the oft-strident Jews for Jesus, proselytize in Israel, considered a big no-no. Even the Mormons don’t do that.

And, the fact that these people were once Jewish by faith adds to the problem:

“Historically the core of Christianity ... was ‘convert or die,’ so it was seen and is still seen as an assault on Jewish existence itself,” said Rabbi David Rosen, who oversees interfaith affairs for the American Jewish Committee. “When you are called to join another religion, you are being called on to betray your people.”

And, here’s how one Jewish religious leader in Israel feels about that:

Rabbi Sholom Dov Lifschitz, head of the ultra-Orthodox Yad Leahim organization that campaigns against missionary activity in Israel, says Messianic Jews give him “great pain. They are provoking ... it’s a miracle that worse things don’t happen,” he said.

To add to the “fun,” these folks are proselytizing Muslims as well as Jews.

Now, the hypocrisy of the Religious Right here in the U.S. of A. is manifold.

The government of Israel isn’t criticized for cracking down on Jewish terrorism. The Christian Jews aren’t defended, let alone held up as the pre-Rapture “final ingathering” first fruits, as you think non-hypocritical pre-millennialists would do. The Bush Administration isn’t pressured to make foreign aid to Israel conditional on stopping these attacks.