Date: Sat, 4 May 2024 04:31:21 -0500
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Subject: Re: the Republican anti-anti-Semitism on college campuses bill
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On 5/4/24 3:36 AM, FPP wrote:
> On 5/3/24 12:38 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
>> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>>> On Thu, 2 May 2024 17:37:44 -0000 (UTC)
>>> "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I'm trying to figure out if I support the legislation that passed the
>>>> House yesterday defining anti-Semitism and requiring the Department of
>>>> Education to use the definition to determine whether a university has
>>>> failed to take action against anti-Semitism. Department of Education
>>>> may be required to cut federal funding for universities found to be
>>>> disriminating.
>>>>
>>>> Anti-Semitism is an expression of thought. The definition, which
>>>> includes in its definition of anti-Semitism the criticism of Israel
>>>> that tends to apply uniquely to Israel and no other nation on earth,
>>>> is possibly a reasonable one.
>>>>
>>>> The incidents of speech can certainly be labeled as anti-Semitic,
>>>> along with incidents in which threats, intimidation, vandalism, and
>>>> violence have occurred.
>>>>
>>>> Is the legislation requiring universities to shut down protests or
>>>> punish those participating in the protests if there is no finding that
>>>> the speech also included threats and intimidation?
>>>>
>>>> Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) opposed the legislation on
>>>> religious grounds. Do I look to her for leadership on religion or
>>>> anything at all? She wrote that she would not vote for the law
>>>> because it "could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing
>>>> the gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified
>>>> by the Jews." This has been used as justification for violence
>>>> against Jews over the centuries.
>>>>
>>> I could really benefit from some facts here. My knowledge of the
>>> details from either a Christian or Jewish perspective is extremely
>>> limited here.
>>>
>>> I know that Jesus was crucified at Herod's behest. Herod was a King but
>>> did he actually have the power to order the execution on his own
>>> initiative or was he simply doing as the Roman emperor directed without
>>> any realistic possibility of dissenting? And what was Herod's own
>>> religion? Was he Jewish? Was he a popular leader among the Jews? (Yes,
>>> I know that is a silly question given that very few people had much say
>>> over who was going to be their king: it's not like he was elected! But
>>> kings, however they can be get that job, can be anywhere on a spectrum
>>> from widely loved to massively despised. I'm just curious where Herod
>>> was among the people he ruled.) What were the sentiments of the Jewish
>>> community about Jesus? I knew Jesus was Jewish but I don't know if most
>>> Jews thought well of him or if they thought he was some kind of
>>> harmless weirdo or dangerous heretic.
>>>
>>> Also, how did Jesus come to be in Herod's custody? What actual crime
>>> did he commit? Who arrested him? Was his crime seen by agents of the
>>> King (the equivalent to today's police) or was he turned in by an
>>> informer? I know Judas is supposed to have a part in this - I remember
>>> something about Judas getting 30 pieces of silver to denounce Jesus -
>>> but again, I don't remember details. Did Judas actually slink into a
>>> police station-equivalent and rat out Jesus? Or was he rounded up and
>>> tortured into denouncing Jesus?
>>>
>>> I think I need to know all this in order to form an opinion on Greene's
>>> concerns. I should point out that I've heard accusations of
>>> wing-nuttery against Greene, especially by the "progressive" media, but
>>> I've never heard a single clip directly from her where she explains her
>>> views about anything so I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt
>>> initially, even though I utterly loathe the idea that she's trying to
>>> protect a justification for launching anti-Jewish pogroms.
>>>
>>>> I heard excerpts of the bill's sponsor's speech on the House floor on
>>>> C-SPAN this morning. Michael Lawler (R-New York) is the lead sponsor.
>>>> He explained that he was trying to help college leaders understand
>>>> what anti-Semitism is because they have so much trouble noticing it
>>>> taking place. I couldn't stop laughing.
>>>>
>>> Bravo to Lawler for his wit!
>>>> The bill's sponsors stated that the bill includes language that does
>>>> not thwart criticism of the government of Israel. I'm not sure. The
>>>> anti-Semitic criticism of Israel they are trying to thwart could be an
>>>> expression of anti-Semitism (under the definition) and may not be an
>>>> attempt to threaten or intimidate. It's possible to be anti-Semitic
>>>> without making a death threat.
>>>>
>>>> These are my concerns. I haven't thus far found concerns stated by
>>>> Democrats who opposed the legislation to be all that specific to
>>>> concerns they claim to have over the potential for free speech to be
>>>> stifled.
>>>>
>>> Yet somehow I feel sure the Democrats would be EXTREMELY unhappy if any
>>> new law limited the right of their precious "progressive" students from
>>> being as anti-Israel/anti-Semitic as they wanted to be.
>>>> Even if Republicans supporting this legislation have the moral high
>>>> ground -- and they do appear to -- I don't want speech stifled.
>>>>
>>> A worthy goal!
>>>> Even those students supporting Hamas might have been represented by
>>>> David Goldberger to protect their civil right to free speech, in the
>>>> olden days in which the ACLU represented Kluxers and neo-Nazis so that
>>>> the rest of us might speak freely.
>>>
>>> That was then, this is now. My perception is that the ACLU has morphed
>>> beyond recognition into a hard-core anti-capitalist left wing group of
>>> advocates.
>>
>> Matt Walsh summed up my thoughts 
> 
> <snip irrelevancies>


Why is it when he says "my thoughts" I think of Trump "ace-ing" his 
cognitive test?