Recently, I sat behind a one-way mirror and watched a group of about 30 voters — half Democrats, half Republicans — respond to images and opinions about Israel\’s war in Lebanon. The overall results were as shocking as they were commonplace: the opinion of Israel among the Democrats was consistently 10 to 20 points lower than that of the Republicans.\n
Mysticism, for my family, and I think for most people as well, usually shows itself through nature.
So you\’ve seen \”Big Fish,\” \”Forrest Gump\” and \”Driving Miss Daisy,\” and now you think you know what the South is all about — old mansions, moss-draped oaks, steamy swamps. Think again.
The South is a vibrant tapestry of culture, and its Jewish communities are important threads. Atlanta, Miami and Nashville are thriving tourism destinations, but Charleston, S.C., featuring luxuriant gardens, long porches and rocking chairs filled with laughing guests sipping sweet tea, is also flush with Jewish history that dates back to the 17th century.
It\’s a scene straight out of the worst-case scenario parent handbook. Our child — a normally happy student — lands the \”Teacher From the Black Lagoon.\” She\’s evil, he tells us shaking in his Air Jordans. Not to mention out to get him. How can he possibly be expected to learn when his teacher is the scholastic version of Attila the Hun?
Olmert\’s perceived blunders have given the Israeli right a new lease on life. They believe the war has dealt a lethal blow to Olmert\’s plans for a major unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank.
Even in the face of recent international criticism of Israel\’s war tactics, American Christians, especially Evangelicals, have remained steadfast in support of Jews and the Jewish state. Whereas vicious anti-Zionist attacks in much of Europe and the Arab world have lately bled into rank anti-Semitism, even those American Christians critical of Israel\’s recent actions have gone to great lengths to stress their support for the nation\’s right to exist.
If you are willing to inflict physical pain upon yourself as a service to your god, why not treat others to the same spiritual experience? Paradoxically, they will be killed or harmed because of your love for them.
The Rosenbergs were executed for spying for the Soviet Union in June 1953. Their personal story was told 51 years later by their granddaughter, Ivy Meeropol, in the powerful 2004 documentary, \”Heir to an Execution.\”
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