Shame more people read Friedman than Bernstein.

Over at the Volokh Conspiracy (a law blog primarily populated by Jewish law professors discussing primarily legal issues), David Bernstein has some wise words today:

Thugs in Jerusalem
David Bernstein • November 30, 2011 8:44 am

Jerusalem Post [no link provided]:

After 20 months of attacks and a quarter million shekels in damage, a religious bookstore in the ultra-Orthodox Mea She’arim neighborhood of Jerusalem decided on Monday to accede to the demands of extremists responsible for the violence.

Under the terms of the compromise, Ohr Hachaim/Manny’s put up a large sign requesting that all customers dress modestly. A mashgiach, who checks the store’s inventory to make sure there are no controversial books, will go over the books in the coming week and require that some books be removed from the shelves, though they will not be permitted to remove any English books, said Marlene Samuels, one of the store’s managers.

A haredi group called Sikrikim deemed the store as “promoting immodesty,” and since Manny’s opened in March 2010, the group has smashed its windows more than a dozen times, glued its locks shut, thrown tar and fish oil at the store and dumped bags of human excrement inside. The owners were also personally threatened multiple times.

One of the group’s leaders has been arrested, which apparently allowed the bookstore owners to reach a “compromise” than fell short of acceding to all of the extremists’ demands. Nevertheless, this strikes me as a result an abdication of responsibility by Israeli authorities. The owners had to pay for their own security guards. How about a police patrol protecting the store? The leader was arrested, great. But what about all the lower-level thugs who perpetrated the vandalism and threats? The Israeli government has long permitted Haredi extremists to be above the law, permitting them enforce “modesty” rules on public streets via violence and threats, illegally segregating the sexes on public buses, tolerating violent demonstrations against construction projects allegedly taking place on ancient cemeteries, and so on. Not to mention the greatest malfeasance of all, allowing Haredi extremists to take control of domestic relations law. With the Haredi population increasing exponentially, the government needs to stand up for liberalism while it still can.

We need more reporting on extremists, particularly religious extremists. Calling out those on your own team is essential to reform.

Here's a pretty fair comment on Friedman's latest column too (see blogpost below):

Binyamin Netanyahu is a political evangelist who has drunk a little too much of his own whiskey. He believes that you can establish an official state religion, as do many Islamists, and that this will solve all of one's governing problems.

The beauty of the founding of America was that its leaders started out accepting a dozen different Protestant sects of Christianity and thereby established religion as a protected class. They did this to escape what was going on in Europe at the time which was warfare between the different sects in which each believed they had the right version of the gospel and church organization. Protestantism, recall, was a religious revolution against the "Papists." Catholicism went through the same kinds of civil wars during its first 500 or 600 years while the "Real Gospels" and the church hierarchy were decided upon and cemented.

Ultimately the Islamists and the Jews have to learn to live side-by-side and develop constitutions that establish religion as a protected class too.

There are no sustainable shortcuts here.

You have to wonder though... with our bestest colonial-ally bud Great Britain recently experiencing in Tehran a lesser version of our own 1979 weakness and hostage period, with our young people stating we should "take allies' interests into account even if it means making compromises" (like bankrupting our domestic game here at home? abandoning the American principles of democracy and "all men are created equal in the eyes of the law/Lord"?)... you have to wonder whether thinking people of all races and creeds will go along with whatever killing actions our multinational corporations, and their own supporting political class (of both parties here in America) deem "necessary" to protect our "allies" interests.

I hope we all wake up soon, reject the religious/traditional extremists where ever they might be found, and instead of trying to game the system as it currently is, honestly work to provide a more balanced playing field for all those healthy competitors who still have something to contribute.

I know, I know ... dare to dream even in these seemingly nightmare (kill! kill! kill!) days of pursuing peace...

I guess somewhere along the way...
He must have let us all our to play...
Turned his back, and all G-d's children...
crept out the back door.

~ George Michael, Prayin' for Time, off the Listen Without Prejudice album.