Steve Waldman: November 2008 Archives

About two months ago I sagely predicted that mainline Protestants would flood to Obama and white evangelicals (thanks to Obama's positions on abortion, Sarah Palin and other factors) wouldn't go anywhere near him.

It looks like I got it pretty much exactly backward. I've written elsewhere why I think evangelicals did move to Obama in meaningful numbers, but I'm absolutely stumped by this: according to an analysis by the Pew Religion Forum, non-evangelical Protestants didn't move to Obama at all. Kerry got 44%. So did Obama.

Given that just about every other religious group shifted to the Democrat, I'm scratching my head as to why these folks didn't.

Stephen Colbert and Elvis Costello offer a new Christmas Carol, hailing "a redeemer, and a savior, an obese giving toys for good behavior" and arguing that there are "much worse things to believe in."

"...Believe in the judgment, believe in jihad, believe in a thousand variations on a dark and spiteful God..."

To invoke a much-overused cliche that seems to keep popping into my head today, we are all Chabadniks now. The Brooklyn-based Hasidic group comes in for its share of criticism, but today all Jews--all people--can do little but mourn those who fell in the Mumbai massacre.

For those not familiar with Chabad, the first question in your head might be, What were a bunch of Jewish Brooklynites doing living in Mumbai? The answer is serving. Some would--and do--call it missionizing, and it is, of a sort, though Chabadniks themselves hate the term. Their mission is to bring Jews to Judaism; that is, to turn unaffiliated and non-Orthodox Jews into Orthodox Jews, or at least introduce to their lives some elements of Orthodox practice.

Most often, however, that mission is lived through keeping small Jewish communities alive and providing for Jews--residents and travelers--in far-flung places around the globe. Thousands of young Jewish families from Chabad spread out throughout the globe, live uncompromisingly traditional lives where there is little or no Jewish community, and provide food, education, sometimes lodging, and other assistance to the Jews around them--and hope to touch some souls in the process.

There's plenty to criticize in Chabad, theologically and stylistically, especially when it comes to the fervent messianism that characterizes the movement. It's a focus that has led a substantial number of Chabadniks to believe that their Rebbe (rabbinic leader, sage) was himself the Messiah who will reveal himself to be the redeemer of humankind--despite the fact that he's been dead for more than 10 years.

But still, more than one critic of the movement has found himself or herself on vacation or away on business in some remote corner of the world--or even some remote corner of America--attending services at a Chabad house, having a Shabbat meal with the local Chabad family, or at least calling up Chabad to ask for advice on being Jewish where there are few Jews to be found.

It is a great irony, and a testament to their commitment and values, that this most sheltered of people choose to go out of their comfort zone to the farthest reaches of the globe. Hasidic men dress all in black, just as their ancestors did centuries ago in Europe, and women wear long dresses and wigs after they are married. Most live in tight-knit Jewish communities where most, if not all, of their social contact is with other Hasidim. Yet here they are, still in their traditional garb, setting up shop in places like Congo, Tunisia, Nepal, and Mumbai.

So what were these Brooklyn Jews doing in Mumbai? Providing kosher food, Jewish prayer services, and other ritual and educational needs to Western and Israeli Jews living there, and to travelers passing through. They were far from the only victims of the brutal terrorist attacks last week, but alongside the giant 5-star hotels, this family--who chose to leave the comforts simply to serve others, strangers, all of us--was no doubt singled out for simply being conspicuously Jewish where few are. Yes, we are all Chabadniks today.

Michael Kress is Managing Editor of Beliefnet.

365,000 died because Thabo Mbeki didn't believe HIV caused AIDS. These people, a new study concluded, would have accounted for 3.8 million years of life.

Apparently, Mbeki didn't believed that AIDS science grew out of a racist conspiracy to oppress black Africans.

I'd like to proof-text a portion of James Dobson's essay responding to Kathleen Parker's criticism of religious conservatives, whom she referred to as the ooogedy-boogedies.

"Good thing, then, we don't need an embossed note from Ms. Parker -- or anyone else -- to take part in the political dialogue -- of either party."

--Parker didn't argue that religious conservatives should be quiet but that Republicans should listen to them less.

"Our invitation to engage the process comes straight from our Founders."

--Dobson is right. However, this reminds me of something that's been bugging me in the aftermath of Prop 8. If religious conservatives enter the political fray -- as, for example, the Church of Latter Day Saints did in supporting Prop 8 -- they can't then complain that it's anti-religious bigotry when gays fight back.

"We will continue to stand up for the sanctity of human life, the sacredness of marriage and the right to have a say in the principles that will continue to guide this nation founded on biblical principles. Where Ms. Parker gets it most wrong is in writing that socially conservative Christians are an 'element that used to be relegated to wooden crates on street corners.'"

--This line from Parker was one of the most offensive I've seen written about religious conservatives. He's right to take umbrage and even showed restraint in his response.

"We've never been that marginalized in our culture and government -- and won't be anytime soon, the efforts and epithets of big media notwithstanding."

--Huh? You're attacked by a freelance conservative pundit and punch back agains "big media"? Has "Big Media" simply become a synonym for "anyone we don't like"?