hands down, David Klinghoffer is the KING of the sort of “spiritual arrogance” which Rabbi Brad so rightly derides in this posting.
On the other hand, President Carter’s initials are J C, are they not?

I’d cut President Carter some slack. He’s been in public life a very long time, and everybody in public life (although I can’t say I’ve ever seen any evidence of such from your blog) says or writes something outrageous once in a while.

I think he is a traitor and should be tried as such.
The actions and remarks he has made against other presidents are without excuse. He is a self absorbed man who just never could come to grips that he didnt win a second term. His presidency was a failure and he is trying to make up for it.

Jimmy Carter has been studying the scriptures and their relevance
for more years than most of you are old.
I would certainly honor his opinion more than some that are
peddled as infallible truth.

I respect Mr. Carter a great deal when it comes to his opinions on public policy. But when it comes to issues of faith, I think people like Rabbi Hirschfield have a wider and wiser perspective. The final paragraph bears repeating:
This debate, if it is to have any real impact, must be shifted from one in which we argue about who understands God best, to one about the sacredness of choice, the independence of the spirit and modesty to admit that none of us has the only true understanding of God’s will. This needs to be about the creation of spiritual options so that as many people as possible can find a place within whatever faith they choose, not about taking away the options of others to practice in ways we make not like.

How do you feel about this group that’s in the news lately, known as The Family… how do you feel about their interpretations? http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/07/21/c_street/?source=newsletter and from back in 2003 http://www.harpers.org/archive/2003/03/0079525

Jimmy Cater is entirely correct. Scriptures too easily have become a form of idol worship. The important issue is how we treat all human beings with compassion, respect, and justice. Who would argue against that? Note that most of the horrors of the world, war, crime, terrorism, envirnmental destruction, exploitation, etc. are primarily cause by a small number of macho alpha men, not women.

In general, I am not a fan of Mr. Carter. He can be arrogant (morally and spiritually)and some of his writings are decidedly anti-semetic, though I doubt he sees them as such and I am sure he does not consider himself to be so.
I must however, agree with his views on sexism in religon. Women, who are generally physically weaker than men, and therefore more vulnerable, have been denied power down through the ages, even when physical strength was no longer the main route to success. This denial was supported by most religons to one extent or another. When women cannot lead, they are not equal. I do not buy the idea that women just have “different obligations” and are “valued in their own sphere.” The simple fact is, that separate is never equal.
Of course, we should all have the right to practice religon in the way we choose as long as we do not force others to follow our ways or harm those who are our co-religonists but somehow do not conform to what we consider “correct.” Intimidation in the name of religon is wrong.
Mr. Carter disagreed with the Southern Baptists and so broke with them. That was his right. This one time, I agree with him.

Bill Clinton was right when he warned the in-coming George Bush that Carter was a “meddler.” He might have added “self-righteous busybody;” anyone who made such a disaster of a Presidential administration as did Carter is unlikely to have the only “correct” interpretation of the work of the major prophets. Or any of them.
Write on Rabbi.

But my fellow Elders and I, who come from many faiths and backgrounds, no longer need to worry about winning votes or avoiding controversy – and we are deeply committed to challenging injustice wherever we see it.
The Elders have decided to draw particular attention to the responsibility of religious and traditional leaders in ensuring equality and human rights. We have recently published a statement that declares: “The justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable.”
We are calling on all leaders to challenge and change the harmful teachings and practices, no matter how ingrained, which justify discrimination against women. We ask, in particular, that leaders of all religions have the courage to acknowledge and emphasise the positive messages of dignity and equality that all the world’s major faiths share.
Although not having training in religion or theology, I understand that the carefully selected verses found in the holy scriptures to justify the superiority of men owe more to time and place – and the determination of male leaders to hold onto their influence – than eternal truths. Similar Biblical excerpts could be found to support the approval of slavery and the timid acquiescence to oppressive rulers.
At the same time, I am also familiar with vivid descriptions in the same scriptures in which women are revered as pre-eminent leaders. During the years of the early Christian church women served as deacons, priests, bishops, apostles, teachers and prophets. It wasn’t until the fourth century that dominant Christian leaders, all men, twisted and distorted holy scriptures to perpetuate their ascendant positions within the religious hierarchy.
I know, too, that Billy Graham, one of the most widely respected and revered Christians during my lifetime, did not understand why women were prevented from being priests and preachers. He said: “Women preach all over the world. It doesn’t bother me from my study of the scriptures.”
The truth is that male religious leaders have had – and still have – an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter.
Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions – all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views.
Bravo Jimmy Carter.
When religion is made the servant of the oppressor to justify evil done to people in its name, it is a vile perversion.
Carter is acting faithfully and he is correct in what he has said here. Read what he has said, and tell me why as a Christian, Muslim or Jew, can be religiously justified for repression of women’s rights.
You may not like Carter, but I am more interested in your response to his words than to the image you have of him. So re-read that excerpt, and tell me why he is wrong.

God put you and your wife together,I seriously doubt that the good rabbi here can fully understand the reasons why, and so it is, no man can fully understand why He did this. Women have special skills that a man might not be good at and he finds that his wife can fill this empty place with her God given skills, I find that in my marriage often, and am very gracious to God for this for it has kept my marriage vibrant for 22 years. Women are not slaves,or less in worth than a man. If this then is the case we come back to the rudimentary form of misinterpeted scriptures that have placed women at levels lower than certain animals, ie; donkeys etc. I believe that you get the picture. So before you go dropping females down to lower statuses because the scripture says that woman came from man, and man came from God, check out the value of your own wife or mother and see what little value your interpretation of her really is.
Good job President Carter.
PS: You all should check out what President Carter says about fundamentalist’s , it will answer a lot of questions that most people have about them in all religions.

I have been a fan of Jimmy Carter since he was Governor of Georgia. I proudly say that I voted for him twice. His Baptist background is well thought through as are his interpertations of scripture. Thoughout history, history has been written by the winners. Translations of Holy Writs are often misinterperted by zealots.
Jimmy Carter is not self-rightesou. His work toward world peace is righteous and we should emulate his willingness to serve his church and to work so diligently for Habitat.

Who is Jimmy Carter to champion the cause of women when he does not believe the Israeli women have the right to defend themselves? This man is the epitome of the useful idiot our enemies exploited in the past. I can not get past his advocacy of Hamas and could not care less what this rabid, anti semite, pseudo intellectual writes.