The cover picture on the Israeli newspaper HaMevaser may seem familiar to those who watched the historic march for free speech in Paris this weekend, but something is missing. If you said, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, you have a keen eye and the qualifications to be an ultra-Orthodox Jewish newspaper editor. The newspaper removed not just Merkel’s picture but the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo and Simonetta Sommaruga, the president of Switzerland as well as a European Union official. The reason? God does not want men to see pictures of women, even world leaders, for reasons of modesty and religious purity.
I have noted before the irony of the similarities between the view of such groups and extreme Muslim religious beliefs (particularly with regard to women) despite the historic tensions between the religions (here and here and here). The notion of Andrea Merkel corrupting the morals of Jewish ultra orthodox men is a new concept. It appears that the very appearance of Merkel can drive an Ultra Orthodox man crazy with desire and impure thoughts.
The best response came from an Irish satirical newspaper Waterford Whispers that released a photo that removed the male leaders. (For the photo, click here).
It is almost as if the Ultra Orthodox did not want to be out crazied by their Muslim counterparts after a Muslim cleric ruled that building Snowmen is a sin and potentially arousing.
Allison Kaplan Sommer of the newspaper Haaretz condemned the act as a national embarrassment “at a time that the Western world is rallying against manifestations of religious extremism, our extremists manage to take the stage.”
Others noted that the newspaper did not just blur the faces but actually removed the female leaders entirely as if the world is led by men alone.
Rama Burshtein, the ultra-Orthodox filmmaker of the critically acclaimed 2012 movie “Fill the Void,” explained “It’s very, very, very, very, very hard for a nonreligious person to understand the purity of eyes.” Yep, though many would call it insanity rather than purity to remove world leaders from historic pictures. He added “By us, men don’t look at women’s photos, period. As long as you don’t know that, then it sounds ridiculous, or changing history or events. But we’re not here to get the events the way they are. We are here to keep the eyes.” Well, most people know that you do not look at women or apparently allow airplanes to take off if there are women in your row. However it still sound ridiculous . . . even if you “keep the eyes.”
I expect that many people in Paris, still reeling from the attack of Muslim extremists, feel a bit like Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets:
Source: NY Times
No, these are not natural rights. These are inherent powers that a human has by virtue of being a sentient being with opposable thumbs. Rights are granted by a society or by a supernatural being. You happen to believe in the latter and I believe in the former.
The idiocy of the fundamentalist left is on display once again. Muslim murder Jews and Journalists and they are worried about the Amish as though there is some sort of moral equivalence. Yeah that hypocrisy is big problem. Denounce the horse and buggy but be afraid to denounce them slitting throats, burning churches and making sex slaves of young girls.
Conservatives object to these savages cutting off heads, murdering Christians and Jews by the thousands and coming to our shores to murder us. The left led by Barack Quisling Obama can not even call this terrorism by it’s rightful name. That is how strangled they are by political correctness and stupidity.
“There is one fundamental and irreconcilable difference between us: you have an irrational faith in a supernatural omnipotent being and I do not because there is no evidence of it.”
When, EVER, have I said that one has to believe in God, Creator or as you put it, a supernatural omnipotent being in order to believe in inalienable rights?
You exist and whether it’s because of primordial ooze, asteroids, aliens or a supernatural omnipotent being; with that existence come certain rights. To know what those rights are you have to begin with yourself as one person in existence, living in the state of nature. Your most fundamental right is to life. You exist (live) and therefore you have certain rights to maintain that existence. This maintenance of life is not a guarantee but a daily pursuit. You have to pursue sustenance. You have to pursue shelter. You have to pursue the means of self-defense. You can speak, think, and believe in anything you want because you have only yourself to be accountable. You bring all of those rights with you when you leave the state of nature to join civil society.
To summarize then: all the rights you have PRIOR to entering civil society are the “sacred” natural, inalienable rights you have simply because you EXIST. I believe these are self-evident truths and they can be reasonably deduced with or without a rational or irrational belief in God, Creator or supernatural omnipotent being.
Now, do you truly believe you don’t have natural rights or were you simply trying to insult the intelligence of anyone that ‘might’ believe in God?
Karen,
You are missing my point completely. I am not comparing subcultures. I am pointing out the fact that conservatives resent the fact that Muslims wish to maintain their religious customs, e.g., wearing the hijab in public, but do not complain about the fact that ultra-orthodox women are supposed to wear wigs to cover their hair for the sake of modesty. This is hypocritical. But let us not beat this dead horse any longer. Let’s embrace all subcultures as long as they do not violate the law. I enjoy going to Chinatown in San Franciso where I can hear a foreign language and injest foreign food! It’s cheaper than flying to China!
And then there’s Scientology. Here’s some testimony. Sound familiar?
Jeff:
“Get caught behind a horse-drawn Amish buggy in your car sometime and you will think twice about the need for assimilation!” There are laws that govern farm equipment and horse drawn vehicles.
We have draft horses and we drive our various wagons on the roads. Plus we ride. So . . . yep, I know exactly what it’s like to travel a road with horseback riders, tractors, and wagons.
Wagons must pull over to let cars pass, and cars must drive safely around pedestrians, bike riders, horse riders, tractors, and wagons.
Have you ever gotten caught behind a group of bicycles? Is that morally superior to horses?
Karen S – it is not worse than getting caught behind a Canadian senior citizen who thinks they are still driving in snow although they are in the Valley of the Sun. 😉
Olly,
Self-evident truths are a matter of faith. There is one fundamental and irreconcilable difference between us: you have an irrational faith in a supernatural omnipotent being and I do not because there is no evidence of it.
Jeff:
“Who the hell was comparing the Amish with Muslim extremists? I was simply exposing the hypocrisy of conservatives who castigate Mexicans and Muslims for not assimilating while turning a blind eye toward “approved” subcultures such as the Amish and Hasidim.”
I addressed what you viewed as hypocrisy. I agreed that the Amish do not fully assimilate, listed ways in which they’ve adapted to modern life, and then I’ve differentiated them from violent extremists. They’re a religious sect that keeps to themselves, mostly, and are a nonviolent culture.
If you’re not comparing them with extremists, then why do you think it’s hypocritical? I also addressed that the reason why no one really cares what the Amish does is because they don’t hurt anyone. They learn English. They get “helpers” to get them around modern America. So, in a sense, I suppose they have assimilated. I also pointed out that one of the problems with not assimilating is when an immigrant does not learn our laws. Clearly, this is not a problem for the Amish.
I live in CA, where there are many neighborhoods I can drive into where there is not a single sign in English. Hit and runs are rampant. Mexican drug cartels. Human trafficking. Movements to reclaim the West for Mexico (which held it for, what, less than 30 years after Spain held it, and before that it went through various tribes.) Failure to follow our laws. A mind-boggling number of immigrants come here illegally, breaking the law the first day. Stealing identities. Welfare, and social security fraud. Most constructions sites have many illegal alien crews. They underbid legal companies, who have to pay for work comp, insurance, license, bond, etc. Homeowners who decide on price alone inevitably will have illegal aliens working on their site, and unsafe results. People who follow the law literally cannot compete, but it’s considered rude, somehow, to force illegal aliens to follow the law. So, in the case of Mexican immigrants, it’s not simply a matter of limiting themselves by failing to learn English.
I disagree that there is hypocrisy. You are allowed freedom of religion here in the US. The Amish don’t force our ways on us, fail to learn English, fail to learn our laws, harm anyone they disagree with, etc. I also pointed out that their insular lifestyle hurts them if they try to leave the community, and the same is true of other insular immigrant communities.
Nuns are also allowed to lead a simple, cloistered life.
I fail to see the hypocrisy . . .
Get caught behind a horse-drawn Amish buggy in your car sometime and you will think twice about the need for assimilation! Not to mention the recent delay of an airline flight while Hasidic men argue about their sitting next to women. I can live with these inconveniences, just like I can live with a mosque near the site of 9/11. Live and let live.
“Olly, I have no patience for you and your sacred Natural rights.”
Jeff,
How unfortunate for you; I however have as much time as necessary for yours. I found it interesting you quoted Locke’s “Essay on Human Understanding” regarding truth and in that essay he speaks of “self-evident” truth. It’s interesting because inalienable rights are identified as self-evident truths, not “faith”, also supported by Locke.
So my question is why would you have patience for “truth” but not for my sacred, inalienable, natural rights? Please do explain why your inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are only a matter of faith and not self-evident truths?
Fundamentalism is a negative force in general society. They don’t need to commit mass murder, the doctrines they follow will clash with any advanced society. It’s the desire to go back to simpler, more authoritarian times, to follow what they consider inerrant teachings and nothing else is allowed. That is what makes them dangerous. The Amish keep to themselves and do not try to interfere with the English. No one considers them on the same footing as any fundamentalist in general society.
Inga – fundamentalist is in the eye of the beholder. You don’t see the Amish as fundamentalist, but others might. Personally, I see progressives as fundamentalists.
Jeff BINGO!
Who the hell was comparing the Amish with Muslim extremists? I was simply exposing the hypocrisy of conservatives who castigate Mexicans and Muslims for not assimilating while turning a blind eye toward “approved” subcultures such as the Amish and Hasidim. Olly, I have no patience for you and your sacred Natural rights. It is a matter of faith for you.
Jeff Silberman – I did not and do not intend to approve of any subculture.
Wait minute! The Amish and the Orthodox Jews are responsible for a horrible new trend in a society!
All the hipster morons with these huge disgusting beards!
Or maybe it was ZZ Top?
I agree with Karen.
It is stupid IMO to erase women from photos, especially such historic women and historic situations, However, that is what their readers want to see….or to be more accurate….don’t want to see. Dumb…but…whatever. As long as you don’t forced others to bend to your stupid religious views you should be able to function in society. Where it gets squirrely, are the examples of the plane incident or Muslims who want to impose Sharia Law on everyone or who kill people for publishing cartoons or insist that pork not be served in non Muslim owned restaurants and on and on and on.
Hint to the Muslims…..we are getting really tired of your sh*t. You guys need to clean up your act, and soon.
The Amish, used as an example, do not force their religion on anyone else. They don’t expect or DEMAND that others bend to their religious practices. So to use that as an example is really a false analogy. There is no comparison between sects like the Amish and factions of other fundamentalist religious groups.
For awhile the Chinese were photoshopping in people who had not been at the event. This caused no end of embarrassment as they tried to explain what they were doing. Actually, Obama should have had himself photoshopped into the photo.
Jeff,
You find odd things amusing. Apparently you don’t understand “why” assimilation is important. As a result, you are left with a completely inane opinion of conservative’s view on immigration. Very simply, if the immigrant’s culture doesn’t infringe or won’t lead to the infringement of the natural rights of others, then there is no problem.
I for one agree that the Amish are the real problem and not murderous savage Muslim animals who cut off heads.
Next up? The Shakers! Harmless eccentrics.or deadly cult!
I have no problem with their removing photos to preserve their idea of modesty. That’s what their readers expect.
I do have a problem with anyone forcing his religion on others, such as preventing a plane from leaving until all women were removed from nearby seats. (I soooooooo would not have moved.) If you don’t want to sit next to a woman, then either travel by boat, chartered plane, coordinate the number of passengers in your party to take up an entire row (unless sitting behind or in front of a woman is immodest), or buy extra seats to make a “protective cushion” all around you.
Problem solved.
The Amish figured out how to stay true to their ideals and still function when they’re out in society. Anyone else can, too.
That is soooooooo ridiculous. I guess this newspaper has the right to be as absurd as they want. I wonder if the caption as at least correct, with the names of those who were removed for “modesty.”
And, it’s true that the Amish don’t assimilate into modern culture. They are a religious sect. Other religious sects lead cloistered lives. I’ve known many Amish. There are good and bad aspects about their culture, and I certainly wouldn’t choose it personally.
What is interesting is how they’ve adapted to modern life. They lead a mostly insular life, speaking their own language, eschewing most trappings of modern life for what is simple, plain, and useful. But they support the community through endeavors such as raising horses and selling furniture, among others. To interact with the outside world, they hire “English” to drive them and do any activities that are not in keeping with their own strict rules. What is interesting is that they will ride in a car, but not drive one. They speak Pennsylvania Dutch at home, but if they are going to interact with the public (like selling horses) they speak fluent English. All Amish kids that I know of are taught English at school.
Because they don’t integrate, young Amish have a very difficult time if they decide to leave the order, because they are not prepared to succeed outside the community. So, their lifestyle works for them as long as they stay in their community, but it’s a hindrance if they leave it.
It’s the same for immigrant communities. If they don’t assimilate, they do fine in their own neighborhoods, but struggle outside them. Where it becomes a danger is if they fail to assimilate our laws.
But, for me, the main distinction between fundamentalist Amish and violent religious extremism is, of course, a lack of violence. If the Amish severely disapprove of the actions of one of their members, they Shun them. Considering how hard it is to live outside the community, that is a very serious punishment. But they don’t hurt people. Well, unless you consider their form of dentistry, which is awful and can cause a lot of unintentional damage.
When I see Amish families at various horse auctions, they’ve been quite friendly. If they see a woman walk by dressed very “immodestly” the Amish women just look shy or embarrassed and the men try to ignore them in front of their families. 🙂 I’ve never seen them whip or stone anyone, and since they don’t use computers, they don’t photoshop anyone out.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if religious extremists would take a lesson from the Amish, and simply Shun members of their own sect with which they disagree, and Completely Ignore members outside their religion with which they disagree? That pretty much would have prevented every terrorist attack . . . ever.
LOL!!!!!’