On loving the squad and DJT

After seeing yet another Facebook meme against "the squad" posted by an acquaintance, I was thinking if I were brave I would post something like, "Yeah, it's really too bad Jesus told us to love our enemies, huh? That Jesus is way out-of-touch and clueless about life and how tough it is for us to love these political folks we can't stand."

But then I thought about my own great dislike and disgust of a certain president, and figured I should clean up my own act first (i.e., love my enemy, pray for him, etc., etc.) 


*sigh*

I really have tried to pray for him a time or two. And I even asked God to save his soul, and for those who claim to follow Christ to...follow Christ and not DJT.

Just putting it out there.  I struggle with loving my enemy.  OK, I'm off to read.

Matthew 5:43-48 New International Version (NIV)

Love for Enemies

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Nope!

A friend shared this on Facebook two days ago.  I thought it was clever, and planned yesterday how I would post it here after a woman made history in becoming the President of the United States of America!  What a day!

Not this time

But, I hadn't counted on the pre-election headlines and polls that came across my Facebook news feed being so wrong.  I should have learned from Brexit and the Colombian vote a few months ago.

Someone shared this on Facebook a few days ago, too.  The language is terrible, but it helped me understand the rural vs. city divide a bit more.  Also, a friend in Scotland read it, and she saw parallels to the Brexit vote.  

I stayed up until just after one this morning.  Trump was poised to take Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and possibly Michigan, and with the recent time change making it feel more like 2 A.M. (and I am not a night owl at all), I was beat.  And stunned.

Oh, wow.


How are you feeling?

Refusing to Feed Others

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

I'm reading a book Discovering North Carolina which has dozens of stories, newspaper articles, and accounts about the state in which I've lived most of my life.  I found it at the twenty-five cent sale at Fifth Street Books in September, and started reading it in mid-October.  

It's divided into four sections: Environment (which includes things like how NC got its name, sailors' impressions, a visit by President Monroe, the Civil War on the Home Front, and so forth), People (an explorer-historian's description of "a well-shaped, clean-made people" i.e., the "Indians in colonial North Carolina"; Daniel Boone "who lived in North Carolina longer than he lived anywhere else"; several governors, Andy Griffith, Buck Duke, etc.), Events (the hanging of Tom Dula, visits from George Washington and Robert E. Lee, Walter Hines' attack on the "mummies" in the NC legislature, "The Camels Are Coming," and so forth), and Social Fabric ("Quarrels among the Baptists," life in the cotton mills, descriptions of a country church service, etc.)

Yesterday I was reading the latter part of the Events section about Greensboro, NC, where "The Sit-Ins Begin."  I grew up and still live about 30 minutes from Greensboro. I was there just last week when I took Zach to the Science Center where he likes seeing the aquarium, and we were able to see the tiger before his afternoon snooze.  We travel through Greensboro nearly every time we go to the North Carolina mountains, and our "local" news stations are from out that way.

I read this line in this Events story: "Still others pointed to a December 1959 episode when McNeil returned from a trip to New York and was refused food service at the Greensboro Trailways Bus Terminal." (pg. 275)

That made me so sad!  I want to think if I were a white Southerner back in those days (pre-Civil War, during the Civil War, and in 1959!) that I would treat people with respect and kindness despite the fact that they were black.  I don't see how people justified this racism. How some perhaps had the audacity to use the Bible to justify this.  Yes, quote me those verses about servants and masters. Whatever. But refusing to feed a paying customer? Making black people use separate water fountains?  Sit at the back of buses and theaters and churches?  Why?  Do you think they will give you cooties? 

Why do people who often say they love "the good Lord," go to church, think they are going to heaven because they are basically good or said a prayer, do these things? Do you just ignore all those teachings about loving others as you love yourself?  In honor preferring one another? washing others' feet as Jesus showed us? even loving your enemies (if you consider them such..guess what? you gotta love them if you follow Christ.)

I don't get it.

I had a very small taste of this when I went to Syria in early 2009.  We'd had a wonderful visit there, and were treated exceptionally well.  But one person - one friend who had joined us several days to walk us through Damascus neighborhoods - said something that hurt me. Even his Syrian friends looked at him like he said the wrong thing and somewhat scolded him.  I really don't think he meant to hurt us.

We'd met with several Syrians that week.  A couple had had us over to their houses or taken us out to eat. This particular guy had joined us many times, but unlike a couple of others, he'd not had us meet anyone in his family.  Apparently his parents were super-pious and American Christians would have contaminated them because one day towards the end of our visit B commented, "My parents would have liked to meet you...if you were only Muslim." 



On the other hand, I remember one specific instance where I know I hurt someone because he was different than I so I know I've hurt others, too.  Probably many more than I want to admit - or even realize.

Have you ever been shunned or hurt because you weren't the right gender, ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, or _______?  Even though you tell yourself so and so might not have meant it quite the way it came out, it still hurts a little (or a lot.) 

Anyway, this was just something I'd been thinking about.  I know we are in an election time when people are dividing and sometimes telling how stupid the other side is, but let's remember to be known for loving and serving others, fellow Christians, even if they differ from us.   Yes, even if they vote for that candidate you really, really don't like! 

Last Names, Genealogy, Ancestry Stuff

With Melania Trump in the news because she spoke at the RNC last night and, well, because she's married to Donald Trump who is unbelievably still to me The One destined to be the Republican nominee running against Hillary Clinton, I have seen stories on my Facebook feed about Slovenia, and Melania's hometown, and even Slovenians in Ohio (where the Republican National Convention is taking place.)


This reminded me of my brother in law, Will whom I've written about previously (probably more than once, but I don't have time to search my archives right now.)  Not because Will is Slovenian.  He's actually from Venezuela, but he has a Slovenian last name due to his aunt marrying a man from Ohio with a Slovenian last name.  Mari and Wayne adopted Will when he was about fifteen so he could live with them in the United States.  Will had a Spanish last name before the adoption.



I still sometimes marvel at how last names tell us about our heritage to some degree, but not always especially in the case of adoptions.  And unless you are some kind of genealogist who looks at who married whom or who didn't even marry, but passed along her last name to her children,  you only really have part of the picture because we forget that Prudence Cooley Truax's mom had a last name not passed down to her. So, what was it?


I ordered one of those Ancestry DNA kits recently when Ancestry.com had a sale around July 4. They are probably pretty bogus in reality  (or, at least articles on Facebook tell me so...boo), but it's something I was curious enough about doing that I finally bought one.  And I'm not one who buys stuff for the sake of buying things usually.   I'm not a paid subscriber to Ancestry.com, however, so I can't open up all the cool records.  They did invite me to begin a family tree, and some "hints" were open for me to view.  I enjoyed that.   Especially stuff like this which I hope to see more of one day.  (Maybe I will subscribe one day and read all the stuff!)



Washington, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1961
Immigration & Emigration
Vancouver, British Columbia
Arrival 17 Apr 1927 - Seattle, Washington - Age: 1
Birth 1926 - Tungjon, China
Departure Shanghai, China
Gender Male
Line 12
Name Daniel Wesley Truax
Race/Nationality Scotch
Residence China
Ship Name/Airline Empress of Canada


Daniel Truax is my beloved Pop (my mom's dad) who died four years ago. I find the Scotch race/nationality interesting. Not sure what to make of it since the family was from the United States, and Truax is a French last name.

From Ancestry.com

"Truax Name Meaning

Americanized spelling of French du Trieux, a habitational name from Trieux in Meurthe-et-Moselle, in northeastern France."

Also, I knew he was born to missionary parents in China (his mom is actually buried there; died at age 29 after having a daughter), but didn't realize the family traveled back to the US when he was so young.  




From the Fuqua side, I found this picture of my dad's grandfather. I had seen it before, but didn't have a copy that I remembered (or if I did, I can't remember where it is) so I wanted to put it here.  My brother got this grandfather's full name. My dad adored this man who raised him when his own parents divorced.

Daniel Carr Fuqua
1900-1973

July Firsts

Another July has come and gone.  I wanted to post a few firsts that happened in July 2015.  One morning, I went over to my parents' house, and my mom met me at the door, "They are taking the Confederate flag down!"  (In Columbia, South Carolina, that is.)

10th -- I decided to document that my parents had turned on the TV for this occasion.

18th  -- A few days later, there was some talk in my county about the Confederate statue coming down. (no rebel flag flies here; just a soldier statue has stood near the courthouse for over one hundred years.)  This is an area I walk frequently. In fact I joke that I "walk my errands" because I often park at the library and return my books there, walk the few minutes to the post office to check my work place's mailbox, drop by the bank, and so forth.  We often go to free concerts around the square here, and the children's museum where I take Zach is right beside the library.  So when they talked about having a rally to support the Confederate statue staying (and since I was in town that weekend), I drove up there to check things out.  Who would come?  How would they act? Would I see a counter-protest?  Nothing much happens here so I want to see! (I live about 3 miles from these pictures.)  Man, was it ever h-o-t.  Of course this is July in North Carolina so that's not surprising. Still.  I felt I was crying sweat. 

The old Alamance County courthouse

The statue honoring the Confederate soldiers

Plenty of people brought these flags, but none flies here

I saw a few African-American men, and I made a point of lingering near a couple of them to ask their thoughts. I enjoyed hearing what they had to say.


21st -- Totally unrelated to those first two, and honestly I'm not sure my liberal Mormon friends would like being on the same blog post as Confederate flags, but this all happened in July so ...

I was invited to their newly-turned-8-year-old daughter's baptism, and I drove to Durham for the event.  I met Nancy through her blog, and I found her blog through Bridget's blog. I've never met Bridget despite reading her blog for many years (she lives far, far away), but Samer - my Syrian friend - found it for me years ago when he was looking for an article about Ramadan in Syria to show me what that holy month was like in his country.  So, anyway, I have now met the entire* Heiss family, and they are really sweet!

Me and the three oldest children

Andrew holding Zoë, Nancy holding Benjamin, Rachel & Miriam (posing)

Andrew's mom and dad (not pictured) were in town from Utah for the event

Benjamin, their only son, chose me as a playmate and, at one point, I was twirling him around at the reception. I later apologized to Nancy because I can honestly say I don't ever recall twirling children at church functions in the past, and this here was a place full of mostly strangers.  Nancy assured me it was fine...and, hey, it was pretty fun for me to play with the kids that evening. I loved meeting Reid and Karen, Andrew's parents, from Utah.  I have seen their comments on Nancy's blog or on Facebook so it was neat seeing them in real life!

* who am I kidding? Just the entire Andrew and Nancy Heiss family, shall we say?


25 & 26th  -- Andrew and I going to the mountains is certainly nothing new, but we had never been to Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia before.

After walking and climbing rocks, this water felt so good. And it was so clear!

There are a few pictures from other places we went near Grayson Highlands that we have been before. But I'll still include the photos since we are talking about our trip to the mountains on this post.

Creeper Trail

Whitetop Mountain

River in Damascus, Virginia, where I text and checked Facebook

29th -- Lastly, I took Zach to southern Guilford County to see the calves and get some ice cream at Homeland Creamery. He wasn't impressed with the farm smell at first, but he liked that the calves came out to greet him, and he enjoyed his strawberry ice cream.

Did you do any new things this July?  Or any old favorites? Do tell!

Catch the Jew!

Normally I would just include this on my monthly books post, but this was long enough that I figured I'd do a separate post.



Catch the Jew! by Tuvia Tenenbom --  a Facebook friend - an older American guy living in Tunisia at the time of this recommendation - posted about this book a few months ago, and I put it on my Amazon wishlist.  Ed mentioned the author traveling to various parts of Israel/Palestine, meeting all sorts of people, and reporting on his findings.  Sounds like something I would really enjoy!  And I did in many ways although the book was also unsettling.


Tuvia was born into a very religious Israeli family. (Just looked it up "I was born and raised in Israel to an ultra-Orthodox, anti-Zionist family, and grew up in the most elitist neighborhood of ultra-Orthodoxy at the time.  My father was a rabbi...My grandfather refused to come to Israel because he did not want to live with Zionists, and the Nazis rewarded him and most of his family with on-the-spot burials." pg. 1).


I get the impression he rejected most of that religious stuff although he's Jewish and a supporter of Israel.  Still, he left Israel to pursue things forbidden to him during his childhood, i.e., science and the arts.  He founded the Jewish Theater of New York.


I like that he is fluent enough in Hebrew, Arabic, German, and English that he could hear and read what others were saying/writing, and, he didn't have to rely only on what people fed him.  (I remember one instance where he knew what the imam was saying to his people whereas the German or French NGOs didn't.  That was a bit disturbing.) He often convincingly pretended to be a German journalist - he'd call himself Tobi the German -, and, therefore, gain access to areas of Palestine or Israel that were off limits to Jews, and vice versa.  For the most part, the Palestinians loved Tobi the German.  It was unsettling to me how often they would mention Hitler's treatment of Jews in a positive light.  I like that Tuvia reported on Palestinian areas - places I have never really heard about. Of course, I'm going on his own reporting - and maybe he lied - but if he didn't, there is a whole nother viewpoint of them.

Truthfully Tuvia admired the Palestinians he met - they had great food, and were warm, friendly, accepting (of Tobi the German at least), supported their own unlike "self-hating" Jews or even an "ex-Jew" in one case.  I was amazed at how many European especially German groups were working to help Palestinians - and in Tuvia's mind show the world how awful Israel is.  I actually feel quite mixed up after reading this!

This book has 467 pages so there were lots of interesting tidbits. I only noted a handful so it wouldn't be too much.

-- Walking through Tel Aviv, the author notes: "It is interesting for me to see, as I walk, that the leftists of this land are also its richest.  How does this work, and why, is a puzzle to me." (pg. 97)

-- Jewish stone throwers (pg. 103); that is they were throwing stones at their own Egged bus  (I often think only of Palestinian youth as throwing stones so this stood out to me!)

-- On his meeting with Gideon Levy:  "For many years Gideon has championed the Palestinian cause, but not one Palestinian has befriended him, or he one of them.  Obviously, despite what his articles may suggest, he really doesn't care about Palestinians, only about the Jews.  He's an Israeli patriot, as he says to me. He wants his Israel, his Jews, to be super-humans and reply to a bullet with a kiss.  In short: he wants all the Jews to be Jesus and die on the cross.

There can be only one reason why he would want them to be a Jesus: Inside of this man's heart, in its darkest corners, this Gideon is the biggest kind of Jewish racist that has ever existed. Jews must behave like super-humans because they are.  And as long as they do not behave as a master Jesus race, he hates them.  He is the strangest self-hating Jew you can find."  (pg. 122-123)

-- "The stupendous love for the Palestinians from so many nations that I keep seeing in this region is quite interesting. Some years ago I was in a Palestinian refugee camp called al-Wahdat in Jordan, where people live worse than the average cockroach.  No foreign government was helping them in any way, no NGOs around, and the Jordanian government was doing its best to make the life of these people a bit less intolerable.  It doesn't take a genius to know why the world 'loves' only certain Palestinians. I don't want to think about it."  (pg. 275)  

I kind of do want to think about it, though.


Also, an article by Tablet Magazine about his findings.

November Books

These books on Europe make me want to go back. I've never been to France or Italy. Maybe 2013 will be the year to visit one or the other, hmmm?  At least I can visit them in books.  Seriously, when I read books I often feel I'm there. Especially when places, people and food are described in such detail as this first one.




On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town by Susan Herrman Loomis -- An American couple moves to France, buys a house (a really cool house from the sound of it) and fixes it up.  But this is also about a lady who writes books on cooking. So this book is a nice mix of life in France with talk of French people, French quirks, fixing up an old French house, French cooking, buying school supplies for her son, her son's school experience, buying a stove and visiting Paris (and more).  Curious what the house looks like?  Here's a slideshow and article about it.

I enjoyed the bit on "tuyau," a system "vaguely comparable to bypassing authorities." It ranges from being part of a group who orders, say, wine in order to get a discount from the vintner to things which seem much more like cheating. But it's the way of life there - and a way to bypass the very high taxes in France. Apparently, it's just part of the culture.  (see pg. 76)

Other interesting bits:

The time the author held a dinner party and invited all sorts of friends only later to be called by her best French friend informing her that that particular grouping would never happen if a French person were planning the invitation list. Why? French friend's husband is a centrist politician whereas teachers - of whom the author invited a couple - were known to be left of the left and the two always felt so much at odds with the other, they didn't mix! (pg. 125)

French teachers yell at their students, and parents in general yell at their children more. In fact the author had a hard time coming to grips with French parenting styles: leaving their children in their bedrooms to cry it out and so forth

The French simply didn't understand the reason for baby showers in the American sense.  Apparently if you are middle class or lower, you got a sum from the government to purchase needed baby items. 



At Any Price by Patricia Roush -- an American woman works to get her daughters back after her Saudi ex-husband takes them from the United States to Saudi Arabia; this book disgusted me on so many levels



Out of the Garden: Women Writers of the Bible  by various authors (nearly thirty) -- see more in this post and this one on Hannah



Amarcord by Marcella Hazan  -- "the remarkable life story of the woman who started out teaching science in a small town in Italy, but ended up teaching Americans how to cook Italian" -- Actually Marcella seemed to teach not just Americans, but people from all over the world how to cook Italian food. I enjoyed reading Marcella's story of growing up in Italy and later her life in the United States and abroad.



Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen -- the author discusses the biased slant of most of our high school textbooks and gives us a fuller picture of Columbus, the first Thanksgiving, racism, the war in Vietnam, and more.


"History is not a set of fact but a series of arguments, issues, and controversies."  (pg. 41)


"Columbus is not a hero in Mexico, even though Mexico is much more Spanish in culture than the United States and might be expected to take pride in this hero of Spanish history.  Why not?  Because Mexico is also much more Indian than the United States, and Mexicans perceive Columbus as white and European.  'No sensible Indian person,' wrote George P. Horse Capture, 'can celebrate the arrival of Columbus.'  Cherishing Columbus is a characteristic of white history, not American history."  (pg. 64)

"It is painful to advert to these things. But our forefathers, though wise, pious, and sincere, were nevertheless, in respect to Christian charity, under a cloud; and, in history, truth should be held sacred, at whatever cost . . . especially against the narrow and futile patriotism, which, instead of pressing forward in pursuit of truth, takes pride in walking backwards to cover the slightest nakedness of our forefathers." —COL. THOMAS ASPINWALL  (pg. 70)

see more quotes and commentary in this post

Opinions Wanted: American Involvement

My sister is taking an American culture something something class at the local community college. It's basically an online class of essays and papers. Her latest topic made me curious about your opinions because I've heard both sides. You don't have to write a paper, but which way do you tend to be and why?

I'd love to hear your opinion whether or not you are an American or have ever lived here. In fact, I'd enjoy the opinion of nonAmericans about this topic.

Here is what her teacher gave them ... 


"America should just forget the rest of the world. When we try to help, they take advantage of us. When we try to do what we have to in order to defend ourselves, we are viewed as evil. Well, if they don't appreciate us, fine. If they don't like us, fine. We should just stay at home, keep our money here, and if the rest of the world wants to go to heck in a hand basket, fine by me!" Either agree or disagree with this sentiment and defend your answer.

That "Piece of Cloth"

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

Mr. Bahri could not understand why we were making such a fuss over a piece of cloth. Did we not see that there were more important issues to think about, that the whole life of the revolution was at stake? What was more important, to fight against the satanic influence of Western imperialists or to obstinately hold on to a personal preference that created division among the ranks of the revolutionaries?  These might not have been his exact words, but they were the gist of his language. In those days, people really talked that way. One had a feeling, in revolutionary and intellectual circles, that they spoke from a script, playing characters from an Islamized version of a Soviet novel.


It was ironic that Mr. Bahri, the defender of the faith, described the veil as a piece of cloth. I had to remind him that we had to have more respect for that 'piece of cloth' than to force it on reluctant people.  ...

What could he think? A stern ayatollah, a blind and improbable philosopher-king, had decided to impose his dream on a country and a people and to re-create us in his own myopic vision.  So he had formulated an ideal of me as a Muslim woman, as a Muslim woman teacher, and wanted me to look, act and in short live according to that ideal.  Laleh and I, in refusing to accept that ideal, were taking not a political stance but an existential one.  No, I could tell Mr. Bahri, it was not that piece of cloth that I rejected, it was the transformation being imposed upon me that made me look in the mirror and hate the stranger I had become.  (pgs. 164-165)

"The Islamic Revolution, as it turned out, did more damage to Islam by using it as an instrument of oppression than any alien ever could have done." (pg. 109)

As I've read this book so far, I've thought of the elections coming up in 2012 in the United States.  And, of course, just recently Tunisia and Egypt held their own first post-Ali/Mubarak elections.   I like to learn from books and what I've learned from this book about a lady living through the Iranian revolution is this:  beware voting for people who would seek to oppress others in order to re-create their dreams of an ideal nation or appeal to a voting bloc with those dreams.  Beware of politicians who agree to sell the country to the devil in order to keep their power in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere.  Let's truly have freedom and justice and the pursuit of happiness for all.  Let's allow God to be God and not seek to be Him as we impose our visions of a perfect world on others.  Let's live Micah 6:8.

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

I think that's more than enough to keep us busy without meddling in others' affairs, don't you?

Iraqi Refugees in Syria and Lebanon

I'm reading Eclipse of the Sunnis by Deborah Amos.  She is talking mostly about the Iraqi "surge" -- no, not the American soldiers surging into that country, but the "surge" of Iraqis fleeing their country into neighboring regions. This book tells the story of many people the author met during interviews with Iraqi refugees - millions who have been displaced mostly due to the American invasion and subsequent rising of a more sectarian government and society.  The first few chapters take place in Damascus and surrounding areas. One chapter deals with the women forced to work as prostitutes in order to provide for their children.

That's extremely heartbreaking enough, but then reading this just made me want to throw up my hands in disgust at the hypocrisy and unjustness!

"In another story, I had heard about an Iraqi woman in the sex trade whose clients were young Shiite men from the Mahdi militia who came to Syria in the summer for vacation. They paid her for sex, enjoyed her company, but threatened that if she ever came back to Baghdad they would cut her head off."  (pg. 84)

This is such an interesting book so far, and although it was published just last year, I am already wishing for an update due to how much Syria has changed in 2011.  I am left wondering about all those Iraqi refugees who fled there. Syria was one of the only countries who accepted Iraqis as the Jordanians quickly closed their border.  How have things changed for the refugees now that Syria is in an upheaval? Has it made more of them go back home? Have they joined either cause: those with Assad's regime or those who want more freedom?

In the section about Lebanon the author mentions Palestinians - particularly "young, third-generation refugees [who] had lost hope in liberating Palestine and found a more promising cause in the mujahedeen in Bosnia, Chechnya, Afghanistan, and then Iraq - all places they had gone to fight."  (pg. 100)

"The 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq fanned the long-burning flame, giving the angry young men of Tripoli an outlet for venting their rage. When they came home from the anti-U.S. jihad in Iraq, the Lebanese fighters brought comrades with them and found refuge in Lebanon's Palestinian camps, which remained off-limits to the police and the army.  In this way, the unintended consequences of a generation of exiles that began in 1948 contributed to the ongoing destabilization of the region and the creation of a newly displaced people. It was the perfect example of the cost of doing nothing to solve an earlier refugee crisis: Ignore it for long enough and it will fan the next crisis and seed future ones."  (pg. 102)

August, Syria, Ramadan, Somalia, Zach, Juan, World Travel, Fear

First off...happy August!  I really cannot believe it's the eighth month of the year and Christmas will be here before we know it!   While growing up, I recall people talking about life going so fast once you were out of high school. At the time, I was stuck in chemistry and physics classes that crawled by so I didn't believe them. But, boy, do I now!

The tenth of this month marks two and a half years since our last day in Damascus. My heart has been aching over what the government continues to do there.  The day before Ramadan, they decided to be even more cruel if you can believe it. I cannot even imagine that Syria is the same place I traveled to and loved. Which, in a way, it isn't.  The people then feared their government and all was calm.  Today, while they may still have this fear, many have chosen to speak out in spite of it.  With hopes for a better, freer future.  I admire their courage.



Secondly, I hope my friends observing Ramadan have a beneficial month as you reflect on God and what He has blessed you with yet others in the world lack.   Some of them your brothers and sisters in faith. Like Somalia.  Ugh, again heartache seeing those starving people on television and Wafa's blog posts.  Heartbreaking.



Thirdly, today is the third and Zach is three months old!  My dad reminded me that his grandfather would have been 111 years old today as he was born August 3, 1900. 



Fourthly, my brother in law's brother has been visiting the area for the last few days.  Juan is from Venezuela and it's his first trip to the USA. He doesn't speak much English, but thankfully Will is great at both languages and can translate.  Really, smiles and hugs don't need any translating and Juan is a fun-loving, pleasant, loving 18 year old.  I've enjoyed seeing him while he's been in North Carolina. Will hasn't seen his little brother since Juan was about 8....younger than Michael!  Can you imagine? Of course he's talked to his family and seen Juan via Skype, but still. It's so cute seeing Juan and Will together. They have similar facial expressions and even walk the same! 



Lastly, I have two questions for you.

1.   I just finished a book about a family who took a year to travel around the world. They visited about 40 cities concentrating on southern Europe, South Africa, India, Cambodia, Laos and Australia.  They avoided South America, the Middle East (except for Turkey), most of northern Europe, Russia and most of the USA since they are from California.  I was curious if you could take off for a trip around the world for a year, what are the places you would most definitely want to visit?



2.  I keep seeing how much fear drives the news. I've been hanging out at my parents' house recently and while feeding my baby nephew, I'll sometimes watch CNN to see what's happening in the world. For days last week, you would have thought the world was coming to an end if Congress failed to extend the debt ceiling.  As if the USA keeps the world going and if we defaulted, life as we know it would come to and end, aliens would invade and we'd all be their slaves. (I think Amber's post influenced that last bit..sorry.)

I've read articles about the Norway terrorist and see how often fear drives people to do evil things. They fear Muslims. They fear immigrants. They fear the end of civilization as we know it.  They fear the extinction of white people. Why so much fear?

That got me to wondering what YOU fear. Do you fear the same things? If so, why?  I think we all have our own personal fears so who is brave enough to share some of them?  And how do you deal with your fear?  Do you feed it by listening to even more doomsday news stories (or preachers!) or do you handle it by denial - what exactly?  What are your fear-busting remedies?   Any recommendations?

Or maybe you think it's a good thing to fear because it keeps up from getting too complacent?  What are your thoughts on fear? Healthy? Good in moderation? 

Do share...unless you are too scared!  ;-)

Last Notes and Lessons Learned from Stories of Jews in Muslim Lands

Last notes from In Ishmael's House: A History of the Jews in Muslim Lands by Martin Gilbert.


I finished the book! Ah, what an interesting read.  Definitely a side of the story I'd never heard especially the part pertaining to how the Jews were treated in Muslim lands leading up to and after Israel was created. What a mess!  Several times I got the impression that Arabs were simply frustrated at the British presence (like in Egypt) and angered by the creation of Israel so they took out their hostility on the local Jews. It is no different than Americans' mistreatment of Japanese living in the United States during World War II and blaming American Muslims for the sins of Al Qaeda or a rogue Muslim extremist. Or even our bombing of Iraq for what 19 mostly Saudi nationals did on 9/11. It's sad that the human race is such that we take out our wrath on innocent people when we feel injustice has taken place and we are lusting for revenge or dignity or whatever term we use to justify "making someone pay!"

Yesterday's post left off with Iraq and since then I've read about Egypt and the 1954 Lavon Affair in which the Israeli intelligence agency along with at least one Israeli Government Minister tried to implicate the Muslim Brotherhood in acts of terror!  "The plan was to have Israeli agents explode bombs against Egyptian, American and British targets while at the same time making the attacks look like a Muslim Brotherhood operation."  (pg. 253)  I suppose you can guess that this plan's failure only increased the difficulty for Egyptian Jews.

Oh, and also in my last post I talked about the Arab mistreatment of Jews only bolstered Israel, right?  If his stats are correct, the author states around 75% of the immigrants to Israel were from Muslim countries and not Europe where (I am assuming) the root of the problem started!  Weird how that works.  Interesting tidbit: even though the white, 'westernized' Jews make up only around a quarter of the Jewish population in Israel, most all of the big-time leaders have been from this group. The author said the Ashkenazis often looked at Jews from Arab countries - the Sephardi - as "primitive" and "fit mainly for manual labour and domestic service."  (pg. 311)  Racism exists from Jews towards Jews. Imagine.

Also I wondered yesterday why Arab countries would allow so many Jews to leave for Israel. Well continuing the book, I found not all of them did. Syria, for example, basically trapped their Jewish population for decades.  Finally in the 1990s after much international pressure, President Hafez al-Assad agreed that "all 3,886 Jews in Syria were free to leave -- for anywhere but Israel."  (pg. 308)  Some Arab countries were similar in not allowing travel to Israel while others like Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco seemed fine with it.

The last chapter discussed the roughly 50,000 Jews still living in Muslim lands today. Many of those are in Iran, by the way. (Jews in Persia predate Christianity and Islam.) The ones that made me smile most were stories of the one Afghan Jew who stays because he wants to represent the Jewish culture that was there for a thousand years and the three Jews, the Pinchas family, in Kamishli, Syria.  Also I think it's cute that two Jews are registered to vote in Sidon, Lebanon.

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Here are two final stories I wanted to share.  One good, one bad. They represent to me much of the last half of the book which dealt with quite a bit more of modern Jewish/Muslim history than I recall from Zachary Karabell's book last year.  (Karabell seemed to detail more of the older history while this book dealt more with modern times.)



After some problems in Egypt between the Muslims who took out their anger for the creation of the State of Israel on local Jews ...

"In spite of the return to order, an Egyptian Arab wrote a revealing letter to the Bourse égyptienne newspaper on July 22: 'It would seem that most people in Egypt are unaware of the fact that among Egyptian Moslems there are some who have white skin,' he wrote.  'Every time I board a tram I see people pointing at me and saying "Jew, Jew."  I have been beaten more than once because of this.  For that reason I humbly beg that my picture (enclosed) be published with an explanation that I am not Jewish and that my name is Adham Mustafa Galeb.'"  (pg. 225)

YET ...


"Amidst all the political turmoil, incitement and violence, relations between Muslims and Jew were still possible.  In the Aboukir internment camp, Egyptian-born Abraham Matalon met the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Alexandria, who had also been imprisoned.  'At first,' Matalon remembered later, 'I didn't know he was a member. We embraced, and we started meeting every day.  He said he wanted to learn Hebrew, and I wanted to learn Koran, so this is how we spent our time. I wanted to have a dialogue with the Muslims, and they loved me for it!  I did the call to prayer in the camp and the soldiers admired it, they even answered me.  And they knew I was a Zionist, but they did not manifest any attitudes against me. They said we are friends in life. When you come to talk to your enemy, you see that he is a different person, you can see his human side."  (pg.221)


Perhaps we can learn lessons from the stories I shared from this book.  Thoughts?

Jews in Muslim Lands and the Creation of Israel: "They did not wish to be dhimmis any more. Finally they had a choice."

Some more notes from In Ishmael's House: A History of the Jews in Muslim Lands by Martin Gilbert.  Now we're getting into the section on World War II, the creation of the State of Israel and the aftermath of that.



So we've seen Muslims and Jews actually got along quite well at times.  In those instances as long as the Jews kept their respectful stance as dhimmis, most often problems did not exist. After a time, however, this all changed and problems happened in places where Jews had thrived for years such as Iraq.  One former Iraqi administrator, Abraham Elkabir, "later reflected - while living in Israel - on what went wrong" between Muslims and Jews.  "He traced Muslim hostility to three factors:

1.  "the Palestine issue"
2.  "the Mufti of Jerusalem's campaign in Iraq identifying Jews and Zionists"
3.   "the 'anti-Semitic tendencies' of the British officials and other Westerners in Iraq"  (pg. 193)


Chapters 12 and 13 also mention Nazi Germany influencing Arab hatred towards the Jews.  This despite the fact Hitler's social ladder put Arabs only one step above Jews.  Wisely Hitler had this illustration deleted from the Arabic printing of his book Mein Kampf since he wanted Arab help.

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Observation: Part of the problem with Zionism is that it was in conflict with rising Arabism. So was this all a soured competition between nationalities?

COMPARE this thought ...

"The Muslim world, inspired by Arab nationalism but inflamed by Jewish nationalism, still considered Palestine as an Arab country and part of the Muslim patrimony, in which Jews could live only as a subject people." (pg. 201)

with this one:

"The imminent prospect of a National Home had given the Jews a sense of pride and a hope for a secure future. Jews would no longer have to put up with being second-class citizens, but that was how the Muslims among whom they lived considered them:  the eternal, born dhimmis, subject to one form or another of the Covenant of Omar." (pg. 205)

So was the problem that Islamic faith said Jews were God-ordained to a certain role that Jews no longer were willing to play?


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I found this fact very interesting and wondered how I should weigh it in considering the whole Palestine/Israel issue.

"Between 1922 and 1939 more Arabs had entered Palestine than Jews. These were Muslim immigrants including many illegals, from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, Iran and Syria - as well as from Transjordan, Sudan and Saudi Arabia. These immigrants were drawn to Palestine by its opportunities for work and its growing prosperity - opportunities and prosperity often created by the Jews there. In 1948 many of these Arab immigrants were to be included in the statistics of 'Palestinian' Arab refugees."  (pg. 175)

So much for all the Palestinians living on ancestral lands for centuries, huh?  I'm sure many had, but not these 20,000+ who came only in the twentieth century from other Arab lands.


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The Partition problem also caused conflict in Egypt where the Muslim Brotherhood "called for the reintroduction of the dhimmi laws, which had been repealed by Egypt's Mohammad Ali dynasty a century earlier, allowing both Egyptian society and Egyptian Jewry to flourish."  (pg. 213)

Several times Arab suspicion of the Jewish communities giving money to Zionist organizations was noted. It seemed most Arab countries at this time simply wanted to make sure their Jewish populations didn't support the creation of a Jewish state and they wanted the Jews to renounce Zionism, declare their loyalty to their countries (whether Iraq or Morocco or Libya) and definitely not financially support any Jewish agencies which might work to relocate Jews to Palestine.  This reminds me of today in the United States where many Muslim "charities" are under suspicion for supporting what the United States deems as terrorist organizations.  If you want to support the Palestinians by giving to any charity with ties to Hamas or Hezbollah, forget it. 


And people here often want Muslims to show their loyalty to the United States. It seems some are suspicious of Muslim ties to that mysterious worldwide ummah.

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The last chapter I finished was about Iraq from 1948 to1952.  One Jewish man put the reason why his family left, "because of 'hostility at a popular level to the new State of Israel' - not due to any official Iraqi discrimination or expulsion.'"  (pg. 243) It's as if the Arab people hated Israel so much that they took out their frustrations on the local Jewish populations which caused most of them to flee.  The author noted by the end of 1951, over 113,500 Jews had left Iraq legally while 6,000 remained.  When Jews left Iraq they had to surrender all but a small amount of money so a few Jews decided to stay.

What I find ironic to consider is that European Jews discriminated against and hurt so much by the Holocaust and preceding years (and years) understandably wanted to flee Europe for the newly created Israel where they felt safe.  Most Arabs throughout the region hated this new creation so they took out their wrath on the Jewish people in their countries. Which, in turn, made those Jews want to leave.  So many Arab countries let them leave -- for Israel!  Which to me makes little sense. If you are wanting to destroy this newly-created entity, why bolster it with more people?  Especially Jewish people who seem to have an innate ability to thrive wherever God puts them?

I think I see more clearly why many Palestinians feel abandoned by other Arabs and why they are cynical of Arab nations truly wanting to aid them. If anything, Palestine and Palestinians have been used as a rallying point for some Muslims who are trying to unite a fragmented ummah. But has real effort taken place to do anything? Or is it mostly talk?  Arabs have often blamed their dictatorial leaders so we'll have to see if this Arab Spring - and new leaders coming to power - makes any difference for the Palestinian refugees.

All that said, it does not change the fact that I detest how Israel treats the Palestinians. I find it very shameful that people who have suffered so much over the centuries could, in turn, show they can be just as evil now that they are in superior positions. One would hope the human population would learn lessons from history, but that seems too difficult.


Thoughts? Corrections?  Please share!

(see the two previous posts for more information on this book)

Lesson from a Brave Muslimah & Stories of Jews in Muslim Lands

Besides the subject of Muhammad's example of how to treat Jews, here's a sampling of some of the topics discussed in this book's first 200 pages. There are some encouraging stories at the end of this post!

In Ishmael's House: A History of the Jews in Muslim Lands  by Martin Gilbert


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The Fatimids for the most part treated the Jews well enough. Until Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah came on the scene destroying all synagogues and churches and giving Jews and Christians the "choice of conversion to Islam or departure from the countries under his rule."  A year before his death, however, he changed his mind and synagogues could be built and Jews could practice their religion again.  The lesson from al-Hakim: "although the dhimmi laws made room for both persecution and protection, their effect was decided by the temperament, religious zeal and personal caprice of Muslim rulers." (pg. 38)

The author notes Caliph al-Hakim likely had mental issues so ...

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Chapter 4 -- Jews thrived in Spain under Muslim rule for a time and even held high positions. I think it was here that a Jewish man commanded a Muslim army until someone got jealous.  Yet later a Muslim tribe from North Africa the Almohads or "Unitarians" (for the unity of God) came into the region and they were much less tolerable. Either convert to Islam or leave.  (Throughout the book so far, I am amazed at how often Jewish people are forced to move from one place to another. Reminds me of reading the biblical tale of the Jews wandering in the desert.)

It was during the Almohads rule that the great Jewish scholar Maimonides lived.  In fact he outwardly converted to Islam.  "He advised his fellow Jews: 'Utter the formula' - of conversion -'and live.'"  A footnote says, "Maimonides was echoing Deuteronomy 31:19: 'I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.'"  (pg. 56)

Moses influencing the Jews in a convert-or-die situation!

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Page 64 records how Jews flourished in Baghdad and assisted in its construction,

yet page 66 records how in Fez, Muslim leaders realized the Jews' conversions to Islam were insincere and devised special clothing and "degrading costume" for all Jewish men who supposedly had converted to Islam.


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The book records "brief glimmers of light whenever Muslim nobles intervened on behalf of the Jews" (against common folks who testified against the Jews) yet also sad times when Jewish children were given to Muslim families enabling "authorities to take advantage of a particular Islamic theological position - fitra - that maintained that all males were born Muslims, and that they became Jews or Christians only because of the education received from their non-Muslim parents." (pg. 67)

The author notes Ibn  Aqnin who said many Muslims believed they would gain "considerable reward from Allah" for taking children from Jews and Christians.

God-sanctioned kidnapping is sad.


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The Mamluks were not kind to Jews in Egypt, yet the Jews in the Persian city of Shiraz did pretty well.  (pg. 71)

At times the Jews lent aid to Muslims in fighting Christians.  (pg. 72) And when the Jews were expelled from Christian Europe, they were welcomed and protected in Muslim lands (pg. 76).

The Ottoman Empire was good for Jews suffering not only in Christian lands, but also in other Muslim lands such as Yemen. Jews from those places found refuge for the most part among the Ottomans.  (pg. 82)

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THE GOOD STORIES

What I like about the book is that the author will be sharing how awful Jews were treated by a Muslim mob...well, I don't like those stories, but I will be thinking how wrong it all is and then...ah, hope!  Then he will start a new paragraph sharing how individual Muslims stood against the mob mentality to protect the Jews!  And I remember looking off into the distance last night hoping that if ever an angry, murderous mob were in my town that I would not be tempted to join it and do harm to others. And that I wouldn't be afraid of them and go hide and pretend they are not doing these awful things. But that I would be bold in doing right and standing up to the bullies! 


Here is one example from a Tunisian leader, Muslim ruler Muhammed al-Munsif ("known to the French as Moncef Bey"):

"When the Germans occupied Tunisia at the end of 1942, Moncef Bey summoned his senior officials to his palace and told them: 'The Jews are having a hard time but they are under our patronage and we are responsible for their lives.  If I find out that an Arab informer caused even one hair of a Jew to fall, this Arab will pay with his life.'"  (pg. 181)

In Baghdad Jews found favor and help from the Mayor, Arshad al-Umari who rid the city of Yunis al-Sabawi who wanted to target Jewish houses and shops. (pg. 189)

Later in Adhamiya north of Baghdad when anti-Jewish fervor spread, Mordechai Ben-Porat told this story from when he was just 18 years old.  "'Armed with vicious tools such as axes, knives and all manner of sticks and clubs,'" he could "hear very clearly 'their strident voices and calls on Allah to sanction their murder of Jews.'"  His family "barricaded themselves into their home and climbed up to their roof to see what was happening....'I watched as our "good" Moslem neighbours, living on the opposite side of the street, those to whom mother would offer occasional savoury dishes from her kitchen participated in the general madness: they guided the raving attackers to our front door.'" 

I noted after reading one such tale how horrible it is that people who for years got along, lived together and were friendly, good neighbors would turn their backs on that in the name of religion and politics and nationalism!  It's so sad to see a root of bitterness allowed to grow into a cancer of destruction, isn't it?

But here is the good part of this particular story.  Ben-Porat continues:  "But at the very moment when the mob reached [his] house, the wife of another Muslim neighbour, Colonel Taher Mohammed Aref, stopped them from proceeding. Holding one of her husband's guns and a hand grenade, she 'stood facing the menacing crowd. ... Her determination and show of arms convinced them of her serious intent and they retreated.'  Ben-Porat never forgot this woman's actions: 'It was an act of bravery and left an indelible impression on my mind.'"  (pg. 191)

I want to be brave like this unnamed woman who stood up against the mob to do the right thing!   Even when that mob was her people of her faith and the ones being defended were not.


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Thoughts?  Corrections? Please have your say in the comments!

Gilbert on Muhammad and the Jews

So the other day I started reading In Ishmael's House: A History of the Jews in Muslim Lands, a gift I received for my birthday.  I recall this being one of those recommended by Amazon.com after it saw other books I had viewed.  I think at the time I was interested in Jewish life and the treatment of Jews while living among Muslims because Zachary Karabell's book, Peace Be Upon You, (one of my favorites from 2010), made me better understand coexistence is possible...and there was historical proof for it having happened.  People who say Muslims and Jews have never gotten along since the days of Isaac and Ishmael and Muslims have always persecuted the Jews and what we see of Muslim Arab hatred for Israel is only proof of that aren't entirely truthful.

So I put this book on my Wishlist thinking perhaps one day I'd order it. At least it was on the list as a reminder. Fast forward to birthday 2011 and I received it from a thoughtful friend!  Having just finished a book pretty much detailing why Islam is so awful (a book I'd had for a couple years and decided to finally read in my quest to read books I have here instead of checking out more library books), I was weary of another Muslim-bashing book and when I found out the author, Martin Gilbert, was Jewish, I thought, "Oh no! This isn't like Karabell's book at all!"  But then I started reading and overall have found it fair.  (I've read about 150 pages with about 200 to go.)

In all honesty, I've heard the Muslim side of some of these stories.  I've read enough Muslim-leaning blog posts and snippets from books and articles and talked to Samer enough to have heard the justification given for Muhammad's treatment of Jews.  And I'd often thought it seemed fair enough. He was asked to be the leader or mediator guy in Medina and when the Jews broke their commitment, covenant, signed agreement (whatever!), they were punished.  Martin Gilbert didn't present those stories in the same manner. In fact it was after reading the short chapter on Muhammad and the Jews that I had my "Oh no!" reaction.  He described more of a cleansing of Arabia or a moving out of the Jews for the sake of the Arab Muslims which made me think of modern-day Palestine in reverse. He did say Muhammad initially seemed OK with the Jews, but his later response changed when the Jews refused to accept him as a prophet.  *shrug* I don't know the true story of what happened.  But at least now I've heard two sides of the story, right?

He didn't totally condemn Muhammad, by the way. In fact he concluded the chapter with "Throughout the centuries to follow, Muslims had to decide in their relations with the Jews whether to see them as cursed people, or as a people protected by Islam.  Mohammed's example gave them ample reason to take either view.  Although he had protected Jews living under dhimmi status and granted them religious freedom, he had also subjugated them and punished them severely."  (pg. 26)  Based on what I know of the story from Muslim, Jewish and secular sources that seems pretty accurate. Maybe this author didn't tell the whole story of how bad the Jews were and why they deserved the "severe" punishment and how it was par for the course at that time in history and even seemed OK with other Jewish tribes. I think he didn't represent that point of view quite fairly. Or maybe that is the Muslim side of things coming out from my memory.

I just know it seems whenever I read most any book - aside from the Bible - Jews (pre-Zionism) never do much of anything wrong.  It sincerely comes across as if they are mostly innocent victims who were just bullied by many throughout history for often made up reasons. Like they killed a Christian child to use his blood for their Passover. Or made too much money in their businesses and people were jealous of their wealth. Stuff like that.   Has that been your reading experience as well?


I may share more notes from this book later, but this post is long enough.  Share your thoughts if you'd like.

Moses, the Egyptians, Tahrir Square and Reenslaving Ourselves

Remember Tahrir Square earlier this year?  Oddly, perhaps, I thought of the Egyptian revolution several times as I read a book about Moses' influence on the United States.


"'Freedom is the right to be free, and then the obligation to accept responsibility. If you don't understand that, then ugly stuff happens. And when you do understand that, you're prepared to meet the obligations straight-on.'"    (pg. 132)

I read this statement in America's Prophet: How the Story of Moses Shaped America.  Author Bruce Feiler was speaking with an African-American pastor about slavery and an Old Testament truth the slaves as well as other Americans had to learn.  Society is not great if you have total freedom. Anarchy is not that good.  In fact one political theorist suggests "the solution...is to voluntarily commit oneself to a new form of bondage.  To reenslave oneself."  (pg. 96)

Moses represents both.  There is the freeing of the Israelites from the bondage of the Egyptians (whose Hebrew name apparently means "the confining place" or "pressed in"), yet they are soon put under a code of law. The children of Israel trade bondage to Egypt (often representing "the world" in Christian talk) for divine law.

Americans took inspiration from this.  Before the Pilgrims got off the boat, they wrote the Mayflower Compact as a form of law governing them when they landed.  Though not everyone agreed to it and didn't sign on, it shows that many of them understood that total freedom was not ideal. Who is going to keep your freedom to swing your fist in check with my desire to keep my face bruise-free?  :)

According to the author, Exodus provides three things:
1.  "A language of chosenness for a beleaguered population"
2.  "A rhetoric of mission that emboldens the aggrieved people to strive for their own liberation"
3.  "A rhetoric of control that allows the newly emancipated community to rein in any tendencies toward excess" (pg. 129)

I was trying to think of these things in light of the Arab Spring since it has been so much in the news throughout 2011.  Even Egypt was included and while they were successful in ousting Mubarak, they are going through the growing pains of forming a new government and constitution. They are in that critical area of having won some freedom, but now having to curb it for the sake of not abusing minorities and just for common decency.  No one wants criminally-minded individuals to think they now have the freedom to loot and make life more chaotic.  The same is true for other countries such as Syria. Although they are still fighting that battle if, God willing, they are successful and one day free of the Assad regime, they will have to basically build a government from scratch. They will have to restrain any undesirable tendencies of those experiencing certain freedoms for the first time.

In the post where I showed off the many American Moseses, a friend mentioned that America could have chosen one of its own historical personalities instead of Moses since God provides for everyone. She stated that we didn't have to borrow from another culture.  Yet I think for some - starting with the folks on the Mayflower - they were inspired by what they read back then. Just as we may get inspiration today from scientists, artists, musicians, poets and maybe even TV personalities and sports figures, they apparently took their inspiration from the Bible.  Especially the Old Testament.

One lesson I took from this is that while the early settlers and former slaves realized they needed to "reenslave" themselves and drew inspiration from Moses, they didn't adopt Mosaic law completely.  Some aspects were relevant. No need to murder and steal and commit adultery and lie and covet.  It's always good to honor God and parents.  But as far as I know they didn't find it necessary to become Jews and adopt the no-pork-or-shrimp rule or circumcise every male child or avoid mixing fabrics and such things. They saw the Mosaic Law as good and a principle from which they could learn.  People need some guidelines in order to enjoy their freedoms.  At the same time, they realized the Mosaic Law was for the children of Israel. They were OK with adopting the spirit of Mosaic Law without binding all Americans to every little law God deemed necessary for the Jewish people.

I think this is important because society today is not the same as it was then. Sure we are humans and have human traits that have passed through time. But things do change. We have to deal with regulating vehicles on busy streets which was not an issue when most people walked.  And they had to deal with diseases such as leprosy in tougher ways than we do now that we can treat them with modern medicine.

It's a good lesson for me to realize principles are there, but they are not always applied to every generation the same way. Some things you can disregard and still honor God in how you deal with others.  Jesus gave me the impression it's really the way we treat God and others that matters the most. When you honor God and love others, you naturally will not murder, steal from, commit adultery against or lie to them.

What lessons can we learn from Moses today? What lessons might the Egyptians of 2011 - mostly Muslims and Christians who should have some fondness for Moses - learn from him to help their own country? 

The American Moseses

"The persistence of Mosaic imagery at nearly every major turning point in the country's formative century shows how clearly the themes of chosenness, liberation from slavery, freedom from authority, and collective moral responsibility had become the tent poles of American public life." (pg. 173)


In America's Prophet: How the Story of Moses Shaped America author Bruce Feiler, well, gives a lot of coverage to how the biblical story of Moses has played out in American history. I've still got about one hundred twenty five pages to go, but I've been keeping track of who all is compared to Moses.  Here's the list I've collected thus far.

President George Washington

"'Kind Heaven...pitying the servile condition of our American Israel, gave us a second Moses, who should (under God) be our future deliverer from the bondage and tyranny of haughty Britain.'"  (pg. 102)

Harriet Tubman "the Moses of Her People"

"The Founding Fathers chose the Exodus as their theme in an attempt to make their lives better.  The slaves needed it to make their lives worth living."  (pg. 107)

Uncle Tom, the character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's book

"On the page he may have been a Christian symbol of martyrdom, but once he entered the culture as the face of American slavery, Uncle Tom became a Mosaic call to action."  (pg. 152)

President Abraham Lincoln

For his part in freeing America of that "peculiar institution" of slavery.

Daniel Boone, the "Moses of the West"

Lead people further into the country so they could settle "the Promised Land" (pg. 148)

Lady Liberty

"'The Moses story is about the tension between freedom and law,' ... 'between the exhilaration of the Exodus moment followed by the constriction of the Sinai moment.  And it seems to me that you can see this tension in the Statue of Liberty, from the broken chain at her feet to the tablet in her right arm to the light around her head. She perfectly embodies the American story - and the Mosaic story.'" (pg. 187)

Emma Lazarus

A nonreligious aristocratic New York City Jew, she became interested in her faith when Jews from Eastern Europe fled persecution for the United States.  She penned The New Colossus as an expression of what the Statue of Liberty, what America should mean to oppressed people from other lands.

"A society must gauge its worth not by power, the statue insists, but by how it treats its strangers." (pg. 191)




You may find this next addition out-of-place on the list since he's not typically thought of as a religious figure.

Recognize the 'Moses' in this picture?

Jews "began converting Moses into a pillar of American identity" perhaps because their "'greatest fear was that America would become a Christian nation. ... By emphasizing Moses, they showed that Jews belonged here as well. Jews were fortunate that so many American Protestants were Old Testament-focused.'"

Some left-wing Jews even suggested Judaism change its name to Mosaism, "in part because Moses was perceived to be a more appealing figure to Christians.  Many Jews had a sense that the words Jew and Judaism had negative connotations.'"

Yep, it's Uncle Sam!

"Exactly when the United States was becoming more religiously diverse, Jews subtly redefined what it meant to be American. Instead of a Christian country, they insisted, America was a biblical country. Moses played a key role because he resonated with Protestants and Jews. Jews belonged to the United States, they said, because America and Judaism had the same source: Moses." (pg. 200)


Any surprises?  Which is your favorite?  Do you agree with these choices?  Which is most interesting to you? Who would you take off the list? Add to it? Any other thoughts or observations?