more on religion

In a somewhat related note to what I had to say about Richard Dawkins last week, Ben Shapiro (of the cruddy conservative Town Hall) is a pompous jack-ass.

In defending Ann Coulter (never a good start) for remarks that struck me as condescending at best and antisemitic at worst, Shapiro comes up with this paragon of tolerance for diversity:

But for most liberal Jews, authentic Judaism is an afterthought. These Jews are born Jewish, but they don't think Jewish, and they certainly don't act Jewish. When American Jews are identified as a demographic group, observers should note that the vast majority of them do not practice authentic Judaism -- they practice secularism.

Dude. It's not up to you to decide who gets to call themselves Jewish or not. I'm not one to advocate that anyone who says they're Jewish is Jewish (see, for example, Jews for Jesus). But I do recognize that the Jewish community is a bigger tent than my brand of Judaism, and I'm cool with that.

Ben, apparently, is not. For Ben, Jews can't make accusations of antisemitism unless they themselves embrace "authentic Jewish values." Two things. First, why on earth is there a restriction on the people who can point out and criticize antisemitism? What does one's own relationship with Judaism have to do with the ability to recognize persecution? Second, who gets to decide these authentic Jewish values? Our friend Ben Shapiro? I'd rather not have to follow that path...