It’s hardly surprising, but Sweden’s Pentecostal churches and Orthodox synagogues refuse to marry same-sex couples. Newspaper Sydsvenska Dagbladet runs an article about this today. The Mission Covenant Church of Sweden seems to be undecided while the Masorti synagogue in Stockholm welcomes same-sex couples. “As Jews, we know what it means to be discriminated against, so we should not be the ones to discriminate others,” says Lena Posner-Körösi of the Jewish Community in Stockholm.

I often link to articles written in Swedish. It annoys some readers. To them I recommend Google Translate. Type in the URL and read the article in your own language.

Åsa Linderborg is the new hero of the extreme left and extreme right alike.

Using an atomic force microscope, scientists have revealed the chemical bonds within a molecule and imaged its atoms.

An attempt to write a witty headline. Anyhow, Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang is back in orbit after a successful takeoff a few hours ago.

A short video about the fight for marriage reform in Israel. Of course, what is not mentioned in this video clip is that Israel, unlike all other countries in the Middle East, does recognize same-sex marriages. Like the secular or interfaith heterosexual couples, gay Israelis must get married abroad.

Most of my friends in Israel travelled abroad to get married. Not because that all had to, but because they did not feel comfortable with an Orthodox rabbi.

(Via Religion and State in Israel.)

According to legend, Germany was founded exactly 2,000 years ago this September. In year 9 CE, Germanic tribesmen slaughtered three Roman legions in a battle that marked the birth of the German nation. Hermann was the man who led the rebellion and drove the Romans out of Germania.

The legend was used by Hitler’s propagandists, which makes contemporary Germany a bit uncertain on how to mark the anniversary.

Despite opposition from the Roman Catholic Church, lawmakers in Uruguay have approved a bill allowing same-sex couples to adopt children. Good news!

Åsa Linderborg, Aftonbladet's cultural editor, says liberals are feeding the extremists by accusing her newspaper of anti-Semitism. To suggest that Aftonbladet’s blood-libel article resembles Nazi propaganda is wrong, she sobs in a self-pitying article. But Ms Linderborg is herself no stranger to that comparison. Two weeks ago, she compared Göran Hägglund, Sweden’s Minister for Health and Social Affairs, to leading Nazis. She did so because Hägglund made a speech that suggested he doesn’t care much for the likes of her.

So, according to Linderborg, it is unfair to link an article that portrays Jews as bloodthirsty organ thieves to Nazi propaganda and classic anti-Semitism, but it is all right to compare an outspoken critic of contemporary cultural journalism to Joseph Goebbels.

“We cannot allow evil to prepare the mass death of innocents,” Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said yesterday during a visit to the site of the 1942 Wannsee conference in Berlin. He also said that one lesson Israel drew from the Holocaust was that threats to its existence could not go unchallenged and thus must be suppressed.

Reminds me of the most famous quotation from Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Update: Turns out the Burke quote may not be authentic.

Progressive and Masorti Judaism are by far the biggest Jewish denominations in the Diaspora. Still, Israel’s religious authorities refuse to acknowledge these movements. Instead, the Orthodox pretend that the split of Judaism into various movements is a modern phenomenon and that their own interpretation of Jewish law (Halacha) is superior and more correct.

It would be easy to ignore all this had it not been for the impact it has on non-Orthodox Jews who wish to live in Israel. The Orthodox are doing everything in their power to humiliate those who they do not consider Halachic Jews. I know people who lived their entire life as Jews only to have that status taken away by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate on some technicality.

Theologically, the Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem is as absurd an institution as the Catholic Holy See in Rome. At least that is my view. But Ya’acov Margi, Israel’s religious affairs minister, defends the discrimination of non-Orthodox Jews.

In my view, Israel ought to rid itself of all state-funded religious institutions and embrace Jews of all denominations equally.

“The dental identification is not done yet, but I think the person to the right is Åsa Linderborg.”

(Åsa Linderberg is the editor of Aftonbladet’s cultural section and the person who allowed the now world-known article about Jews killing Palestinians for body parts.)

I just checked the statistics for this blog and was happily surprised to see that the number of feed subscribers is at a record high. However, the number of visitors to the website are down from a year ago. All in all, about 1,000 people read this blog on an average day. Most readers live in the United States, followed by Sweden, Britain, Israel, and the Netherlands. Considering my own background and the topics dealt with here, it is no coincidence these countries are in the top five.

Experts believe there is a good argument for recommending that boys be circumcised, but new research has found that some of the medical benefits of circumcision do not apply to gay men:

Circumcision, which has helped prevent AIDS among heterosexual men in Africa, doesn’t help protect gay men from the virus, according to the largest U.S. study to look at the question.

The research, presented at a conference Tuesday, is expected to influence the government’s first guidance on circumcision. Circumcision “is not considered beneficial” in stopping the spread of HIV through gay sex, said Dr. Peter Kilmarx, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, the CDC is still considering recommending it for other groups, including baby boys and high-risk heterosexual men.

Well, in my opinion, a nicer looking penis that smells better is a good argument for gay men to get cut. And using a condom becomes so much easier without the foreskin.

The brother of late president John F. Kennedy and one America’s most famous senators is dead.

Yet another extremist Christian with zero knowledge of Jesus’s philosophy.

Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress, writes an open letter to the people of Sweden.

On 17 August, Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet published a disgusting article by freelance reporter Donald Boström who claimed that the Israeli army kills young Palestinians to harvest their organs. The article is purely speculative and no evidence is presented. However, the mother and friends of one acclaimed victim is quoted as saying that the Israeli army is in fact taking the organs from killed Palestinians.

Today, Jerusalem Post published an interview with the people quoted in the Aftonbladet article. It turns out the reporter lied about his interview with them. The mother denies that she has told any foreign journalist that her son’s organs had been stolen.

(Picture of Donald Boström is a self-portrait made available for the press by his publisher.)

Update: The Palestine Chronicle publishes an English translation of Boström’s article. The picture accompanying the article is rather, well, interesting.

Update: Shoshana Chen thinks the Israeli consumer boycott of Swedish goods is inappropriate and predicts it will end in failure:

The failure of political boycotts is especially common when dealing with items that are considered attractive because of their price or quality and are consumed over a long period of time. This is true for virtually all Swedish brands being targeted, most of which are not even easily identifiable as Swedish.

This is basically the same problem Europe’s communists have when they argue for a boycott of Israel. They refuse to buy the easily identifiable oranges from Israel, but they cannot refrain from the price-worthy computers, television sets, and mobile telephones that contain parts made in Israel.

The Swedish article accusing Jews of killing Palestinians to steal their organs is only the latest of many similar stories. Some of the most popular ones are about Simon of Trent, William of Norwich, Hugh of Lincoln, and Andreas of Rinn, who were all Christian boys said to be victims of ritual Jewish sacrifice.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has a research centre with more information about blood libel against Jews.

For some reason is the idea of Jews harming boys very popular in Europe. Whenever circumcision is debated, quite a few people tend to say similar things to demonize Jews and Jewish customs.

The tendency toward demonization of strangers is spreading like swine flu.

Adi Dvir wants Israel to see sense. And he is right. The best thing would be to simply ignore the silly tabloid report about Israeli soldiers harvesting the organs of dead Palestinians. Next time Aftonbladet publishes an anti-Semitic article—which they most certainly will do—the Israeli government should simply make a statement objecting to it and then let it be.

Unfortunately, things have gotten out of hand now Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has demanded that the Swedish government issues a condemnation. That is a silly demand. Sweden’s centre-right government has nothing to do with the socialist tabloid that published the anti-Semitic article. Furthermore, according to Sweden’s constitution, government ministers are not allowed to interfere in such matters.

I wonder how this will end...

A new opinion poll suggests that nearly half of all Israelis would accept a gay prime minister.

Things did not go according to the communists’ plan yesterday when residents of Rosengård—an immigrant neighbourhood in Malmö, Sweden—decided they had had enough of the visiting revolutionaries and chased them away from the area.

More in Swedish here, here, here, here, and here.

An Orthodox rabbi has taken the initiative to a Halachic ruling that would allow for “a religious gay man, who is committed to keeping mitzvahs, marry a woman with the understanding that he is not physically attracted to her and that whatever children they have together will be conceived either artificially or through sexual relations that will have only that target.” The man will be allowed to maintain a relationship with his gay partner on the condition that he will not have forbidden sexual intercourse with him.

In an Orthodox context, this is a big step forward, but in my reading of the Torah, I find nothing that suggests gay relationships are not kosher. What the Torah says is that men should not lie with a male as men lie with a woman. To understand what this means one must read what the Torah says about how men lie with women. If we do that, we see a number of rules that are specific to heterosexual relationships. This should guide gay men who wish to be observant Jews. The rule is simply for gay men not to treat their male lovers as women.

This picture doesn’t make the breathtaking view justice, but I post it anyway. I visited the Horst of Halland (Hallandsåsen in Swedish) today and snapped this picture in the rain before I left.

On Wednesday, 19 August, footballers playing for the Swedish-Jewish club SK Hakoah were attacked by several members of the audience during a match with Swedish-Kosovan club Kosova IF. None of the clubs has any other explanation than anti-Semitic sentiments among the Kosova supporters.

Meanwhile, Israel’s ambassador to Sweden has been summoned by Sweden’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs to discuss an article in newspaper Aftonbladet claiming Israeli soldiers harvest the organs of dead Palestinians.

This is Sweden in 2009. Jewish footballers are attacked in public and the media spreads millennium-old anti-Semitic fantasies about Jews engaging in ritual slaughter of Gentiles.

This is sickening. He killed 270 innocent people and Libya’s socialist regime treats him like a hero:

The only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing returned home Thursday to a cheering crowd after his release from a Scottish prison—an outrage to many relatives of the 270 people who perished when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded.

President Barack Obama said the Scottish decision to free terminally ill Abdel Baset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds was a mistake and said he should be under house arrest. Obama warned Libya not to give him a hero’s welcome.

Despite the warning, thousands of young men were on hand at a Tripoli airport where al-Megrahi’s plane touched down. Some threw flower petals as he stepped from the plane. He wore a a dark suit and a burgundy tie and appeared visibly tired.

He was accompanied by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, who was dressed in a traditional white robe and golden embroidered vest. The son pledged last year to bring al-Megrahi home and raised his hand victoriously to the crowd as he exited the plane.

More here.

Timothy Kincaid finds the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s new social statement of sexuality to be “an admirable step in the direction of full inclusion.” I am inclined to agree.

Carlo Strenger: “If you listen to the left’s explanations of Palestinian behaviour, you might easily conclude that Israel is omnipotent and that Palestinians have no self will.”

Read the article in full here!

(Via Isak Aasvestad’s blog.)

Newt Gingrich: “When I smoked pot it was illegal, but not immoral. Now, it is illegal and immoral. The law didn’t change, only the morality. That’s why you get to go to jail and I don’t.”

The Australian record industry is charging fitness clubs in New Zealand for music played during aerobics lessons. That is a brilliant way to lose support for copyright protection. The people trying to get money for music used in gyms are idiots.

In 2006, an American court upheld the right of closeted gays to remain trapped in miserable and loveless heterosexual marriages for the rest of their lives. At lest according to The Onion’s bogus list of court cases that marked key victories for the gay movement in America.

Barack Obama has changed his mind. His administration now says a federal marriage law discriminates against gays. Meanwhile, lawyers working for the United States government continue to defend it.

Idolization of a conservative woman set to the music of a convicted child molester. Worse part is that the video is not meant to be ironic.

Hundreds of gay men have been killed in Iraq, Human Right Watch says in a new report. Gay Iraqi men are being murdered in a coordinated campaign involving militia forces. “These killings will continue, because it has simply become normal in Iraq to kill gay men,” says one anonymous gay man.

I have learned a new word today. From The Economist:

Astronomers’ latest estimates put the age of the universe at about 13.7 billion years. That is three times as long as the Earth has existed and about 100,000 times the lifespan of modern humanity as a species. The true size of the universe is still unknown. Its age, and the finite speed of light, means no astronomer can look beyond a distance of 13.7 billion light-years. But it is probably bigger than that.

Nor does reality necessarily end with this universe. Physics, astronomy’s dutiful daughter, suggests that the object that people call the universe, vast though it is, may be just one of an indefinite number of similar structures, governed by slightly different rules from each other, that inhabit what is referred to, for want of a better term, as the multiverse.

Quite a few philosophers of religion would argue that this multiverse is God. Not the God that spoke to Moses or fathered Jesus, but man’s original idea of God—the not scientifically acceptable answer to the question of what is beyond our world.

Many people hate political correctness. To be politically correct, it seems, is to give in to populism and not stand up for what one truly believes. But what is political correctness? Well, the Cambridge Dictionary definition suggests that it is simply a matter of common politeness:

politically correct adjective

1. describes someone who believes that language and actions which could be offensive to others, especially those relating to sex and race, should be avoided
2. describes a word or expression that is used instead of another one to avoid being offensive

Why are so many conservatives and libertarians hostile to political correctness? What is so great about hurting people’s feelings?

A new opinion poll published today shows growing voter support for the racist and homophobic Sweden Democrats. About 5.6 per cent of surveyed voters now say they would vote for the party.

Swedish national radio has interviewed me about the HIV prevention project I am engaged in. The interview will be broadcast tomorrow morning as part of a segment on the morning show P1-morgon.

A new Danish survey suggests that men who have a sperm count of over forty million per millilitre live longer than other men do. And an Israeli study from 2003 shows that men can increase their sperm count with many regular ejaculations. Contrary to popular belief, abstinence and chastity is not good for bettering one’s sperm quality.

This is good news. A daily sexual routine is not only pleasurable; it is good for your sperm quality and increases your life expectancy, too.

Painting by surrealist artist Samy Charnine. I’m a new fan.

Lars Bohlin writes (in Swedish) about how he was hit to the ground by a homophobe who disapproved of him hugging a friend.

The Haredi community in Israel hates gay people. Well, it’s not only gays they hate—it’s just about everybody. In I discussion I once had with a man from the community, I made the mistake to refer to the Masorti and Progressive movements as Jewish denominations. The man went mad and began an hour-long angry monologue about how these movements have destroyed Israel and Judaism. In his opinion, secular Jews were better that Progressive Jews.

But I think it is fair to say that the Haredim hate gays more. Of course, it all dates back to the homophobic Torah interpretation that became popular in Jewish circles about two thousand years ago. That was when the Sodomites became homosexuals to the then modern clergy.

Israeli media reports that a Haredi man by the name Shmuel Preimark was arrested after making threats to the large rally against homophobia held in Tel Aviv on Saturday. In emails, he promised more victims in a second attack on the gay community.

Another Haredi man, Aryeh Yerushalmi, was arrested for wearing a T-shirt saying “Homos, We Are Tired of You” at the rally. Oh, I know plenty of Jews who are more than tired of the Haredim. Perhaps a T-shirt with that message would sell well.

Postscript: Mr Yerushalmi is known for undressing in public. If he ever decides to protest a gay event again, I would urge him to go back to stripping.

Yesterday, a week after a gunman killed two people at a gay youth centre, tens of thousands Israelis gathered in central Tel Aviv in a peaceful show of solidarity.

I am opposed to any limitation to free speech. Even people who hate other people should be allowed to express their hatred. But this liberty is not unproblematic. Hate speech does create violence. Anyone who refuses to see the link is either a naïve idealist or someone who knows nothing about human history. In any case, I think Forward’s Jay Michaelson puts it quite well:

First, demagogues use incendiary rhetoric to inflame passions against a group or individual. Next, a “lone gunman” attacks the target(s) of that rhetoric. Then, the same demagogues who fanned the flames in the first place condemn the attack, express shock—shock!—that such a thing could ever have happened.

Sound familiar?

Most recently, of course, this pattern has unfolded in connection with the August 1 attack on a gay youth group in Tel Aviv. Leaders of the Shas party — who had denounced gay people for “carrying out the self-destruction of Israeli society and the Jewish people” (Knesset member Nissim Ze’ev), called them “toxic as bird flu” (same) and accused them of, get this, causing earthquakes (former health minister Shlomo Benizri) — are now bending over backwards to express how shocked they are that someone might take their words so seriously.

The writer is also right about another thing further down the article. When it comes to homophobic violence, the closet itself is part of the problem.

Ronald Reagan:

How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.

Red Youth, a Norwegian communist organization, has decided to send money to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a Marxist terror group responsible for death of many Jews. European left-wing organizations such as Red Youth are actively supporting terror attacks targeting civilians. They are responsible for the death of innocent people and should be treated as the criminals they are.

People protesting Barack Obama after he encouraged Americans to rat on people opposed to his healthcare reform.

More here.

Spambots may have their uses after all.

The rabbis will recite tehillim, blow shofarot, and recite other tikunim as an act in response to the spread of the illness.

Less than two weeks after Iceland formally applied to join the European Union, an opinion poll shows that a majority of 48.5 per cent opposes a EU membership. Personally, I think the Icelanders would make a big mistake if they turned down membership.

Since I began to blog four years ago I have received quite a few emails from cracy people—most of them from religious people who have made it their occupation to preach homophobia. But some of them have been quite amusing, too. However, they are rarely as funny as those published on the blog Emails from Crazy People. Here are two examples:

After reading my entry about xenophobia in the Swedish debate on male circumcision, a reader has some questions about my opinion on the matter. I try to answer him.

You did not say whether you were for or against circumcision, but you sounded sympathetic towards its legal status. I am curious though: Isn’t the gender equality one of the most sacred ideals in Swedish society. If gender-neutral marriage is right, why not a gender neutral ban on genital mutilation?

Gender equality is important. It is not only a sacred ideal in Sweden but also a fundamental belief of all progressive denominations within contemporary Judaism. However, to deny the physical difference between the sexes is something else. Female genital mutilation is motivated by power and control. It deprives women of the possibility to experience an orgasm. I know some people say circumcised men are equally deprived sexual pleasure. Had it been true, every society that practices male circumcision would die out.

Secondly, you mention hostility towards Muslims, Jews and foreigners. This most certainly is true. Ethnic Swedes do not live in Rosengård or Tensta: they vote against multiculturalism in everyday life by fleeing and blocking immigrants. Isn’t tolerance of circumcision also a form of flight? The thought is “let those people do as they wish with their children, because we don’t care enough about their rights to fight for them.” Furthermore, isn’t there some measure of cowardice here? The Swedish authorities have poor relations with ethnic communities and banning circumcision might spark conflict, don’t you think?

The beauty of tolerance is that we can coexist with people whose behaviour we dislike—or simply cannot understand. To avoid totalitarian tendencies, democratic societies must control themselves and not allow one group to make laws that oppress others. It is true that some ethnical and traditional Swedes might not care enough about minorities to fight for them, but I think a far more common problem is that caring about others is used as an excuse for self-righteous intolerance.

A ban of circumcision would undoubtedly spark huge ethnical conflicts. Swedes in general don’t realize how important this is to Jews and many Muslims.

Some of the children who are being circumcised may grow up wanting or wishing for another identity than the one their parents dreamed of. A boy whose parents fled from Iraq or Afghanistan may turn out to be gay and reject Islam. They may even—are you allowed to do it?—reject his ethnic identity and wish to be a European cosmopolitan with penis intact.

A Jewish boy might grow up to be an atheist who wants nothing to do with Judaism. But he is still a Jew. Being a Jew is so much more than belonging to a religious community. Being a Jew is to have a nationality and an ethnicity and be part of a people.

But yes, it is true that some men might want their circumcision undone. But I think the same could be said about many things of one’s childhood. It is an inescapable reality that small children are the subjects of their parents.

After Ali G, Borat, and Brüno—British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen will play a spoof European pop star in his next film.

A study entitled “As Long As They Keep Away from Me” from the University of Amsterdam shows that homophobic violence is still quite common in the Netherlands. The Amsterdam police say about seventy gay-bashing attacks a year are reported in the Dutch capital, and during late week’s Gay Pride some vandal had painted “Homos Go to Hell” in large letter on a bride along the parade route.

I know I posted a picture of the same Danish church only a few days ago, but I like this photo better.

In an article published on Ynetnews, Madonna writes about how she found a “belief system” that answered her big questions.

That’s my spin on the news that Pax Bank has apologized to its customers for investing in a company that produces contraceptives.

You can paint your face yellow and still be virtuous. It is ridiculous to suggest that people who dance in streets during Gay Pride cannot strive to achieve greater goals in life.

Nir Katz (picture) and Liz Troubishi were shot to death by a masked gunman at a gay centre in Tel Aviv yesterday. Segments of the extreme left in Sweden cannot hide their joy. But luckily, these perverted psychopaths are a tiny minority even within the hardcore communist camp. Most people, in Israel and elsewhere, condemn the terror attack, and the hunt for the killer is on. Meanwhile, the orthodox community might be in for a big debate on homosexuality following the attack in Tel Aviv. That would be very welcome indeed.

Many of the thirty-four radio stations ordered to shut down by the Venezuelan government went off the air yesterday as part of Hugo Chávez’s plan to rid the country of opposition to his socialist rule. Chávez says he “recovered a bunch of stations that were outside the law, that now belong to the people and not the bourgeoisie.” In socialist terminology “the people” is synonymous to the regime and the man at the top.

Update: Swedish blogger Björn Pedersen writes more about de facto dictator Chávez here.

At least two people killed and several wounded in violent attack on Tel Aviv gay club. It is said to be the worst homophobic hate crime in Israel ever.

I had promised an online friend to post some pictures of today’s Pride Parade through Copenhagen. I’m sorry to say that I failed to take any pictures.

Via David Bernstein I found this article by Noah Pollak. This part says what I have written about here many times:

The organization regularly calls for arms embargoes against Israel and claims it commits war crimes for using drones, artillery and cluster bombs. Yet on Israel’s northern border sits Hezbollah, which is building an arsenal of rockets to terrorize and kill Israeli civilians, and has placed that arsenal in towns and villages in hopes that Lebanese civilians will be killed if Israel attempts to defend itself. The U.N. Security Council has passed resolutions demanding Hezbollah’s disarmament and the cessation of its arms smuggling. Yet while Human Rights Watch has criticized Israel’s weapons 15 times, it has criticized Hezbollah’s twice.

In the Middle East, Human Rights Watch does not actually function as a human-rights organization. If it did, it would draw attention to the plight of Palestinians in Arab countries. In Lebanon, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are warehoused in impoverished refugee camps and denied citizenship, civil rights, and even the right to work. This has received zero coverage from the organization.

In 2007, the Lebanese Army laid siege to the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp for over three months, killing hundreds. Human Rights Watch produced two anemic press releases. At this very moment, Jordan is stripping its Palestinians of citizenship without the slightest protest from the organization. Unfortunately, Human Rights Watch seems only to care about Palestinians when they can be used to convince the world that the Jewish state is actually a criminal state.

The problem is not only the Human Rights Watch. It is just about all coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For some strange reason, most human-rights organizations have opted for this double standard.