Judge Not...

"I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." - Acts 10:34-35.

That line in the Book of Acts was spoken by St. Peter as he visited the home of a sympathetic Roman military officer. After all, that officer was not a practicing Jew and never would be. Nor was he a believer in Jesus. But Peter said that wasn't the point.

And, I'm sure, that line doesn't mean much to someone of another faith, or no faith at all. But I have always taken great comfort from it and have since I was a kid sitting in St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Pasadena, Texas.

As I listened to sermons about salvation and faith, I wondered, "Yeah, but what about all those other folks? "

I thought about those whose religious tradition was handed down, like mine, by generations of parents and clergy whose faith had a different name. I wondered about some rice farmer in China who never heard of Christianity but was a good man, loving with his family, generous to those in need and obedient to his God, whatever name for the Almighty he used. Doesn't he get a break?

Well, Peter says he does.

Years ago, a good friend I knew from my work in broadcasting, who is Jewish, invited my wife and me to take part in a series she was teaching in her synagogue school in Houston. Essentially, talk a bit about our beliefs and answer questions. I had a couple of revelations from that visit, no pun intended.

First, I told Karen, I need to learn a lot more about my own church as these kids grilled us pretty thoroughly, though kindly. I also found great pleasure when one of them asked us what the Lord's Prayer was. I recited it, and he answered...

"Well, that's a pretty good prayer."

It was only then it dawned on me that anyone can say it. It isn't specifically Christian.

But it also hit me, as we sat in the synagogue's kitchen having a cup of coffee after class, and I looked into the sanctuary, how hard actual conversion is. If I walked up to that pulpit and told everyone that what they've been taught all their lives was wrong and I have the real info for them, I'd be, hopefully, only laughed out of the room. The same would have happened in my own church as well.

We take this stuff seriously.

I have good friends who are Christian, Jewish and Muslim, along with those who are atheist and agnostic. Frankly, I've always jokingly considered being agnostic as a kind of milk toast atheism. Like being a kamikaze co-pilot.

And when we have talked about faith, it isn't to convert, but to learn. And that quote from Peter is always on my mind. Because if you look at the three major faiths, they differ on some important details, but the essentials are similar.

I interviewed Jimmy Carter once for his book "The Blood of Abraham" which is about the Israeli-Palestinian struggle and the fact that they are both descended from Abraham. They are both Semites. And that he thought, was a supreme irony. But irony or not, that is still a dividing line.

Ironically, the book was a gift to me years ago by a Muslim man who was the owner of an oil business in the town where I grew up, Pasadena.

Over the centuries though, we have seen some, in all three faiths, take extreme and violent positions, sadly act on them and justify it all in the name of God. If you look at the tenets of all three faiths, war is only justifiable for self defense, religious freedom or against severe oppression. Well, we've expanded that list to include outright hate.

And do we haul up the banner of God to justify horrendous acts? Of course we do. None are blameless. We see it almost daily in the Middle East. It's getting hard to justify calling it the "Holy Land" these days.

But we are also seeing the hate and misrepresentation of other faiths here at home? Sadly, yes.

In some quarters, among both Democrats and Republicans, disapproval of some actions by the government of Israel has morphed into outright antisemitism. It is becoming a fairly pervasive concern on the left as some Democratic politicians and just plain folks on the street have made it a religious problem.

Do we feel that way about the UK, France, Germany when we disapprove? If you are upset with China, do you hate all Buddhists? If you have a problem with the government of Cuba, is it a Catholic problem?

We don't make that leap with any other country, so why, if you think Netanyahu is a jerk, is it a Jewish issue? And now, particularly here in Texas, the Republican party line is we don't want Muslims and their religion. The rationale, if you can call it that, seems to be a suspicion that they are A-all terrorists, or B-want us all to live under Muslim law.

Neither, of course, are true. The Constitution forbids any other legal system being used and other than wanting to worship in their own building, no one is running into the local Presbyterian church passing out leaflets for the local mosque.

Well, OK, there is a disturbing trend toward Arabic numbers in math class.

Terror? Here is a summary by the Center for Strategic and International Studies a Washington think tank...

The data show three notable trends. First, right-wing attacks and plots accounted for the majority of all terrorist incidents in the United States since 1994. In particular, they made up a large percentage of incidents in the 1990s and 2010s. Second, the total number of right-wing attacks and plots has grown substantially during the past six years. In 2019, for example, right-wing extremists perpetrated nearly two-thirds of the terrorist attacks and plots in the United States, and they committed over 90 percent of the attacks and plots between January 1 and May 8, 2020. Third, although religious extremists were responsible for the most fatalities because of the 9/11 attacks, right-wing perpetrators were responsible for more than half of all annual fatalities in 14 of the 21 years during which fatal attacks occurred.

But if you listen to Texas politicians, that guy in your office with a beard and an accent is a budding Osama Bin-Laden wannabee. Of course, that Democrat in the next cubicle probably wants to encourage your kids to change sexes, if you believe the hype.

And that's it. These two issues have a lot of MAGA folks in a serious twisted-knickers-DefCon-1 situation and here's an interesting new development.

My wife tells me that Tillamook Cheese is very good. I'd never know since I am cheap and always buy the Walmart brand. But it has been a premium brand cheese from Oregon since 1909, and a lot of folks swear by it. Well, until now.

I have learned there's something called rennet and that is an enzyme that makes cheese turn milk into, well, cheese. You can get it from animals or plants. But if you use animal enzymes, you can't be considered Kosher, or Halal, which is the Muslim dietary equivalent. They are somewhat similar. Back to that blood of Abraham thing.

And Tillamook, being an actual business, wants to gain as many customers as possible, and put off as few as possible. So, 10 years ago, they switched to the plant variety, added Kosher and Halal labels, and now pleased everyone, including vegetarians. Nearly 90% of cheese makers use this enzyme and are therefore religiously allowed, but somehow this is different to the booboisie.

Again, that change was 10 years ago, in 2016.

But some MAGA guy finally got around to actually reading the label and noticing the Halal approval and decided the company was caving to Jihadists. No, really. It doesn't matter that Nestle, Kraft, Heinz, even Paul Prudhomme spices and others carry the same label, Tillamook, of all people, were terror sympathizers or something. I mean, those cheese bombs can do serious damage. Some comments...

Jack Hibbs, a pastor at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in California and host of the show Real Life who endorsed Trump in the 2024 election, posted photos of Tillamook cheese and a halal certification label, writing, "WHY WHY WHY Mr. Tillamook & Family did you cave to Muslim influences?"

And...

“When you see brands with that label on it, they are essentially catering to those people,” one woman said in a now-viral video, telling her followers that she, as a Christian, tries to avoid halal food as much as possible.

Why this is a religious issue for some people is simply beyond me. I have zero doubt when people buy Hebrew National hot dogs, they are not contemplating converting to Judaism, they just know that they are good. But apparently if you make your kid a grilled cheese sandwich with Tillamook, he will go radical on you.

I know I say it a lot, but this is where we are now. With anti-DEI malarkey, nonsensical charges of communism and religious prejudice floating around, it's 1950 all over again. When do the hearings start this time?

The latest Bo French episode with his bigoted observations about Asians, Jews, and Muslims, and the lack of pushback from the Governor and Senate nominee, you have to assume they are afraid of voter pushback. And that speaks volumes about those voters they fear. And you know what? He will no doubt win the race for Railroad Commissioner.

And, look. As I mentioned before, those people on the left who equate any wrongful act by the government of Israel as evidence of Jewish evil are just as bigoted as Bo French. And let's face it, hating Jews is a time-honored tradition in some sectors of America. Seeing it rear its ugly head is sad in so many ways.

So Republicans and Democrats, clean up your own houses. Your Muslim, Jewish, Asian, or Mexican neighbors aren't the problem. They want what you want: a good life for them and their kids.

And the freedom to worship on whatever day of the week works for them. You know, that thing that's in the Constitution.

It sounds like a good place to start a conversation.