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June 25, 2006
A Righteous Rabbi
Just like there are "Righteous Gentiles," there are many righteous Jews. Rabbi Stephen Julius Stein of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple is apparently one of them. In his Los Angeles Times piece, Islam's Ann Coulter, Rabbi Stein makes a very considerate criticism of the anti-Islamic propaganda carried out by the Syrian-born ex-Muslim psychiatrist Wafa Sultan.
Mrs. Sultan seems to have grown a self-hatred similar to that of Ayaan Ali Hirsi, the Somali-born Dutch parliamentarian and scenarist of the controversial film, Submission. Both critiques of Islam seem to direct their bad experience with some Muslims to the religion itself. It is very heartening to see that equitable non-Muslims such as Rabbi Stein — and Judea Pearl, the father of the murdered journalist Daniel Pearl, whose objection to Mrs. Sultan is mentioned in Rabbi Stein's piece — don't buy into and stand against such unjust Islam-bashing.
"We need the thoughtfulness, self-awareness and subtlety that comes from progressive religious expression," says Rabbi Stein, "[and] we have that in Judaism, in Christianity — and in Islam." He is right and righteous indeed.
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at June 25, 2006 9:03 PM
I just read the article in the LA Times and I am very happy to have read such a great piece. Rabbi Stein is an admirable person, for he puts the truth (as I see it) in excellent and clear words. I think people like him are a great example, and I wish that many people will follow his steps by being attentive, thoughtful and dedicated to peace. It is truly both soothing and inspiring to hear his opinion in these days.
Posted by: florian at June 28, 2006 12:20 PM