Blog
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
Things looked rosy at the Disney Studio in 1938. Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs was boffo at the box office, and a new star was born. His name: Dopey. Meanwhile, Disney’s original meal ticket, Mickey Mouse, was stumbling.
SCIENTOLOGY RELIGION
A few months ago I reconnected with an old, incredibly close friend of mine from my long-gone youth, a friend who had a major impact on my teenage life. Our reconnection conversation was a satisfying look back that gave me a renewed appreciation of my life looking forward.
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
A few days later, the Rabbi found a package on his front walk containing anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi pamphlets and a card reading: “The KKK is watching you, scum.”
TOLERANCE
This lawyer wanted my friend to make a generalization about two groups of people rather than allow her to judge the case by the individuals concerned.
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
“Wait!!” Remini shouted. “Not THAT! Anything but THAT!! I’ll take fire and brimstone instead! Please! Mercy!”
TOLERANCE
One cannot, in fact, be a devout Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu or Buddhist and still wish to do harm to those who believe differently (or choose not to believe at all).
SCIENTOLOGY RELIGION
So my solution to this is, when someone asks me about a few upset ex-Scientologists out there complaining, I just “do the math” with them.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Dr. Mootoo did not waver in his assessment of what had happened: the vast majority of Jonestown residents were victims of murder, not suicide. The bodies he examined had not died by drinking fruit punch, poisoned or otherwise. Death, he said, came via hypodermic injections.
MEDIA & ETHICS
We eventually won that particular battle—and many others. But we didn’t win it by waiting for newspapers to say nice things about us.
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
You’ll find modern versions of these supremacists in the audiences of the likes of Jerry Springer, Tosh.0, South Park, Samantha Bee, Bill Maher, SNL and nearly every Comedy Central show.
