One thing I find grating about women in general and most female Jewish singles columnists (Teresa Strasser is the big exception) in particular is that they think they're so wonderful.
Here's an example from Esther D. Kustanowitz: "Occasionally someone — usually my mother — will ask me why I, a vibrant, intelligent, attractive and witty Jewish writer, am still single."
The spinsterhood of these women, including Chayyei Sarah, is always laid at the feet of big bad dumb men. Rarely do I read or hear any genuine introspection over the possibility that these women, like men, might have flaws that stand between them and marriage.
I think this is the flip side of the female's greatest fear - that she is not worthy of love. Those who particularly doubt their worthiness are the ones most driven to constantly and publicly lay claim to their worthiness.
(A male's greatest fear is lack of competence. Hence he doesn't like to ask strangers for driving directions, even when lost.)
I have many parts of me that I have to fight to be a decent person (yeah, I know, I'm losing the battle). Any man who is real about himself knows that he has the capability to be a rapist unless he fights himself (to give one example of moral struggles that men have).
I rarely encounter a woman who's in touch with her own struggle to be decent. When I ask women about their moral struggles, they will say things like, I give too much. I'm too trusting.
In short, I'm too wonderful.
"He's Just Not That Into You."
Rabbi Gadol writes: And speaking of which, why do so many women (like this Kustanowitz person) think that what men really want is a devastatingly witty female version of Woody Allen? I find it tiresome to banter all the time with a woman who thinks sarcasm is a virtue (when the concept itself appears nowhere in the Torah). What I want is a woman who is kind, smart, seems like she'd make a great mom to my kids (and is young enough to MAKE said kids), and gives me erections now and then when I am thinking of her. Oh, and one more thing: Jewish women in particular wait too long to marry. The Jewess needs to appreciate that she is not a bottle of fine wine that only gets better with age no matter what her spinster friends may be telling her. She needs to start thinking about what sort of man she ought to be looking for as soon as she clears puberty, find said man, and seek to be married to him by age 23 - just like virtually all of the generations of women who preceded her.
PS Do Palestinians or Mexicans have "dating coaches" or singleton columnists? Nope. They are too busy having children, and lots of them.
Sunday, September 12, 2004
Is Luke Ford a Genius? (Part 2)
From the Luke Ford Fan Blog:
This is part two of three blog posts that will form the basis of my new book, Luke Ford: Genius or Retard, which will be published later this year by iUniverse Press. Surprisingly strong sales of the e-book versions of XXX-Communicated and The Producers reveal a huge demand for writings by, and about, Luke Ford. iUniverse has asked me to help serve this market with an unauthorised biography, generously offering an advance of $300,000. I agreed. Who says that there is no money to be made from blogging. And unlike Jessica Cutler, I don't have to take my clothes off! Not that I'm opposed to nudism; in fact, like Rebecca Schoenkopf, I'm an enthusiastic exhibitionist. It's just that no-one wants me to strip to help promote my book.
[Noam] Chomsky and Ford are both handsome, charismatic moral leaders. Both are prolific writers (Chomsky of political pamphlets; Ford of narcissistic blog entries). Both are Jews (Chomsky real and self-loathing; Ford pretend and self-loving [figuratively and literally]). And both have numerous celebrity followers (Chomsky: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Bono; Ford: Raquel Devine, Heather Hornay, Fluffy Cumsalot).
This is part two of three blog posts that will form the basis of my new book, Luke Ford: Genius or Retard, which will be published later this year by iUniverse Press. Surprisingly strong sales of the e-book versions of XXX-Communicated and The Producers reveal a huge demand for writings by, and about, Luke Ford. iUniverse has asked me to help serve this market with an unauthorised biography, generously offering an advance of $300,000. I agreed. Who says that there is no money to be made from blogging. And unlike Jessica Cutler, I don't have to take my clothes off! Not that I'm opposed to nudism; in fact, like Rebecca Schoenkopf, I'm an enthusiastic exhibitionist. It's just that no-one wants me to strip to help promote my book.
[Noam] Chomsky and Ford are both handsome, charismatic moral leaders. Both are prolific writers (Chomsky of political pamphlets; Ford of narcissistic blog entries). Both are Jews (Chomsky real and self-loathing; Ford pretend and self-loving [figuratively and literally]). And both have numerous celebrity followers (Chomsky: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Bono; Ford: Raquel Devine, Heather Hornay, Fluffy Cumsalot).
Better People
I want to create a magazine called Better People - devoted to the development of character. Instead of Better Homes & Gardens, Better People will concentrate on how we can be finer, kinder, stronger, more moral. I envision an ecumenical magazine that atheists, religious and secular people of all stripes can get behind.
Saturday, September 11, 2004
Missionary Positions
On a humid 85 degree sunny Friday, I walk down Sunset Blvd to a screening room. I spot Pastor Craig Gross and his assistant Jason, John, a religion reporter for The New York Times, and Bill Day (director of the documentary on the XXXChurch.com, Missionary Positions).
When Craig and his fellow pastor Mike Foster began their project, they went to Larry Flynt Publications, Girls Gone Wild and Wicked to see if they could find areas where they could all agree and cooperate (such as to keep kids away from p---). Nobody gave them the time of day, says Craig. Wicked had to be nice to them because there was a reporter from MSNBC there.
"We took the rabbit and balloons," says Craig. "Girls Gone Wild was pissed. It was probably not a good time to visit them because they were not doing well in the news. We got through security and to their door. Bill was videotaping. We got in there and one of their reps came out and put his hand to the camera and said, get out of here. We said, we're just trying to help kids stay away from porn. We hit a dead end.
"Larry Flynt's secretary said, I'm sure Larry would be interested. Here's his card. Call for an appointment. We called and called and got the run-around."
Then James DiGiorgio wrote them about a year ago, and the rest was history (they received enormous media attention for their cooperation on a PSA warning kids away from p---).
"Mike and I haven't recovered from p---," says Craig. "We were never addicted. Our ministry isn't about that.
"We've trying to motivate the church to get off the pews and do something about p---. We complain about all these bad movies. Let's make a good one."
Craig and Mike are married with kids. Their spouses Jennifer Foster and Jeanette Gross support their work "but when it comes into the house, as far as people getting a hold of your home phone number and calling, such as the Little People of America... Or when we go to church and my wife is sitting in the car and they call the cops [because the car is covered with XXXChurch messages]."
"Why would you drive that to church?"
"To let people know. Our wives like it until [their personal lives are disrupted].
"We found that JimmyD is probably a more responsible parent [about protecting his kids from smut] than most Christian parents. He doesn't bring it into the home.
"Jimmy and I did a debate on Lee Strobel's show, Faith under Fire on PAX. We were supposed to debate each other but Jimmy and I have respect for each other and we didn't debate once. Lee and Jimmy ended up going at it. Lee ripped Jimmy a new one. Jimmy came right back at him. I thought, this is no good. This is arguing and tearing each other down."
This girl who worked at Playboy for 18 years came on the show as a victim. She posed for Playboy. She said it made impossible for her to find a good man. Every man wants to marry a virgin. Jimmy disagrees. He says every man wants to marry a p--- star.
Tyler Cash wrote:
Suddenly, the ex-centerfold rushed at Jimmy, her arms swinging wildly as she screeched, “Playboy took advantage of me! Some guy met me in Santa Monica and offered me a lot of money to pose. I was weak and I agreed. They shattered my innocence, destroyed my life, and ruined my marriage!"
DiGiorgio, who’s Dad always taught him to never strike a woman, simply quoted from the ex-Bunny’s bio: "Wait a minute! You worked for Playboy for 18 years, right? At what point, in all that time, did they take advantage of you and destroy your life? Was it AFTER you were divorced and AFTER you were no longer employed by Playboy that you came to that conclusion?”
...............
Craig and Mike have had booths at four porn conventions -- twice at Erotica LA and twice at the AVN show in Las Vegas in January. "People love it," says Craig. "People stand in line to take pictures with the rabbit. They're like, I've got to know more. People wanted to get a photo with the banner. Most everybody knows somebody who goes to church. People always ask, is there p--- on there?
"Our approach is so different. We have a rabbit. We have postcards that say, Jesus loves porn stars. We don't look like professional pastors. The p--- stars want pictures with the rabbit. Sometimes they touch the rabbit where they shouldn't. That's my wife in there.
"The [p---] girls are on all display. Deep down inside, these girls are just kids. They see a rabbit. They want a picture. They don't want to spread their legs."
Craig's friend Ryan Dobson, the author of two books and the son of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, drives up. He has a ton of Christian tattoos (his father does not approve).
Ryan's speaker profile.
Tyler Cash walks up. Jimmy's employer. His shirt is unbutton to his navel. Tyler says he spent 22 years in Hollywood but saw the profit potential in p--- three years ago, and created Smash Pictures.
I ask Craig when he got his ears pierced. He says high school.
"What would Jesus say?"
Craig: "I don't think he'd have a problem with it. He had long hair and a beard. My Christian high school had a problem with it. I had to take them out."
He also has a tattoo on his lower leg, a flame.
Luke: "James Dobson took a far out position. He said masturbation is ok."
Craig: "I don't think he would hang out at a porn show... We're not for masturbation. We say it is a selfish act that pleases no one but you."
Ryan says his tattoos are a formal expression of his faith in Christ. "I was born to testify to the truth," is tattooed across his chest.
James DiGiorgio walks up. "Those black socks," he says to me. "You look like the biggest dork I've ever seen. Those shoes [black heavy], unbelievable."
Pastor Craig Gross used to lecture before future Vivid girl Michelle Michaels when she was in Calvary Chapel Redlands High School.
Craig: "I'm at Erotica LA. The first year. My wife's in this rabbit suit. This porn star walks up and says, I know you. Imagine what my wife is thinking.
"At the time, [Michelle Michaels] didn't have a contract with anybody. She just had a cheap business card. She said I spoke at her school. I spoke for a week. I said, what are you guys doing here? They said, I'm her booking agent. I'm her manager. She says, I've just done my first film. She'd just graduated that June. That was two years ago.
"I have it on tape. She tells me, I know God's pissed off at me but I don't care right now. It's about me. I'm just doing this for a while. Eventually, I will get back to him. I asked Jimmy how to get a hold of her for this reality show we're doing. I did a search. She's done 28 movies.
"Like many of the girls in the industry, she doesn't want to be in it.
"She just wants a taste. I hope and pray that Michelle ends this thing. I'd like to sit down with her and talk with her some more. It's a sad story."
We walk into the screening room. I chat with Mike Foster's parents. They're proud of their son's work.
Bill Day, director, talks about religion and pornography.
"A match made in heaven," says Jimmy.
The documentary runs 85 minutes.
It opens with various media clips about the XXXChurch.
Mike: "One day I was praying in the shower and God spoke to me. He said the word porn. We need to do something. A church that only exists on the Internet."
Craig: "As soon as I heard that Web address, it just clicked."
Mike: "Craig, what do we know about p---? We're not qualified."
Craig's wife Jeannette Gross: "I called him on my cell phone. I was concerned. It came out of the blue."
Craig: "We spent most of our early time just staring at a blank screen. How is this Web site going to help people? We just kept going back to the same issue -- that porn sucks. What does it mean that porn sucks?"
Mike: "Our research consisted of...going to Google, type in the word anti-p---, go to the Web sites, stole all their facts, and put them on our Web site."
The pastors went to Amsterdam for three days to check out the red light district. They took along Bill Day to videotape everything. They interviewed a hooker. They interviewed a woman who was previously married to a man addicted to p---.
They interview a man who just bought a trick.
"Do you think she was happy doing what she was doing?"
"No way in the world," he says. "She was just processing a McDonald's hamburger."
Craig: "There's a ministry in [rural] Kentucky called Pure Life Ministry [started by ex-LAPD cop Steve Gallagher]. They have a six month live-in program for guys who struggle with sexual addictions. We've labeled it p--- prison."
There's no TV, radio or newspapers.
The documentary tells the story of Ray, a man who became addicted to p--- at age 12. "An older boy taught me to masturbate to p---."
Ray: "I went into a public restroom and I was arrested for masturbating in a public restroom."
His wife found out. She tried to help him. But Ray was an addict. They divorced. "Suicide was an option."
At the AVN show, Susan Block lectures the pastors that the "Testament" in "New Testament" comes from testicles. She prances around after making her points.
The pastors are next to Violet Blue's booth. She looks at them skeptically.
Some porners touch the pastor's bunny inappropriately. One says he wants to "f--- the bunny."
Pastor Mike seems discouraged. "We just spent a thousand dollars and a heckuva lot of time. Did we move any people from the dark side to the light side? How the hell did I get here? I'm a pastor. I've got a great job. They pay me a lot of money. I've got a lot of cool friends. I've got two cool kids at home. What am I doing at Erotica LA for three days?"
Craig: "We talked to a lot of people. We didn't get the press we were hoping for but nobody did. We didn't even make the news."
Christian billionaire Jack London gives Mike $50,000 for his XXXChurch. Jack doesn't seem to have a clue about what XXXChurch is about.
Craig's friend John talks about his p--- addiction. John is at the screening with a cute blonde. He spent eight months at Pure Life Ministry in Kentucky.
"I don't want to get close to a girl because I have this problem with porn...and she'll look down on me because of it. Do I want my porn more or do I want my girlfriend more?"
John says half of the people in the Pure Life program got kicked out or left in the middle of the night.
The pastors buy a sign tugged across the sky by a plane. "XXXChurch: The number one Chritian porn site."
They shoot a commercial with Eddie the Midget. They say that porn stunts growth. Little People of America take great exception. They begin harassing the pastors. They dig up their tax returns. They threaten to have them audited.
Mike: "They told us that they had four little people who worked for the IRS and they proved it by producing our tax returns. We had to write a formal apology to the Little People of America and make the ad disappear forever."
They get booked on "Praise the Lord" on TBN. They fly out to Nashville. Tape the show. Send out emails to tell people to watch the show. TBN doesn't play the show and won't explain why.
Mike: "It seems like the only media we got was early-morning shockjocks and be the butt of every joke they wanted to tell us."
Mike on his phone for an interview tells the camera, "He's masturbating on the radio while looking at our Web site."
Later, Mike is stuck in an airport. "We're supposed to be fighting p--- here. Does it look like I am fighting p---? I am going around the country telling people not to masturbate and watch p---."
James DiGiorgio admits that he has selfish motives for shooting the XXXChurch's 30-second promo for free. "It's not that I'm trying to promote p---. I'm trying to promote JimmyD."
Craig: "He seems pretty hostile to his industry.
"People who are getting sucked down need harder and harder material to get off to, so people like JimmyD are forced to push the envelope."
The documentary goes to a scene of JimmyD shooting a gaper.
Jimmy: "I wish I could delete files in my head. I've seen things I wish I hadn't seen and I've done things I wish I hadn't done."
Pat Robertson's 700 Club TV show sends a crew out to interview the pastors and Jimmy at Hustler Hollywood.
Craig: "This was such a big deal for us because the Christian community hadn't embraced us to this point."
The 700 Club runs a promo for the segment on the next day's show. Craig says, "We're just going to a place where Jesus would go." Pat Robertson saw it. Pat turned his assistant and said, 'Jesus would never go to a p--- show.'
The story vanished but showed up one day when Pat was taking a vacation.
Jimmy says he lost work over his directing the anti-p----for-kids PSA. "You can't flunk out of porn. I'm part of this family. There will always be work for me."
Pastor Mike drops out of the XXXChurch.
Craig says Mike tends to quit everything he tries after a couple of years. Mike admits that is true.
The two pastors rejoin forces to go on TechTV.
Host: "Do you think p---ography is a blight on society?"
Mike: "Do you think sitting at a computer with your pants around your ankles watching some hot chick doing a donkey, is there a problem?"
Host: "You wouldn't want to do it every night of the week."
After the documentary, I talk to people in the room. Everyone seemed to like it, from the p--nographers to the pastors to their parents to Mike's wife Jennifer.
The documentary is intended for Sundance.
Jimmy says his son's great great uncle is Carey Estes Kefauver, who headed the anti-Mafia hearings of the 1950s.
"Jimmy has a lot of Mob ties," I say.
"No, I don't," says Jimmy.
I ask Ryan Dobson, "How would your dad like this film?"
"He would love the message but he would get hung up on some of the cursing and some of the scenes. He loves the idea of XXXChurch."
The pastors have done Dr. Dobson's radio show.
The pastors say a tamer version of the film would make it acceptable for some churches to view.
Craig: "TBN wasn't just friendly to us, they were overtly friendly. They were over the top. We came home and thought we'd have a show on TBN. And then to come home and have a TBN party at our house and put on our Web site to watch TBN...and there was a rerun. I'm calling the prayer line and apparently Jan [Crouch, owner of the network along with her husband Paul], the lady with the big purple hair, pulled the plug at the last minute. That was the worst [media] experience.
"Mike got more hung up on the shock jocks than I did. He refused to do any more radio. I do them all."
Craig talks about his time in "porn prison," aka Pure Life Ministry. "We went from Amsterdam to that. We're hanging out at the barbeque [at Pure Life for the weekend]. I think they think Bill [Day] is part of us. Out of the blue, we hear Bill say, 'What is this s---?' You don't cuss around this crowd. Everyone stopped their conversation. Bill's like, 'I can't say that here?'
"I'd rather be in Amsterdam, but not in the red light district.
"Twenty miles outside of Amsterdman is a place [the government has set up] for all the [hookers] who aren't legal can go. Our taxi cab driver told us about this place. He charged us $60 to drive out there. It's three degrees. One a.m. Sunday morning. We drive a mile off the freeway and we see all these brake lights. As soon as you turn right, there are girls here. Transvestites. Guys. These girls or guys are half price [compared to the red light district] but you don't know what you're getting.
"You drive in, roll down your window, and pick a girl up. Then you get to the end of the stop, and there are about 75 car ports and that's where you have sex. You see the steamed-up windows, cars moving, kleenexes and crap outside the car. We're not talking Pintos. We talking Jaguars, Lexuses, Porsches.
"We couldn't shoot footage. There were guys patrolling. When you watch Wild on E! or Wild on Amsterdam, the results of that red light district are 20 miles outside of town. The guy in the Jaguar is driving out there because he can't afford 50 [Euros]. It's because he's ashamed of what he's doing and his problem has drug him out to the darkest place you've ever seen.
"There's nothing tempting to me about this world.
"There's a giant church in the middle of Amsterdam's red light district where John Calvin used to preach. That's where the taxies pick up passengers and drop off. The Christians could've impacted their city but it became just a building. It has no relevance. While you can have sex for 50 Euros or do drugs, it is illegal to share your faith in groups of more than two.
"They rent out the church for $5,000 a day. The last event held there was the Gay Olympics.
"When you tell people you are going to the red light district, they say, meet us at the church. That's our challenge in the United States. Our churches are great buildings, but if we don't get out of 'em, this is what is going to happen here."
I talk to Pastor Ryan Dobson about the book, The Cross and the Switchblade, a favorite during my youth. Ryan says he grew up with Nicky Cruz's (Run, Baby, Run) daughter. Both books were read to my class in Seventh Day Adventist school in eighth grade.
I ask Ryan if he believes in eternally burning hellfire. He says yes, for anyone who does not accept Jesus Christ.
I ask him if he's ever met anyone who's just as fervent in his belief in God, and just as religious and good, as himself, but is not a Christian. He says no. He says he doesn't know any Orthodox Jews.
Ryan snacks on pork. He says Jesus has released him from the law.
None of the pastors seem to have much interest in Israel.
Craig: "This movie will not be embraced by the Church. If you water it down, it's still not going to win [over the establishment Christian church].
"Bill doesn't pick a side but he represents our side well."
Who's more interesting to hang out with? Saints or sinners?
Craig: "Sinners. Saints are boring."
How far do you think Christian youth should be able to go in physical interaction before they marry?
Ryan: "If you're doing more than kissing, you're sinning.
"Soon after I got married, I wished that I kissed less people.
"I say, girls, somewhere out there is your husband and tonight he's going out with another girl. And girls immediately get mad. And you're going out with someone else's husband tonight. How are you going to behave?
"Guys, your wife is out there. She is with a guy right now. Do you want them to get to first base or second base? Act accordingly when you are on your date."
When Craig and his fellow pastor Mike Foster began their project, they went to Larry Flynt Publications, Girls Gone Wild and Wicked to see if they could find areas where they could all agree and cooperate (such as to keep kids away from p---). Nobody gave them the time of day, says Craig. Wicked had to be nice to them because there was a reporter from MSNBC there.
"We took the rabbit and balloons," says Craig. "Girls Gone Wild was pissed. It was probably not a good time to visit them because they were not doing well in the news. We got through security and to their door. Bill was videotaping. We got in there and one of their reps came out and put his hand to the camera and said, get out of here. We said, we're just trying to help kids stay away from porn. We hit a dead end.
"Larry Flynt's secretary said, I'm sure Larry would be interested. Here's his card. Call for an appointment. We called and called and got the run-around."
Then James DiGiorgio wrote them about a year ago, and the rest was history (they received enormous media attention for their cooperation on a PSA warning kids away from p---).
"Mike and I haven't recovered from p---," says Craig. "We were never addicted. Our ministry isn't about that.
"We've trying to motivate the church to get off the pews and do something about p---. We complain about all these bad movies. Let's make a good one."
Craig and Mike are married with kids. Their spouses Jennifer Foster and Jeanette Gross support their work "but when it comes into the house, as far as people getting a hold of your home phone number and calling, such as the Little People of America... Or when we go to church and my wife is sitting in the car and they call the cops [because the car is covered with XXXChurch messages]."
"Why would you drive that to church?"
"To let people know. Our wives like it until [their personal lives are disrupted].
"We found that JimmyD is probably a more responsible parent [about protecting his kids from smut] than most Christian parents. He doesn't bring it into the home.
"Jimmy and I did a debate on Lee Strobel's show, Faith under Fire on PAX. We were supposed to debate each other but Jimmy and I have respect for each other and we didn't debate once. Lee and Jimmy ended up going at it. Lee ripped Jimmy a new one. Jimmy came right back at him. I thought, this is no good. This is arguing and tearing each other down."
This girl who worked at Playboy for 18 years came on the show as a victim. She posed for Playboy. She said it made impossible for her to find a good man. Every man wants to marry a virgin. Jimmy disagrees. He says every man wants to marry a p--- star.
Tyler Cash wrote:
Suddenly, the ex-centerfold rushed at Jimmy, her arms swinging wildly as she screeched, “Playboy took advantage of me! Some guy met me in Santa Monica and offered me a lot of money to pose. I was weak and I agreed. They shattered my innocence, destroyed my life, and ruined my marriage!"
DiGiorgio, who’s Dad always taught him to never strike a woman, simply quoted from the ex-Bunny’s bio: "Wait a minute! You worked for Playboy for 18 years, right? At what point, in all that time, did they take advantage of you and destroy your life? Was it AFTER you were divorced and AFTER you were no longer employed by Playboy that you came to that conclusion?”
...............
Craig and Mike have had booths at four porn conventions -- twice at Erotica LA and twice at the AVN show in Las Vegas in January. "People love it," says Craig. "People stand in line to take pictures with the rabbit. They're like, I've got to know more. People wanted to get a photo with the banner. Most everybody knows somebody who goes to church. People always ask, is there p--- on there?
"Our approach is so different. We have a rabbit. We have postcards that say, Jesus loves porn stars. We don't look like professional pastors. The p--- stars want pictures with the rabbit. Sometimes they touch the rabbit where they shouldn't. That's my wife in there.
"The [p---] girls are on all display. Deep down inside, these girls are just kids. They see a rabbit. They want a picture. They don't want to spread their legs."
Craig's friend Ryan Dobson, the author of two books and the son of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, drives up. He has a ton of Christian tattoos (his father does not approve).
Ryan's speaker profile.
Tyler Cash walks up. Jimmy's employer. His shirt is unbutton to his navel. Tyler says he spent 22 years in Hollywood but saw the profit potential in p--- three years ago, and created Smash Pictures.
I ask Craig when he got his ears pierced. He says high school.
"What would Jesus say?"
Craig: "I don't think he'd have a problem with it. He had long hair and a beard. My Christian high school had a problem with it. I had to take them out."
He also has a tattoo on his lower leg, a flame.
Luke: "James Dobson took a far out position. He said masturbation is ok."
Craig: "I don't think he would hang out at a porn show... We're not for masturbation. We say it is a selfish act that pleases no one but you."
Ryan says his tattoos are a formal expression of his faith in Christ. "I was born to testify to the truth," is tattooed across his chest.
James DiGiorgio walks up. "Those black socks," he says to me. "You look like the biggest dork I've ever seen. Those shoes [black heavy], unbelievable."
Pastor Craig Gross used to lecture before future Vivid girl Michelle Michaels when she was in Calvary Chapel Redlands High School.
Craig: "I'm at Erotica LA. The first year. My wife's in this rabbit suit. This porn star walks up and says, I know you. Imagine what my wife is thinking.
"At the time, [Michelle Michaels] didn't have a contract with anybody. She just had a cheap business card. She said I spoke at her school. I spoke for a week. I said, what are you guys doing here? They said, I'm her booking agent. I'm her manager. She says, I've just done my first film. She'd just graduated that June. That was two years ago.
"I have it on tape. She tells me, I know God's pissed off at me but I don't care right now. It's about me. I'm just doing this for a while. Eventually, I will get back to him. I asked Jimmy how to get a hold of her for this reality show we're doing. I did a search. She's done 28 movies.
"Like many of the girls in the industry, she doesn't want to be in it.
"She just wants a taste. I hope and pray that Michelle ends this thing. I'd like to sit down with her and talk with her some more. It's a sad story."
We walk into the screening room. I chat with Mike Foster's parents. They're proud of their son's work.
Bill Day, director, talks about religion and pornography.
"A match made in heaven," says Jimmy.
The documentary runs 85 minutes.
It opens with various media clips about the XXXChurch.
Mike: "One day I was praying in the shower and God spoke to me. He said the word porn. We need to do something. A church that only exists on the Internet."
Craig: "As soon as I heard that Web address, it just clicked."
Mike: "Craig, what do we know about p---? We're not qualified."
Craig's wife Jeannette Gross: "I called him on my cell phone. I was concerned. It came out of the blue."
Craig: "We spent most of our early time just staring at a blank screen. How is this Web site going to help people? We just kept going back to the same issue -- that porn sucks. What does it mean that porn sucks?"
Mike: "Our research consisted of...going to Google, type in the word anti-p---, go to the Web sites, stole all their facts, and put them on our Web site."
The pastors went to Amsterdam for three days to check out the red light district. They took along Bill Day to videotape everything. They interviewed a hooker. They interviewed a woman who was previously married to a man addicted to p---.
They interview a man who just bought a trick.
"Do you think she was happy doing what she was doing?"
"No way in the world," he says. "She was just processing a McDonald's hamburger."
Craig: "There's a ministry in [rural] Kentucky called Pure Life Ministry [started by ex-LAPD cop Steve Gallagher]. They have a six month live-in program for guys who struggle with sexual addictions. We've labeled it p--- prison."
There's no TV, radio or newspapers.
The documentary tells the story of Ray, a man who became addicted to p--- at age 12. "An older boy taught me to masturbate to p---."
Ray: "I went into a public restroom and I was arrested for masturbating in a public restroom."
His wife found out. She tried to help him. But Ray was an addict. They divorced. "Suicide was an option."
At the AVN show, Susan Block lectures the pastors that the "Testament" in "New Testament" comes from testicles. She prances around after making her points.
The pastors are next to Violet Blue's booth. She looks at them skeptically.
Some porners touch the pastor's bunny inappropriately. One says he wants to "f--- the bunny."
Pastor Mike seems discouraged. "We just spent a thousand dollars and a heckuva lot of time. Did we move any people from the dark side to the light side? How the hell did I get here? I'm a pastor. I've got a great job. They pay me a lot of money. I've got a lot of cool friends. I've got two cool kids at home. What am I doing at Erotica LA for three days?"
Craig: "We talked to a lot of people. We didn't get the press we were hoping for but nobody did. We didn't even make the news."
Christian billionaire Jack London gives Mike $50,000 for his XXXChurch. Jack doesn't seem to have a clue about what XXXChurch is about.
Craig's friend John talks about his p--- addiction. John is at the screening with a cute blonde. He spent eight months at Pure Life Ministry in Kentucky.
"I don't want to get close to a girl because I have this problem with porn...and she'll look down on me because of it. Do I want my porn more or do I want my girlfriend more?"
John says half of the people in the Pure Life program got kicked out or left in the middle of the night.
The pastors buy a sign tugged across the sky by a plane. "XXXChurch: The number one Chritian porn site."
They shoot a commercial with Eddie the Midget. They say that porn stunts growth. Little People of America take great exception. They begin harassing the pastors. They dig up their tax returns. They threaten to have them audited.
Mike: "They told us that they had four little people who worked for the IRS and they proved it by producing our tax returns. We had to write a formal apology to the Little People of America and make the ad disappear forever."
They get booked on "Praise the Lord" on TBN. They fly out to Nashville. Tape the show. Send out emails to tell people to watch the show. TBN doesn't play the show and won't explain why.
Mike: "It seems like the only media we got was early-morning shockjocks and be the butt of every joke they wanted to tell us."
Mike on his phone for an interview tells the camera, "He's masturbating on the radio while looking at our Web site."
Later, Mike is stuck in an airport. "We're supposed to be fighting p--- here. Does it look like I am fighting p---? I am going around the country telling people not to masturbate and watch p---."
James DiGiorgio admits that he has selfish motives for shooting the XXXChurch's 30-second promo for free. "It's not that I'm trying to promote p---. I'm trying to promote JimmyD."
Craig: "He seems pretty hostile to his industry.
"People who are getting sucked down need harder and harder material to get off to, so people like JimmyD are forced to push the envelope."
The documentary goes to a scene of JimmyD shooting a gaper.
Jimmy: "I wish I could delete files in my head. I've seen things I wish I hadn't seen and I've done things I wish I hadn't done."
Pat Robertson's 700 Club TV show sends a crew out to interview the pastors and Jimmy at Hustler Hollywood.
Craig: "This was such a big deal for us because the Christian community hadn't embraced us to this point."
The 700 Club runs a promo for the segment on the next day's show. Craig says, "We're just going to a place where Jesus would go." Pat Robertson saw it. Pat turned his assistant and said, 'Jesus would never go to a p--- show.'
The story vanished but showed up one day when Pat was taking a vacation.
Jimmy says he lost work over his directing the anti-p----for-kids PSA. "You can't flunk out of porn. I'm part of this family. There will always be work for me."
Pastor Mike drops out of the XXXChurch.
Craig says Mike tends to quit everything he tries after a couple of years. Mike admits that is true.
The two pastors rejoin forces to go on TechTV.
Host: "Do you think p---ography is a blight on society?"
Mike: "Do you think sitting at a computer with your pants around your ankles watching some hot chick doing a donkey, is there a problem?"
Host: "You wouldn't want to do it every night of the week."
After the documentary, I talk to people in the room. Everyone seemed to like it, from the p--nographers to the pastors to their parents to Mike's wife Jennifer.
The documentary is intended for Sundance.
Jimmy says his son's great great uncle is Carey Estes Kefauver, who headed the anti-Mafia hearings of the 1950s.
"Jimmy has a lot of Mob ties," I say.
"No, I don't," says Jimmy.
I ask Ryan Dobson, "How would your dad like this film?"
"He would love the message but he would get hung up on some of the cursing and some of the scenes. He loves the idea of XXXChurch."
The pastors have done Dr. Dobson's radio show.
The pastors say a tamer version of the film would make it acceptable for some churches to view.
Craig: "TBN wasn't just friendly to us, they were overtly friendly. They were over the top. We came home and thought we'd have a show on TBN. And then to come home and have a TBN party at our house and put on our Web site to watch TBN...and there was a rerun. I'm calling the prayer line and apparently Jan [Crouch, owner of the network along with her husband Paul], the lady with the big purple hair, pulled the plug at the last minute. That was the worst [media] experience.
"Mike got more hung up on the shock jocks than I did. He refused to do any more radio. I do them all."
Craig talks about his time in "porn prison," aka Pure Life Ministry. "We went from Amsterdam to that. We're hanging out at the barbeque [at Pure Life for the weekend]. I think they think Bill [Day] is part of us. Out of the blue, we hear Bill say, 'What is this s---?' You don't cuss around this crowd. Everyone stopped their conversation. Bill's like, 'I can't say that here?'
"I'd rather be in Amsterdam, but not in the red light district.
"Twenty miles outside of Amsterdman is a place [the government has set up] for all the [hookers] who aren't legal can go. Our taxi cab driver told us about this place. He charged us $60 to drive out there. It's three degrees. One a.m. Sunday morning. We drive a mile off the freeway and we see all these brake lights. As soon as you turn right, there are girls here. Transvestites. Guys. These girls or guys are half price [compared to the red light district] but you don't know what you're getting.
"You drive in, roll down your window, and pick a girl up. Then you get to the end of the stop, and there are about 75 car ports and that's where you have sex. You see the steamed-up windows, cars moving, kleenexes and crap outside the car. We're not talking Pintos. We talking Jaguars, Lexuses, Porsches.
"We couldn't shoot footage. There were guys patrolling. When you watch Wild on E! or Wild on Amsterdam, the results of that red light district are 20 miles outside of town. The guy in the Jaguar is driving out there because he can't afford 50 [Euros]. It's because he's ashamed of what he's doing and his problem has drug him out to the darkest place you've ever seen.
"There's nothing tempting to me about this world.
"There's a giant church in the middle of Amsterdam's red light district where John Calvin used to preach. That's where the taxies pick up passengers and drop off. The Christians could've impacted their city but it became just a building. It has no relevance. While you can have sex for 50 Euros or do drugs, it is illegal to share your faith in groups of more than two.
"They rent out the church for $5,000 a day. The last event held there was the Gay Olympics.
"When you tell people you are going to the red light district, they say, meet us at the church. That's our challenge in the United States. Our churches are great buildings, but if we don't get out of 'em, this is what is going to happen here."
I talk to Pastor Ryan Dobson about the book, The Cross and the Switchblade, a favorite during my youth. Ryan says he grew up with Nicky Cruz's (Run, Baby, Run) daughter. Both books were read to my class in Seventh Day Adventist school in eighth grade.
I ask Ryan if he believes in eternally burning hellfire. He says yes, for anyone who does not accept Jesus Christ.
I ask him if he's ever met anyone who's just as fervent in his belief in God, and just as religious and good, as himself, but is not a Christian. He says no. He says he doesn't know any Orthodox Jews.
Ryan snacks on pork. He says Jesus has released him from the law.
None of the pastors seem to have much interest in Israel.
Craig: "This movie will not be embraced by the Church. If you water it down, it's still not going to win [over the establishment Christian church].
"Bill doesn't pick a side but he represents our side well."
Who's more interesting to hang out with? Saints or sinners?
Craig: "Sinners. Saints are boring."
How far do you think Christian youth should be able to go in physical interaction before they marry?
Ryan: "If you're doing more than kissing, you're sinning.
"Soon after I got married, I wished that I kissed less people.
"I say, girls, somewhere out there is your husband and tonight he's going out with another girl. And girls immediately get mad. And you're going out with someone else's husband tonight. How are you going to behave?
"Guys, your wife is out there. She is with a guy right now. Do you want them to get to first base or second base? Act accordingly when you are on your date."
Immigration Position Forthcoming
Chaim Amalek informs me that he is hard at work formulating a simple yet sensible position on the question of immigration. Once articulated on wifey blog, it will become the official position for the entire Luke Ford Family of Blogs.
My Shabbos Queen has just left me. Sad, but for the knowledge that unlike so many other women in my life, she will return in a six days.
My Shabbos Queen has just left me. Sad, but for the knowledge that unlike so many other women in my life, she will return in a six days.
Friday, September 10, 2004
Momentous Moments
Rabbi Avi Shafran, public affairs director for Agudath Israel (right-wing Orthodox group), writes:
Who'd have imagined that the "Days of Repentance" between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur would conjure thoughts of Howard Dean?
Even with memories as short as so many are these days, most of us can still pretty vividly recall the Vermont governor and unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. He was, for a time, the focus of quite a media feeding frenzy; his photograph graced the covers of newsmagazines and his every pronouncement was prominently reported.
As was his crash and burn, precipitated by what some have dubbed his "I Have a Scream" speech. After an unexpectedly weak showing in the Iowa caucus, the candidate declared his undeterred determination to forge on, in a rousing address that culminated in a vocalization that fell somewhere between a Zulu war cry and a locomotive horn. It proved to be his political undoing. That single moment's decision to let loose in that way at that juncture spelled the end of Mr. Dean's road to the highest office in the land.
Decisively dooming moments seem almost endemic to presidential candidates: Edmund Muskie's tears of pain, Gary Hart's infelicitous mugging for his "Monkey Business" snapshot, Michael Dukakis's donning of an ill-fitting combat helmet. Each, deservedly or not, brought a national campaign to a screeching halt.
But every of us, too, comes face to face from time to time with opportunities of our own that, wrongly handled, can likewise lead to places we don't want to go.
And we, in fact, are vying for something infinitely more important than a mere nomination for President. We're in the running, hopefully, for the achievement of worth, racing to achieve meaning in our lives.
In the bustle and haste of everyday existence, it is alarmingly easy to forget that the decisions we make, sometimes almost unthinkingly, can be crucial; that seemingly insignificant forks in the roads of our lives can lead to achievement and holiness, or, G-d forbid, to setbacks, even ruin.
Every single decision we make, of course, is important. Each day of our lives presents occasions for choices, chances to seize meaningful things - a mitzvah, a heartfelt prayer, an act of charity - or to forgo them. Every opportunity to be morose or angry is a chance to hurt others, and ourselves - and a chance, too, to do neither, and achieve something priceless.
But there are also truly momentous opportunities, when we are presented with roads that diverge in entirely different directions. The Talmud teaches that "one can acquire his universe" - the one that counts: the world-to-come - or "destroy" it "in a single moment."
Potentially transformative decisions are more common to our lives than we may realize. When we decide things like where to live or what synagogue to attend - not to mention more obviously critical decisions like whom to marry or how to raise and educate our children - we are defining our futures, and others'. And it is of great importance that we recognize the import of our decisions, and accord the gravity due them.
We can even, through sheer determination, create our own critical moments. Consider the Talmudic case of the "conditional husband."
In Jewish law, a marriage is effected by the proposal of a man to a woman - the declaration of the woman's kiddushin, or "specialness" to her husband, followed by the acceptance by the woman of a coin or item of worth from her suitor. If the declaration is made on the condition that an assertion is true, the marriage is valid only if the assertion is. Thus, if a man betroths a woman on the condition that he owns a car, or still has his own teeth, unless he does, they aren't married.
What if a man offers a woman a coin or item and makes the kiddushin-declaration "on the condition that I am a tzaddik," a totally righteous person? The Talmud informs us that even if the man in question has no such flawless reputation the marriage must be assumed to be valid (and only a divorce can dissolve it).
Why? Because, the Talmud explains, the man "may have contemplated repentance" just before his proposal.
That determined choice of a moment, in other words, if sincere, would have transformed the man completely, placed him on an entirely new life-road. The lesson is obvious: Each of us can transform himself or herself through sheer, sincere will.
This season of the Jewish year, our tradition teaches, is particularly fertile for making choices, for embarking on new roads. All we need are the sensitivity and wisdom to be open to crucial opportunities, and the determination to craft some of our own - to make choices that will change our lives and our futures for the holier.
Who'd have imagined that the "Days of Repentance" between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur would conjure thoughts of Howard Dean?
Even with memories as short as so many are these days, most of us can still pretty vividly recall the Vermont governor and unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. He was, for a time, the focus of quite a media feeding frenzy; his photograph graced the covers of newsmagazines and his every pronouncement was prominently reported.
As was his crash and burn, precipitated by what some have dubbed his "I Have a Scream" speech. After an unexpectedly weak showing in the Iowa caucus, the candidate declared his undeterred determination to forge on, in a rousing address that culminated in a vocalization that fell somewhere between a Zulu war cry and a locomotive horn. It proved to be his political undoing. That single moment's decision to let loose in that way at that juncture spelled the end of Mr. Dean's road to the highest office in the land.
Decisively dooming moments seem almost endemic to presidential candidates: Edmund Muskie's tears of pain, Gary Hart's infelicitous mugging for his "Monkey Business" snapshot, Michael Dukakis's donning of an ill-fitting combat helmet. Each, deservedly or not, brought a national campaign to a screeching halt.
But every of us, too, comes face to face from time to time with opportunities of our own that, wrongly handled, can likewise lead to places we don't want to go.
And we, in fact, are vying for something infinitely more important than a mere nomination for President. We're in the running, hopefully, for the achievement of worth, racing to achieve meaning in our lives.
In the bustle and haste of everyday existence, it is alarmingly easy to forget that the decisions we make, sometimes almost unthinkingly, can be crucial; that seemingly insignificant forks in the roads of our lives can lead to achievement and holiness, or, G-d forbid, to setbacks, even ruin.
Every single decision we make, of course, is important. Each day of our lives presents occasions for choices, chances to seize meaningful things - a mitzvah, a heartfelt prayer, an act of charity - or to forgo them. Every opportunity to be morose or angry is a chance to hurt others, and ourselves - and a chance, too, to do neither, and achieve something priceless.
But there are also truly momentous opportunities, when we are presented with roads that diverge in entirely different directions. The Talmud teaches that "one can acquire his universe" - the one that counts: the world-to-come - or "destroy" it "in a single moment."
Potentially transformative decisions are more common to our lives than we may realize. When we decide things like where to live or what synagogue to attend - not to mention more obviously critical decisions like whom to marry or how to raise and educate our children - we are defining our futures, and others'. And it is of great importance that we recognize the import of our decisions, and accord the gravity due them.
We can even, through sheer determination, create our own critical moments. Consider the Talmudic case of the "conditional husband."
In Jewish law, a marriage is effected by the proposal of a man to a woman - the declaration of the woman's kiddushin, or "specialness" to her husband, followed by the acceptance by the woman of a coin or item of worth from her suitor. If the declaration is made on the condition that an assertion is true, the marriage is valid only if the assertion is. Thus, if a man betroths a woman on the condition that he owns a car, or still has his own teeth, unless he does, they aren't married.
What if a man offers a woman a coin or item and makes the kiddushin-declaration "on the condition that I am a tzaddik," a totally righteous person? The Talmud informs us that even if the man in question has no such flawless reputation the marriage must be assumed to be valid (and only a divorce can dissolve it).
Why? Because, the Talmud explains, the man "may have contemplated repentance" just before his proposal.
That determined choice of a moment, in other words, if sincere, would have transformed the man completely, placed him on an entirely new life-road. The lesson is obvious: Each of us can transform himself or herself through sheer, sincere will.
This season of the Jewish year, our tradition teaches, is particularly fertile for making choices, for embarking on new roads. All we need are the sensitivity and wisdom to be open to crucial opportunities, and the determination to craft some of our own - to make choices that will change our lives and our futures for the holier.
Thursday, September 09, 2004
San Francisco's Sex Culture
Why is it that when I read on article on commercial sex, it's by a Jew?
David Steinberg writes: How a DA's decision to drop prostitution charges against lap dancers will change the sexual culture of S.F. -- and, perhaps, the country
David Steinberg writes: How a DA's decision to drop prostitution charges against lap dancers will change the sexual culture of S.F. -- and, perhaps, the country
Dennis Prager Rallies Jews For Bush
Braving 80 degree temperatures and mild sunshine, about 130 people turned out Thursday afternoon, September 9, for a Bush-Cheney '04 California Jewish Coalition rally.
I spot the husband of Temple Sinai rabbi Sherre Hirsch.
Republican Jewish Coalition CA President Bruce Bialovsky, Dennis Prager and secretary Connie Friedman.
Dennis Prager (fighting off an insect on his face) and the charismatic Bruce Bialovsky
The crowd pays close attention to Prager's words
Bush supporter
Rabbi Joel Geitlin, who's forming rabbis for Bush
Two generations support Bush
This was the most fun I've had covering an event since Jill's tupperware party with 25 of her closest friends in the summer of '99. What a time that was.
I spotted three black people in the crowd. One appeared to be a pastor, another a reporter and another was a woman. I spotted a couple of asians and exactly 13 homosexuals (I have excellent gaydar and can sniff out these types from a mile away). Five people wore yarmulkes. The median age (not counting the infants) was early 40s.
I did not know about 80% of the crowd. And there was only one person there who I've dated.
There were Dennis Prager bumper stickers and Republicans for Bush stickers. I am above all that stuff. I am a non-partisan servant of the truth. I have to live like a monk, as Forward editor J.J. Goldberg enjoins. I've spent years making deposits in my moral bank account, building up my credibility, and I can't just throw it away for the fleeting pleasure of holding a placard or pasting on a sticker.
Bruce Bialovsky kicks the event off at 1:15 p.m. Then RJC secretary Connie Friedman has her two minutes. She wears a t-shirt with a big W on the back. "Bush is for women," she says. Not as much as I am, I think.
Bruce says he took Prager to Minnesota senator Norm Coleman's party last Wednesday night at the Republican convention. It was like he'd brought Bon Jovi. Norm's wife (an actress who lives in Los Angeles) was ga ga with delight to meet Dennis.
"I was stunned how many people did not know Dennis Prager and had not met him before.
"He is the single best spokesman for the Jewish community in the United States."
Prager wears a long-sleeve white dress shirt and tie.
Thursday morning, Bruce went on Prager's radio show.
Dennis addresses one enthusiastic woman in particular: "Jewish women Republicans. That's even more remarkable. Whoever is married to a Jewish woman Republican."
The woman says she is single.
"Then you should be grabbed up. If you are single, then you should be taken within a week. It's a healthy choice. I think it is deeper than politics, why people vote the way they do, especially Jews.
"Because you are standing in the sun, I will have rachmones on you, and I won't be long.
"There's a possibility of a revolution in Jewish life. I think it's a matter of the survival of Jews and of Jewish values for Jews to rethink their social, moral, and political orientation.
"Many Jews use the Democratic party and their liberalism as their religion. It is the source of meaning in their life.
"A woman in Denver wrote to me (I read it on the air yesterday) that she hates my show because I have changed her mind. She is now confused. Being a Democratic gave my life meaning.
"I don't think that for any of you being a Republican gives your life meaning. I have meaning in my life. I don't seek it in politics. I am politically involved because I don't want America to come crashing down. I want to fight bad people on this planet.
"But I don't walk around thinking, I am a Republican, that is my identity. But for Jews on the left, that is their identity. It has been true for hundreds of years.
"The most angry letters I get, filled with expletives, are from Jews. They call me a Hitler and a Nazi and that I am for Jewish destruction. I often write them back and ask what they have done for the Jewish people and I give a little resume of my work for Israel, for Soviet Jews, how many people I've brought from assimilation into a Jewish identity. What did you do so that you can call me Hitler?
"But they have to call me Hitler. They have to call George Bush Hitler. That's the only way to explain how deeply hated a conservative ought to be.
"I don't know a lot of you but I am convinced that none of you hate the Democrats as much as the Democrats hate you. We feel for them benigh contempt. You haven't thought clearly and therefore you are a Democrat.
"There's not a far gap between the way you Jewish Republicans are viewed and [the way apostates are viewed].
"You are at the cusp of a revolution within Jewish life. You are supporting a party that says many abortions are morally questionable.
"I argued on television with the former editor [Gene Lichtenstein] of the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles on television about ten years ago. I said, when you say things about abortion, it sounds like you regard the human fetus as no more valuable than a decayed tooth. He said, Dennis, that is exactly how I view the human fetus, as a decayed tooth.
"We who introduced into the world the seminal idea of the infinite value of human life are now in the vanguard of the idea that if a woman wants it, it is infinitely precious, and if she doesn’t want it, it is infinitely unprecious.
"What does compassion for the poor have to do with Democratic party policies? If you have compassion for the poor, you give them standards. You give them something to shoot for. The New York Times Sunday magazine had a story on how good welfare reform has been for people who work. They now have dignity. Isn’t dignity a Jewish value? Is it a Jewish value to take away 50% of people’s money that they honestly earn? When Jews adopted Marx rather than the Torah. That’s when it became a Jewish value.
"If giving half your money away is Jewish, than John Edwards and John Kerry should lead the way and give half of their money away. I get $1.3 billion from my wife but I pay $65,000 in taxes. I paid more money in taxes last year than John Edwards. And he has a plane and I have to fly coach. That's not fair. For me, the greatest day is to go business class. And he paid half of what I did in federal income taxes. And he is calling for an increase in my taxes. That's noble and Jewish according to Jewish Democrats. You could go berserk.
"Why is redefining marriage a Jewish position? The head of the Reform rabbinate, and I attend a Reform synagogue, and he said at Harvard last year that he supported same-sex marriage but I have to acknowledge that there is nothing in 3000 years of Jewish writing to support it. That's honest. It's the Jews who say it is a Jewish value to redefine marriage.
"It is precisely my Judaism that informs my values, that leads me to this moment.
"I was on Dennis Miller two days ago. I had this dialogue with this liberal comedian. She won't use the word 'evil' for the people who shot up children in Russia last week. She used 'whacked.'
"It's in the Garden of Eden, in the liberal translation of the Torah: The Tree of Good and Whacked.
"I just had a major liberal writer on my show for an hour. He wrote a book that religion is unnecessary for morality. Needless to say, he's a Jew.
[Sam Harris, philosopher and author of The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason. August 16.]
"He wrote a big piece on this for The LA Times. Frankly, I so demolished his arguments that he wants to come back on. He feels he didn't do well. Well, he didn't do well. And he won't do well the second trip. It's not because he's not bright. It's because you can't have his views and have them thought through.
"If you say that religion is the problem because of [Islamic terrorism], you might as well say that medicine is the problem because of all the German doctors at Auschwitz [performing inhumane experiments].
"If Jews in America change, America will change. You don't have to anti-Semitic to say that Jews have disproportionate influence in this country. Unfortunately. It's not the Jewish Jew but the non-Jewish Jew who has disproportionate influence. That's the tragedy.
"Every so often I have a dream that all Jewish college professors will take their values from the Torah rather than The New York Times."
Black man in the audience: "Black preachers too...get their values from the Bible rather than The LA Times."
Dennis: "[In New York], I was like the comedian who goes on as the warm-up act. After me it was three senators, a governor and the Vice President. I said it is time for us to acknowledge that Franklin Roosevelt can't run for a 17th term. That's why the toughest Jew to convince is the old Jew. They are still voting for Roosevelt. It doesn't matter if the guy's name is Clinton or Kerry. They're still fighting Hitler. They still think right-wing means Nazi and Christian means anti-Semite.
"My parents are now Republicans. It took them a lifetime.
"Why do they hate George Bush? Because he's a devout Christian. There's an anti-Christian bias among liberal Jews. It is a bigotry. Christians are at best morons and at worst they are racist bigoted anti-Semitic dangerous fascist morons.
"Do you think Jews put Bush in office in 2000? He owes the Jews bupkus [zilch]. Dick Cheney. It must be the Wyoming Jewish community's big effect in his life. Condoleeza Rice must be responding to the awesome pro-Israel currents in black life.
"They are pro-Israel precisely because of their conservative and Christian values."
I spot the husband of Temple Sinai rabbi Sherre Hirsch.
Republican Jewish Coalition CA President Bruce Bialovsky, Dennis Prager and secretary Connie Friedman.
Dennis Prager (fighting off an insect on his face) and the charismatic Bruce Bialovsky
The crowd pays close attention to Prager's words
Bush supporter
Rabbi Joel Geitlin, who's forming rabbis for Bush
Two generations support Bush
This was the most fun I've had covering an event since Jill's tupperware party with 25 of her closest friends in the summer of '99. What a time that was.
I spotted three black people in the crowd. One appeared to be a pastor, another a reporter and another was a woman. I spotted a couple of asians and exactly 13 homosexuals (I have excellent gaydar and can sniff out these types from a mile away). Five people wore yarmulkes. The median age (not counting the infants) was early 40s.
I did not know about 80% of the crowd. And there was only one person there who I've dated.
There were Dennis Prager bumper stickers and Republicans for Bush stickers. I am above all that stuff. I am a non-partisan servant of the truth. I have to live like a monk, as Forward editor J.J. Goldberg enjoins. I've spent years making deposits in my moral bank account, building up my credibility, and I can't just throw it away for the fleeting pleasure of holding a placard or pasting on a sticker.
Bruce Bialovsky kicks the event off at 1:15 p.m. Then RJC secretary Connie Friedman has her two minutes. She wears a t-shirt with a big W on the back. "Bush is for women," she says. Not as much as I am, I think.
Bruce says he took Prager to Minnesota senator Norm Coleman's party last Wednesday night at the Republican convention. It was like he'd brought Bon Jovi. Norm's wife (an actress who lives in Los Angeles) was ga ga with delight to meet Dennis.
"I was stunned how many people did not know Dennis Prager and had not met him before.
"He is the single best spokesman for the Jewish community in the United States."
Prager wears a long-sleeve white dress shirt and tie.
Thursday morning, Bruce went on Prager's radio show.
Dennis addresses one enthusiastic woman in particular: "Jewish women Republicans. That's even more remarkable. Whoever is married to a Jewish woman Republican."
The woman says she is single.
"Then you should be grabbed up. If you are single, then you should be taken within a week. It's a healthy choice. I think it is deeper than politics, why people vote the way they do, especially Jews.
"Because you are standing in the sun, I will have rachmones on you, and I won't be long.
"There's a possibility of a revolution in Jewish life. I think it's a matter of the survival of Jews and of Jewish values for Jews to rethink their social, moral, and political orientation.
"Many Jews use the Democratic party and their liberalism as their religion. It is the source of meaning in their life.
"A woman in Denver wrote to me (I read it on the air yesterday) that she hates my show because I have changed her mind. She is now confused. Being a Democratic gave my life meaning.
"I don't think that for any of you being a Republican gives your life meaning. I have meaning in my life. I don't seek it in politics. I am politically involved because I don't want America to come crashing down. I want to fight bad people on this planet.
"But I don't walk around thinking, I am a Republican, that is my identity. But for Jews on the left, that is their identity. It has been true for hundreds of years.
"The most angry letters I get, filled with expletives, are from Jews. They call me a Hitler and a Nazi and that I am for Jewish destruction. I often write them back and ask what they have done for the Jewish people and I give a little resume of my work for Israel, for Soviet Jews, how many people I've brought from assimilation into a Jewish identity. What did you do so that you can call me Hitler?
"But they have to call me Hitler. They have to call George Bush Hitler. That's the only way to explain how deeply hated a conservative ought to be.
"I don't know a lot of you but I am convinced that none of you hate the Democrats as much as the Democrats hate you. We feel for them benigh contempt. You haven't thought clearly and therefore you are a Democrat.
"There's not a far gap between the way you Jewish Republicans are viewed and [the way apostates are viewed].
"You are at the cusp of a revolution within Jewish life. You are supporting a party that says many abortions are morally questionable.
"I argued on television with the former editor [Gene Lichtenstein] of the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles on television about ten years ago. I said, when you say things about abortion, it sounds like you regard the human fetus as no more valuable than a decayed tooth. He said, Dennis, that is exactly how I view the human fetus, as a decayed tooth.
"We who introduced into the world the seminal idea of the infinite value of human life are now in the vanguard of the idea that if a woman wants it, it is infinitely precious, and if she doesn’t want it, it is infinitely unprecious.
"What does compassion for the poor have to do with Democratic party policies? If you have compassion for the poor, you give them standards. You give them something to shoot for. The New York Times Sunday magazine had a story on how good welfare reform has been for people who work. They now have dignity. Isn’t dignity a Jewish value? Is it a Jewish value to take away 50% of people’s money that they honestly earn? When Jews adopted Marx rather than the Torah. That’s when it became a Jewish value.
"If giving half your money away is Jewish, than John Edwards and John Kerry should lead the way and give half of their money away. I get $1.3 billion from my wife but I pay $65,000 in taxes. I paid more money in taxes last year than John Edwards. And he has a plane and I have to fly coach. That's not fair. For me, the greatest day is to go business class. And he paid half of what I did in federal income taxes. And he is calling for an increase in my taxes. That's noble and Jewish according to Jewish Democrats. You could go berserk.
"Why is redefining marriage a Jewish position? The head of the Reform rabbinate, and I attend a Reform synagogue, and he said at Harvard last year that he supported same-sex marriage but I have to acknowledge that there is nothing in 3000 years of Jewish writing to support it. That's honest. It's the Jews who say it is a Jewish value to redefine marriage.
"It is precisely my Judaism that informs my values, that leads me to this moment.
"I was on Dennis Miller two days ago. I had this dialogue with this liberal comedian. She won't use the word 'evil' for the people who shot up children in Russia last week. She used 'whacked.'
"It's in the Garden of Eden, in the liberal translation of the Torah: The Tree of Good and Whacked.
"I just had a major liberal writer on my show for an hour. He wrote a book that religion is unnecessary for morality. Needless to say, he's a Jew.
[Sam Harris, philosopher and author of The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason. August 16.]
"He wrote a big piece on this for The LA Times. Frankly, I so demolished his arguments that he wants to come back on. He feels he didn't do well. Well, he didn't do well. And he won't do well the second trip. It's not because he's not bright. It's because you can't have his views and have them thought through.
"If you say that religion is the problem because of [Islamic terrorism], you might as well say that medicine is the problem because of all the German doctors at Auschwitz [performing inhumane experiments].
"If Jews in America change, America will change. You don't have to anti-Semitic to say that Jews have disproportionate influence in this country. Unfortunately. It's not the Jewish Jew but the non-Jewish Jew who has disproportionate influence. That's the tragedy.
"Every so often I have a dream that all Jewish college professors will take their values from the Torah rather than The New York Times."
Black man in the audience: "Black preachers too...get their values from the Bible rather than The LA Times."
Dennis: "[In New York], I was like the comedian who goes on as the warm-up act. After me it was three senators, a governor and the Vice President. I said it is time for us to acknowledge that Franklin Roosevelt can't run for a 17th term. That's why the toughest Jew to convince is the old Jew. They are still voting for Roosevelt. It doesn't matter if the guy's name is Clinton or Kerry. They're still fighting Hitler. They still think right-wing means Nazi and Christian means anti-Semite.
"My parents are now Republicans. It took them a lifetime.
"Why do they hate George Bush? Because he's a devout Christian. There's an anti-Christian bias among liberal Jews. It is a bigotry. Christians are at best morons and at worst they are racist bigoted anti-Semitic dangerous fascist morons.
"Do you think Jews put Bush in office in 2000? He owes the Jews bupkus [zilch]. Dick Cheney. It must be the Wyoming Jewish community's big effect in his life. Condoleeza Rice must be responding to the awesome pro-Israel currents in black life.
"They are pro-Israel precisely because of their conservative and Christian values."
'Scream, and I'll Kill You!'
I've been so pleasurably occupied with Lisa On My Face the past few weeks, I've forgotten to plug Chayyei Sarah as often as I should have.
I think there's a law in the Torah about the minimum amount of linky love you have to give your cyber-girlfriends.
I'm not weird or stalkerish in my intentions towards Chayyei Sarah. I'm strictly honorable. I only have the unconditional positive regard that a Torah Man has for his special Torah woman.
I think there's a law in the Torah about the minimum amount of linky love you have to give your cyber-girlfriends.
I'm not weird or stalkerish in my intentions towards Chayyei Sarah. I'm strictly honorable. I only have the unconditional positive regard that a Torah Man has for his special Torah woman.
Is Luke Ford a Genius? (Part 1)
From the Luke Ford Fan Blog: When Luke Ford proudly announced a couple of months ago that he had an IQ of 185, I was somewhat taken aback. Okay, I was somewhat more than somewhat taken aback. It seemed an awfully high score for Mr Cut & Paste. Not that I thought Luke was lying. Of course not! I merely assumed that a gigantic mistake had been made somewhere. Perhaps one day at Seventh Day Adventist Sunday school, Luke's class had been given an intelligence test, and as the teacher read out the results above all the din, racket, and mocking laughter, Luke misheard his score. 18.5 sounds a lot like 185, doesn't it? Yes it does!
Chaim Amalek writes: "I, personally, administered the tests that won Luke membership to Mensa, Intertel, the International Society for Philosophical Inquiry, AND the Geniuses of Distinction Society (G.O.D.S.). The man makes Cathy Seipp seem a bit slow."
Chaim Amalek writes: "I, personally, administered the tests that won Luke membership to Mensa, Intertel, the International Society for Philosophical Inquiry, AND the Geniuses of Distinction Society (G.O.D.S.). The man makes Cathy Seipp seem a bit slow."
Luke's Character References -- Cathy Seipp, Cecile du Bois
Allison Kaplan Sommer writes: And then there's some good stuff on Cathy Seipp's blog. A friend's fiance converts to Judaism and the girls head to Palm Springs, with trusty Luke in the role of chauffeur and nanny.
Cathy and her daughter act as important character witnesses for Luke Ford. I've had quite a few bloggers who he's taken a slightly obsessive interest in and a people I know in real life that he's contacted for his book research ask me if he's nuts in a harmless way, or might border on dangerous.
Cathy and Cecile seem like pretty sensible people, and they are friends someone I know from college. So I tell the people who ask that if Ford were truly a stalker/axe murderer type, I doubt they'd be taking him along on road trips.
I think that Cathy and Cecile should use their show biz connections and create a television show based on their lives -- I envision an edgy right-wing-Jewish-California version of the Gilmore Girls, with Luke as their charming but insane former Seventh Day Adventist converted to Orthodox Judaism turned showbiz/porn journalist/blogger friend.
JSinger writes: Despite (or maybe because of) my own history as a Pico-Robertson Jew, I just can't begin to take any interest in any of these folks, let alone find Luke Ford significant.
Allison writes: I find Luke entertaining. Significant? The jury's still out.
Lisa, when I met you in person at the blogger bash, my first thought was, "Lord, if Luke knew what she looked like, he'd be even more seriously obsessed with this girl."
Cathy and her daughter act as important character witnesses for Luke Ford. I've had quite a few bloggers who he's taken a slightly obsessive interest in and a people I know in real life that he's contacted for his book research ask me if he's nuts in a harmless way, or might border on dangerous.
Cathy and Cecile seem like pretty sensible people, and they are friends someone I know from college. So I tell the people who ask that if Ford were truly a stalker/axe murderer type, I doubt they'd be taking him along on road trips.
I think that Cathy and Cecile should use their show biz connections and create a television show based on their lives -- I envision an edgy right-wing-Jewish-California version of the Gilmore Girls, with Luke as their charming but insane former Seventh Day Adventist converted to Orthodox Judaism turned showbiz/porn journalist/blogger friend.
JSinger writes: Despite (or maybe because of) my own history as a Pico-Robertson Jew, I just can't begin to take any interest in any of these folks, let alone find Luke Ford significant.
Allison writes: I find Luke entertaining. Significant? The jury's still out.
Lisa, when I met you in person at the blogger bash, my first thought was, "Lord, if Luke knew what she looked like, he'd be even more seriously obsessed with this girl."
Dropping Cell Phone In Toilet
Dennis Prager bought a new cell phone/PDA in Minneapolis for $450. Three days later, he dropped it in the toilet and it stopped working. Is he morally obliged to tell the company he broke it by dropping it in the toilet (without them asking how it broke?) If they pressed him how it broke, should he lie?
Prager went into Verizon in Minneapolis and told them the truth. The help looked up Prager's contract. He said, you don't have insurance. DP said, "I don't recall anybody asking me if I wanted insurance. Normally I do get insurance on these things."
He said, they are not offering everybody in CA the insurance. You'll pay for the insurance. Put down for the $50 deductible. Here's the new phone.
DP says: Early on in life, I vowed that I would be strict with myself in truth telling. I did not cheat in high school. The dominant factor was self-image. I want to like myself. I want to respect myself. I believe you have to earn these things, from yourself, others and God. And you only earn it by how you act. But there was a powerful voice in me that said, if they ask you, tell the truth, but if they don't, don't.
Prager went into Verizon in Minneapolis and told them the truth. The help looked up Prager's contract. He said, you don't have insurance. DP said, "I don't recall anybody asking me if I wanted insurance. Normally I do get insurance on these things."
He said, they are not offering everybody in CA the insurance. You'll pay for the insurance. Put down for the $50 deductible. Here's the new phone.
DP says: Early on in life, I vowed that I would be strict with myself in truth telling. I did not cheat in high school. The dominant factor was self-image. I want to like myself. I want to respect myself. I believe you have to earn these things, from yourself, others and God. And you only earn it by how you act. But there was a powerful voice in me that said, if they ask you, tell the truth, but if they don't, don't.
XXX-Communicated Zooms To #735 On Amazon
My book XXX-Communicated: A Rebel Without A Shul ebook is ranked number 735 among all books on Amazon.com. You can download the ebook for $6.
Important People Want to Know More
Important people (like the deep-thinkers at the Manhattan Institute in New York, and the Committee on the Present Danger) want to know more about the political thinking present at the increasingly inaptly named Luke Ford Wife Blog. The smart thinking is that here is a political platform that both right and left can rally behind, a platform that juts out into the throat of the rulling class like a sword waiting for some Arthurian hero to seize it and win the land. At least that's what Chaim Amalek (chaimamalek@yahoo.com) keeps telling me.
I say it is all a waste of time, and he ought to assist me in transcribing my interviews of journalists.
I say it is all a waste of time, and he ought to assist me in transcribing my interviews of journalists.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
An Interview With My Father
I just found this lengthy interview with my father: Dr. Desmond Ford is an accomplished Adventist theologian and scholar who has addressed many tens of thousands of persons through seminars, sermons and lectures, as well as through books, magazines, radio, and television. His Gospel ministry takes him throughout the United States and to numerous foreign countries on a regular basis. He is also the President and Founder of Good News Unlimited, a non-profit, non-denominational gospel ministry headquartered in Auburn, California. Dr. Ford’s gospel-focused magazine, entitled Good News Unlimited, is distributed in over 80 countries.
Help President Bush win our state!
With less than 55 days before the presidential election, President Bush not only needs your vote, he needs your help.
WHAT:
Join us along with nationally syndicated radio talk-show host, Dennis Prager as we announce our Bush-Cheney '04 California Jewish Coalition!
WHEN:
Thursday, September 9, 2004 1:00 - 2:00 PM
WHERE:
Outside Cheviot Hills Recreation Center
(Entrance to parking lot on Motor Ave., south of Pico)
2551 Motor Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90064
CONTACT:
Suzanne Ekerling
EMAIL:
sekerling@georgewbush.com
PHONE:
(818) 238-0200
WHAT:
Join us along with nationally syndicated radio talk-show host, Dennis Prager as we announce our Bush-Cheney '04 California Jewish Coalition!
WHEN:
Thursday, September 9, 2004 1:00 - 2:00 PM
WHERE:
Outside Cheviot Hills Recreation Center
(Entrance to parking lot on Motor Ave., south of Pico)
2551 Motor Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90064
CONTACT:
Suzanne Ekerling
EMAIL:
sekerling@georgewbush.com
PHONE:
(818) 238-0200
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