Now that we got Obama, I mean Osama, Book Review

Three months ago some Navy Seals killed Osama Bin Laden.  When I think about the raid, I prefer to imagine a kid friendly version where actual seals enter the compound while barking for bait fish and balancing beach balls on their noses.  As the seals bombard Osama with beach balls his multiple wives form a human shield forming the largest animal v. human game of dodge ball the world has ever known.

I suppose it also could have been this guy.

As meaningful as the Osama take down was for its retributive benefit and as an operation to fight terrorism around the world, it holds a different significance for me.  It affirms a universal truth about men.  No, I am not discussing our penchant for human shields.  Rather, I refer to our undeniable exposure to pornography.  In case you didn't hear, Osama had porn.  The leader of jihadists throughout the world who was often referred to as pious was anything but.  Surprised?  I'm not.  The  skeptic in me has known for a long time that there are no truly pious men, just men biding their time until they have a some time alone with the Internet. Of course the issues involving global terrorism and jihad are way more serious and complex that every man's porn habit.

I recently finished a book which deals with some of those issues and more, The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson, ("TFQ").  Let me say first that I'm not a fan of books about Jews.  I'm a Jew, (genetically at least) and I have read, mostly on my mother's suggestion, a shitload of novels that could best be described as Jew centered fiction.  There was the one about the inquisition, the biblical one; she just tried convincing me to read one about a Jewish civil war soldier.  I  picked up TFQ because I heard the end of an interview with Jacobson on NPR where his response to a question about winning the Man Booker Prize was, "it was about time."  So I read TFQ and was not disappointed.

The novel revolves around three friends (two Jewish and one who desperately wants to be Jewish) and touches upon the complexities of their relationships and their feelings about their own religion.  The book, though not lengthy, is not what you'd call a fast read.  What little action there is takes place early on and sets the stage for many chapters which can best be described as "discussion of earlier events".  The entire novel is set against a backdrop of ever increasing European anti-semitism and its relationship to sympathy for Palestinians under Israeli occupation.  One of the main characters has chosen to be an "ashamed  Jew" speaking out against the occupation while the other Jewish character is less political and deeply mourning his wife.  The main character, a gentile, longs to be a Jew; something which he perceives to be special with an intellectual flair which he cannot grasp.  There are other minor characters all which play somehow into the themes of being  Jewish in a Christian world.  The book is funny at times, incredibly well written and rewarding.  It may have Jews but my mother will probably hate it because it's not pulpy trash.

There is one overarching reminder throughout the book.  This is a Christian world (at least Europe and America).  My son is about to start public school after going to a temple school for pre-kindergarten.  We didn't want to send him there but we quickly realized that the non-denominational schools were by default, Christian schools.  Now we are faced with the same problem, public school is Christian.  Christmas is in the curriculum.  We are not religious people, really we are atheists.  But if there is  no true non-denominational option, we'd rather him have a Jewish education than a Christian one.  Today we were at local public high school for my son's basketball trophy ceremony.  The High School rents its cafeteria to a church on the weekends and there were church flyers everywhere.  I wasn't offended but should I be, it's a public school.  We're going to see how it goes with public school, but the second my kid tells me Jesus died for my sins I'm going to start saving up to get him back in the Jewish day school.

Anyone who thinks there is a war on Christianity should feel secure that the war is over and the Christians won.

The Difference in Publix

There are a few noticeable differences between the Publix in South Beach and the one we frequent near our new home in Central Florida. Some things are the same. The products, for the most part, are the same. The rotisserie chickens taste the same and the deli is stocked with the same cured meats. The uniforms are also the same, though the people in them are obviously different; speaking English being the most obvious difference in the employees. I cannot find halvah at our new central Florida Publix.

The one thing our new Publix has that the old one did not is a turnstile of books devoted to Christianity where you pull your number at the delicatessen. That red device where you pull the green tab with your number on it is perched atop a cornucopia of Christian books for every Christian problem: Forgiving your husband after he's cheated, Preaching to those who aren't interested, Introducing Christ into every aspect of your baby's life, and How to prove God exists. There are also the obligatory Christian children's books, e.g., Jesus and Me.

I honestly don't have a problem with selling the books, that's not my issue. If there is a market for it, then by all means, stock the shelves. I just find the placement funny. The books are at the deli line like they are some sort of impulse purchase. While you wait for the deli worker to slice your half pound of Boar's Head sun-dried tomato and rosemary ham, (one of my faves), maybe you'll grab a copy of, "Get Real: Making Core Christian Beliefs Relevant to Teenagers." Putting these books on the deli line (albeit a markedly slower deli line than the South Beach Publix) makes them the equivalent of the Weekly World News, Snickers, and Altoids you might grab on your way through the checkout line. As I said before, I don't have a problem with that, if they sell, they sell, but shouldn't someone else have a problem. What is the impetus behind it anyway. I know Publix is a Christian company, but are they evangelizing on the deli line. If they are, why not put the books in South Beach also, isn't it hypocritical to only save people outside Miami. Maybe they decided those high heeled women and tight shirted men in South Beach aren't worth saving. I know I'm overreacting, I dislike all the reminders that we live in a Christian country.

Every year at this time I'm shocked at the right wing talk radio and Fox "News" efforts to convince us that there is a war on Christmas. The idea that our overwhelming majority, Christians, are somehow being persecuted is laughable but I know there is someone in Kansas who believes it as strongly as they believe evolution is liberal propaganda and part of the gay agenda to turn everyone into a drug crazed lunatic. I find all this "War on Christmas" crap particularly offensive considering how many troops are in harm's way right now. Someone should tell Bush to redeploy our troops to the war on Christmas. Don't we already have a base on the North Pole.