Mindy Newell: The United States of Theocracy
I am angry.
Just finished reading School Daze, Martha’s latest column.
I clicked on her last link.
Are you fucking kidding me?!
Everybody knows about Kim Davis, but how many of you know about Charee Stanley, the United Airlines ExpressJet flight attendant who refuses to serve alcohol because she is a Muslim? The problem was handled a while by the other flight attendants who shared flights with Ms. Stanley; they served the drinks while Ms. Stanley did other duties. But eventually another employee filed a complaint, and ExpressJet suspended Ms. Stanley (administrative leave for 12 months without pay) for not fulfilling her expected duties; if there is no satisfactory resolution by the end of that time period, Ms. Stanley will be terminated. She has filed a complaint with the EEOC (Equal Opportunity Commission).
Newsflash, people. The United States of America is not a theocracy.
So the simple answer to Kim Davis and the flight attendant is “Get another job.”
But is it so simple?
Aside: Though my gut reaction is to say, “yeah, it is simple, get another job,” I was born on the cusp of Libra, (Justice) and Scorpio, (The Scorpion). So although my gut reaction, my stinger, is to say, “yeah, it is simple, get another job,” my intellect is constantly balancing the scales.
What if a superhero refused to do his or her job because of religious reasons? I have previously stated that I believe that Wonder Woman, for all her stature as a modern feminist icon, is firmly in the anti-abortion, pro-life camp, owing to her own miraculous birth on an island where the usual biological procreation of children is impossible, and has been since the Amazons arrived on Themiscrya. How conflicted would Princess Diana be in upholding Roe vs. Wade? Very, I think.
And let’s say, for argument’s sake, that Kitty Pryde has become shomer Shabbat, which in modern lingo means a Jew who has “returned,” after living an assimilated or non-practicing life, to following the commandments honoring the Sabbath and God as laid down in the second book of the Torah (Deuteronomy), i.e., an Orthodox Jew. Would Kitty be right in refusing to aid the other X-Men in a fight against the Brood if it happened to be a Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, or Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism, spent in fasting and prayer?
Uh, actually, no. The preservation of life, the act of preserving life, is, in fact, the most important principle of Judaism superseding all others and all commandments. “The Mishna says: “’Whenever a human life is endangered, the laws of the Sabbath are suspended’. The more eagerly someone goes about saving a life, the more worthy he is of praise.” (The Babylonian Talmud, tractate Yoma, page 84b)
So what’s the answer?
I don’t know, but I’m glad I live in a country in which Amendment I of the Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
And I’m glad I live in a country in which Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution says that “The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme Court…”
Despite what Mike Huckabee says.
In Xombi #8 (Vertigo), Rabbi Sinnowitz offers minimal help to David Kim. His rationale, to paraphrase a bit, is “Hey, you’re a xombi. You’ll live.”
In Xombi #8 (Vertigo), Rabbi Sinnowitz offers minimal help to David Kim after Kim is attacked during the Jewish sabbath. His rationale, to paraphrase a bit, is “Hey, you’re a xombi. You’ll live.”
ba’al teshuva = Jew who has returned
shomer shabbat = Sabbath-observant
shomer negiah = doesn’t touch people of the opposite gender unless married to him / her (see Coffee Grounds #3 featuring Acidic Jew)
Yes, I know that shomer shabbat’s literal meaning is “Sabbath observant,” Steve, but I have friends who have become observant Jews, and they use the term “shomer Shabbat,” not “b’al teshuva,” which is why I went with that.
I will check out both comics that you mentioned. Thanks!