Lieberman Whitewashes Ties To Apocalyptic Fundamentalist Group

[DrFunkenstein]

With his eyes firmly fixed on the White House, Senator Joseph Lieberman is making moves to whitewash his religious record. Specifically, "Holy Joe" (as he's sometimes called) is trying to erase his association the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, an organization that tries to get fundamentalist Christians to support Israel, especially the emigration of Jews in the former Soviet Union to Israel.

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Lieberman has long been associated with this group. From 1994 to 1999, he was the co-chair of their Center for Jewish and Christian Values. He has praised the Fellowship and appeared in their infomercial.

After announcing his candidacy, he asked the Fellowship to remove him from their half-hour commercial, which pleads for money to send Russian Jews to Israel. Also appearing in the infomercial--which aired on the right-wing Christian PAX network--are Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. (Holy Joe claims he didn't know he was in the infomercial.) A still-frame of his appearance is at the top of the page. I viewed a videotape of the original, uncut version of the infomercial, kindly sent by Ed Ericson. Lieberman's portion comes at the 17-minute mark and lasts for 12 seconds. Sitting in a studio and directly addressing the camera, he intones:

Brother Eckstein established the first dialogs in America between the Jewish community and evangelical Christian community. He is the leader in America, probably in the world, in this important work.

Furthermore, Lieberman has said that the Fellowship is "the best-kept secret in the United States." That cryptic endorsement used to be on the homepage of the Fellowship's Website, but now--naturally--it's gone. However, we've rescued it from purgatory.

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http://www.thememoryhole.org/pol/lieberman-ifcj.htm

[maxomai_vs_rove]

1. So what?

If the thought of a devoutly religious person running for the Democratic nomination makes your skin crawl, what about Al Sharpton? He's a Seventh Day Adventist Clergyman -- not exactly a Secular Humanist. Nobody ever accuses him of collaberating with the Religious Right because of what his official capacity in his congregation!

Lieberman is a devout Jew. He takes his role as a Jew with some public clout seriously. This should in no way reflect upon his ability to represent the Democratic party.

Now, his stances on the issues and his underhanded attacks on Howard Dean are another matter.

[DrFunkenstein]

2. Howard Dean Says It Best

http://www.gop.org/Newsroom/RNCResearch/TLvideo2.htm

[Larkspur]

12. You're showing your Repuke DNA DrFunkenstein

that link is a Repuke web site. Why believe them?

[clar]

3. Sorry,

I'm not comfortable with this. Not that Lieberman's in my top 9 or 10, but this association is with a patently dangerous group, as well as one I find morally repugnant.

[lams712]

4. I think some people may have a problem with the fact...

...that this is clearly a RIGHT-WING religious organization, and having a "democrat" associating with such an organization, (especially a "democrat" that is vying for the party's nomination), is what is repugnant.

Being a religious person does not make one inherently liberal or conservative. In this particular case however, I think the right-wing implications are clear.

[DrFunkenstein]

7. I Dislike Fundamentalists Of Any Stripe

They have a certainty about the "larger picture" which makes the morality of our everyday lives irrelevant. I find this not only morally repugnant, but also inherently dangerous to society as a whole.

[MercutioATC]

11. Another point on which we agree, Dr. Funk...

You're certain you can't be convinced to come over to the Dean camp???

:think:

[Mairead]

6. Get your facts straight: Sharpton is a Baptist

http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/democrats2004/transcripts/sharpton_trans.html

[ProfessorPlum]

5. And here I thought I didn't like the guy

because he is a pompous blowhard. :)

[DannyRed]

8. There is

A distinct and persistent convergenge between pompous blowhards and religious fundamentalist rightwing organizations...

there is no disconnect..

Your dislike of pompous blowhards and your dislike of the radical religious right are intimately intertwined, Perfesser.

[DrFunkenstein]

9. Compare Kerry's Comments On Religion

From a Windsurfer Magazine interview:

<[>]

Spirituality is a fundamental for us. I mean, it's the-it is the overpowering, driving foundation of most of the struggles that we go through here on earth, in my judgement. I am a believer in the Supreme Being, in God. I believe, without any question in this force that is so much larger and more powerful than anything human beings can conceivably define.

I think the more we learn about the universe, the more we learn about black holes and the expansion of the universe and the more we learn what we don't know about: our beginnings and-not just of us, but the universe itself, the more I find that people believe in this supreme being. I'm a Catholic and I practice but at the same time I have an open-mindedness to many other expressions of spirituality that come through different religions. I'm very respectful and am interested-I find it intriguing.

I went to Jerusalem a number of years ago on an official journey to Israel and I was absolutely fascinated by the 32 or so different branches of Catholicism that were there. That's before you even get to the conflict between Arabs and Jews. I have spent a lot of time since then trying to understand these fundamental differences between religions in order to really better understand the politics that grow out of them. So much of the conflict on the face of this planet is rooted in religions and the belief systems they give rise to. The fundamentalism of one entity or another.

So I really wanted to try to learn more. I've spent some time reading and thinking about it and trying to study it and I've arrived at not so much a sense of the differences but a sense of the similarities in so many ways; the value system roots and the linkages between the Torah, the Koran and the Bible and the fundamental story that runs through all of this, that connects us-and really connects all of us.

And so I've also always been fascinated by the Transcendentalists and the Pantheists and others who found these great connections just in nature, in trees, the ponds, the ripples of the wind on the pond, the great feast of nature itself. I think it's all an expression that grows out of this profound respect people have for those forces that human beings struggle to define and to explain. It's all a matter of spirituality.

I find that even - even atheists and agnostics wind up with some kind of spirituality, maybe begrudgingly acknowledging it here and there, but it's there. I think it's really intriguing. For instance, thinking about China, the people and their policy-how do we respond to their view of us? And how do they arrive at that view of us and of the world and of life choices?

I think we have to think about those things in the context of the spiritual to completely understand where they are coming from. So here are a people who, you know, by and large, have a nation that has no theory of creationism. Well, that has to effect how you approach things. And until we think through how that might effect how you approach things, it's hard to figure out where you could find a meeting of the minds when approaching certain kinds of issues.

So, the exploration of all these things I find intriguing. Notwithstanding our separation between church and state, it is an essential ingredient of trying to piece together an approach to some of the great vexing questions we have internationally.

AW: Do you think that we are headed for more enlightened spirituality or are we doomed to crawl back to the caves?

JK: That's the test! That's exactly what the challenge of life is all about and some people find that. I mean, look at the Dalai Lama who I've spent some time with and who is absolutely intriguing.

Extraordinary person. He is certainly telling us there is life from enlightenment-here and hereafter, but I think, whether or not we're going to be enlightened is the great test that all of us are struggling with. That's part of what makes life so challenging and so much fun.

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[ProfessorPlum]

13. I think you have something there n/t

.

[cprise]

10. I'm donating to the Memory Hole...

http://www.thememoryhole.org/donate.htm