UPDATE, and a followup: PLease see the update on this story Richard Bartholomew has kindly posted and also my comment attached to Richard's update. Excerpt: A few days ago, as this story was heating up, I posted an idea - that the bloggers who say they support the "Stop The ACLU Coalition" should simply be asked, directly and politely - one by one as individuals with their own voices - whether they thought the outcome in Indian River was a good thing. I only emailed few people - 7 in all - and only received a response from one person, whose views I sharply differed with but who was willing to post his views and who was, in the email exchange, quite polite. However, nothing more than my call for such an undertaking - which really could have only worked if many joined in, because one person alone cannot serve as any sort of collective moral voice - had an unexpected result. Others in the group of 200 bloggers listed as supporting the "Stop The ACLU Coalition" stepped up as voices of moral clarity to shame an entrenched few who chose to hunker down and defend their behavior. When I called for such a project, there were voices on the left who told me that my idea was pointless because the group in question was "extreme" and all the same......

NOTE: this story was formerly titled "Jewish family flees Delaware Town Amidst Harassment and Alleged Death Threats"

But, I've since written this story up as a version I've placed on the front page of Talk To Action, and also as a story on the Daily Kos that was quite popular. So I'm converting this earlier version into an advertisement for a simple method by which those who feel a sense of outrage over the indicent in Indian River, MD can do something about it. I call it:

"The Shaming Project"

Here's my description of the project. The goal is to get bloggers who support the "Stop the ACLU Coalition" to state whether they support the impact of that coalition's efforts in Indian River ( or the possible impact ) or not.

The method is simple : email those members and ask them. Be direct, and be polite.

I've posted a few bloggers who I've initially contacted, towards the end of the discussion on my Daily Kos cover of the story.

ACTION ALERT : Stop The UCLU has assembled a crew of 200 bloggers to support its initiatives. Here is a link to a list of those 200 blogs

HERE'S MY PROPOSAL : Simple Shaming.

EMAIL the members on that list one by one and ask them if they think Nedd Kareiva and Stop the ACLU should be pleased by the outcome in Indian River. Be very neutral: let them speak for themselves. If they respond, then email them to ask if you can publish their response or if they'd like to take a public position on the matter. If they won't you can still justifiable characterize that as a refusal to comment. Do, there would be three groups - "supports", "doesn't support", and "refuses to comment".

Then, just list the blog you've contacted - and the response or not - on this diary. Later on, those can be collated and published in an organized form.

If the blog in question allows comments, ask directly on the blog. I you get one, reply and include a link to one of the blogs pieces I've mentioned that cover this story.

The point is to get each oe of the 200 bloggers aligned under Stop The ACLU to take a position or at least refuse to comment.

This is a simple shaming project but - as we've seen in the case of the recent incident involving the speaker of the Indiana House, Brian Bosma, who was moved by the Internet and also the goodness of his heart to make an apology to Jewish groups in Indiana [ kudos to dhonig of dKos for the legendary cartoon ] - shaming really, really does work

When You Are Done, Post The Internet Names of the Blogburst bloggers from the list linked to above, and their website URL's as well, in comments on this thread. You'll need to sign up with the site to do that.

So if you are so moved, shame away - Thanks !

A  former board member suggested that Mona Dobrich might "disappear" like Madalyn Murray O'Hair...Callers to the local radio station said the family should convert or leave the area. Someone called them and said the Ku Klux Klan was nearby....Classmates accused Alex Dobrich of "killing Christ" and he became fearful about wearing his yarmulke, the complaint recounts. He took it off whenever he saw a police officer... [ excerpts from article by Jews On First

Jews On First highlights a recent case in which, it seems, Christian supremacist persecution of a Jewish family, by many members of a Delaware town including town leaders, caused the family to sell its house and flee. One other family that is a plaintiff in the lawsuit mentioned below has decided to remain anonymous and has also left the town because of fears over retaliation.

We must now confront this : in America in the year 2006, a Jewish family has apparently been driven from their home, forced to flee because of death threats and mob harassment. Is this a model for a new American style of pogrom ?

Talk2Action blogger and Salon.com senior political analyst Michelle Goldberg talks to Francesca Rheannon, host of the weekly radio show, Writer's Voice, about her terrific new book, KINGDOM COMING: The Rise of Christian Nationalism. Click here for a link to the Writer's Voice home page, where you can hear an excerpt, or navigate to the entire interview.

Zappa: The biggest threat to America today is not Communism; it's moving America towards a Fascist Theocracy...

A Southern California Christian school and six of its students got the green light June 28 to proceed with a discrimination lawsuit against the University of California, according to an article in the June 29 Los Angeles Times. A federal judge in Los Angeles tentatively allowed the suit against UC admissions policies to proceed; a final ruling is expected in several weeks.

It is amazing what one finds when one surfs the net!

The US is unique in its attitudes to religion in several respects.

First, is the claim that is more religious than any other industrialized nation.

Second, is the claim that religion is growing in the US. If the threat of religious extremism is to be countered effectively these "facts" need to evaluated.

This is done below.

On Thursday, the House Constitution Subcommittee held a hearing on HR 2679, the Public Expression of Religion Act, which would disallow plaintiffs from seeking damages and attorney's fees in instances in which state or local governments have violated the Constitution's ban on establishing religion.  A list of the 46 co-sponsors is here.

Over the weekend, I watched the webcast of the hearing, so you don't have to (that's just the kind of guy I am).

Lots of links and quotes at my post at Blog from the Capital, the blog of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, but for a striking exchange, here's committee member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) talking with American Jewish Congress cousel, Marc Stern. [My transcription]

Nadler: Under this bill, what would stop a recalcitrant governing authority in a local government from violating a federal court order?

Stern: Nothing....It is an open invitation for people to defy the Constitution in the interest of political convenience at their will.

More here. [UPDATE: The House GOP plans a vote on PERA this summer.]

In case anyone thinks the Texas Republican Party Platform doesn't represent the Republican Party, think again.
Greenwatch Today reports:

GOP congressional leaders may bring to a vote within weeks a proposal that could literally wipe out any federal program that protects public health or the environment--or for that matter civil rights, poverty programs, auto safety, education, affordable housing, Head Start, workplace safety or any other activity targeted by anti-regulatory forces.

[This diary is a sidebar to Who's Watching the Boys? (Part 6 of Talk to Action's series of essays on the video game Left Behind: Eternal Forces) -- JH]

I have read, and occasionally posted, here for about 6 months, a fairly lengthy period considering the relative newness of this site.  And during that time I have learned much about the Religious Right (RR), its goals and activities, and the organizations which support it.  But one thing, one hugely important thing, is missing. . . .

How DLC Waffling on Abortion Rights Aids Key Christian Right Long Term Strategy: Summer Campaign Seeks to Shut Down Mississippi's last abortion clinic. A bold plan outlined in 1981: Anti-abortion push to be a wedge issue that could challenge the legitimacy of secular government

[ UPDATE: I've added a statemen by Anne Rose, owner of the Jackson, Mississippi clinic targeted for attack this summer, at the end of this post.]

In Louisiana ( as covered, also, yesterday by Daily Kos dairist pico ), Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco has just signed a law that will - if Roe v. Wade is overturned, ban abortions in that state in all but the most extreme of cases.

OOooooh Baby, I am SO proud!!!


This week-end, the Episcopalians, the bishops to be precise, just took the battle with the schizmatics (sounds like the name of a band, doesn't it?) to the door of the American Anglican Council and threw down. [Just to refresh, the American Anglican Council is the plant of the Institute on Religion and Democracy inside the Episcopal Church]