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"It is only because new ways of looking at the world have become so popular that we have felt the need to give a name to the old way of seeing things and call it 'Fundamentalism'. But creating a new name creates the erroneous impression that this was a christening when in fact it was a funeral. Fundamentalism is not proof of the power of religious Literalism, but rather of its weakness. Fundamentalism is religious Literalism in the throes of death, not the first flush of youth. Fundamentalists are fighting a defensive rear-guard battle against the modern world, because they know they are losing the war of ideas. The moment a set of beliefs is thought of as a 'tradition' that needs saving, it is already doomed.

Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy - "The Laughing Jesus" Religious Lies and Gnostic Wisdom.

I was reminded of this when I read this article from Townhall by Janice Shaw Crouse commenting on Chelsea Clinton's marriage to Mark Mezvinsky (as Crouse puts it " who is Jewish"). Crouse is a member of Concerned Women for America. And she is decrying the "mixed marriage" of Ms Clinton and Mr. Mezvinsky.

Predicting that it won't last.

Well I do not know either of them personally but I did know Abe Mezvinsky, Mark's grandfather, because he lived in Ames, Iowa and I grew up going to his grocery store. Abe Mezvinsky owned Ames Fruit and Grocery and my friend Dennis Wendell was quoted in an Ames Tribune article about the Mark Mezvinsky ties to Ames by saying that:

“The priest at St. Cecilia gave a homily on the merits of Abe Mezvinsky, who was Jewish,” Wendell said. “Abe would give handouts of food from his store to the hobos that came down the railroad tracks. The priest thought he was an exemplary man.”

Brad Sondahl also wrote about Abe in his blog.

Mezvinsky was a name my mother occasionally mentioned to me, in the guise of Abe Mezvinsky, who ran the Fruit and Vegetable section of Ames Fruit and Grocery, a grocery store of the old style. My mother would tell how when she got fruit there, Abe would be on hand to put it in a bag and weigh it. This, again, isn't blog worthy, except that he would say, in a Russian accent, "You nice lady, I make these bananas 10 cents cheaper." He may well have done that for all the ladies, but it worked well enough that my mother shopped there for years, choosing it over the new Safeway store.

Actually Brad, he owned the store and spent a lot of his time in the Fruit and Vegetable section. Abe came to America as an immigrant (as I understand it) and sold pencils in New York before relocating to the Midwest. He owned several stores but was usually in the one nearest where my aunts lived across the corner from the Catholic Church Complex near the Highway Commission. He lived in a nice brick house on the corner of Ninth and Duff about a block from where Dennis lived.

Marc's father had some troubles which I won't go into but suffice it to say he has paid his debt to society and I for one will not hold that against him. As for the marriage, I wish them both well. They look like two nice young kids (I can say that I am old) and if they each follow the dictates of their heart they will do fine. And if Abe's "nice" genes were handed down Mark is probably a pretty good kid.

Back to Ms Crouse. You really should "butt out" Your ideas are dinosauristic (I can make up words too, Ms Palin) and really don't show me anything except that your religious beliefs are in the throes of death. Fortunately there is a more enlightened world to live in.