It’s a bit ironic that Sweden, often hailed by its largely secularist population as an atheist haven, is one of few nations to mark the ascension of Jesus into heaven with a public holiday. But so it is, and no one of the usual hate-all-religion mob seems too upset about it. This only validates my suspicion that much of the angry and vocal opposition to religion is closely linked to other people’s religion. Christian traditions are nice, unlike those Jewish and Muslim ones that are all bad and no good to no one.

Seen in the picture is Benvenuto Tisi’s Ascension of Christ from 1520.

Seems like Jesus spent a lot of time at the gym.

This is my favourite, but there are plenty more.

Good for Y-Love, good for all gay Jews in the Orthodox community.

Jean-Claude Juncker is right to be angry at all the talk of a Greek exit.

Ta-Nehisi Coates on homophobia and racism.

Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt is facing a storm of criticism from several quarters after using the term “ethnic Swedes”.

Geneticist Harry Ostrer argues that Jewishness is a biological trait, not just a cultural one.

Progress in New England.

He’s whatever you want him to be, apparently.

Rap star Jay-Z compares discrimination against gay people to racism.

Markus Kylberg: “I don’t believe Jews will stop circumcise their children. But I want circumcision to be illegal. If anyone wants to circumcise their child, they must simply move to a country that allows it.”

If anyone has any doubt about the xenophobic agenda of the Swedish Humanist Association. The hysterical debate on male circumcision is not about boys’ welfare; it’s about getting rid of Jews and Muslims.

Progress in the Republican Party:

George W. Bush pushed for a federal ban on same-sex marriage during his 2004 re-election run. But Bush has since said he favors civil unions, and now, days after President Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage, his pollster from that race is recommending Republicans come around on same-sex marriage and gay rights.

In a not too distant future, people will look back at the Republican opposition to gay right with disgust. The sooner the conservatives in America realize this, the better.

Bad for our brains, good for our workouts.

Markus Kylberg, an extremist Swedish Humanist, atheist activist, and self-proclaimed “liberal”, writes that Jewish circumcision is worse than sexually abuse children.

Kylberg writes, in my translation, “If you only consider the physical and mental effects it has on the child, sexual abuse (as long as it doesn’t involve penetration or harm the child in some other way) has less impact on the child then circumcision, which permanently alters the body’s appearance and involves some risks for the child’s health.”

Read it in Swedish at Newsmill.

The organizers of Uppsala Pride have barred Sweden’s Liberal Party because it doesn’t support the communist class-warfare ideology. Unfortunately, this is not the first time extremist communists have hijacked a gay-rights manifestation. The problem is that this plays well into the hand of those who wish to label gay rights a radical, leftist project.

Read about it in Swedish at QX.

A two-week-old boy died after being circumcised by a doctor in Norway. Few details are yet known about what happened, but the tragic event is likely to give new spark to xenophobic claims that Jews and Muslims deliberately harm boys by circumcision. The usual mob of prohibitionists acted immediately with anew demands for a ban on Jewish and Muslim circumcision. But a ban would do nothing to prevent harm to boys. People will not abandon their deeply held religious, ethical, and cultural beliefs because a hostile majority make a law. What is needed is a routine to help parents to a safe circumcision for their newborn sons. The arguments are basically the same as for abortion. A ban saves no one, but legal procedures and less stigmatization do.

Read about it in Norwegian at Aftenposten.

(Via @jonnygeller.)

It’s Friday night and I prepare for the weekend. Looking back at the past week, there were four big things happening.

In Greece, an alarming number of people voted on a Nazi Party and a Communist Party. This makes an outspoken anti-democratic bloc of nearly 15 per cent. Unbelievable!

In France, the presidential election ended with a new president, the socialist François Hollande.

In Israel, a new government was formed in a way that some believe indicates a looming war.

And, finally, in America, President Obama came out publicly in favour of same-sex marriage.

שבת שלום

“French President-elect Francois Hollande is suggesting that outgoing leader Nicolas Sarkozy’s government underestimated the country's budget problems,” AP reports.

The classic left-wing way of backing away from unrealistic election-campaign promises. All over Europe, we see the same thing. Leftist politicians promising to turn their nations into socialist paradises, only to back away and blame their predecessor the minute they take office.

Satire is the best tool in the fight against bigotry.

It’s nice to read an article about good relations between Sweden and Israel for once. So much of the general media picture is occupied by leftist anti-Israel sentiments.

The maximum prices mean a telephone call will cost at most 29 cents a minute.

It’s just so very hard to tell their computer from Apple’s.

“Israel’s new coalition echoes the unity government that came together on the eve of the Six Day War,” Benny Morris writes.

“The Hamas government in Gaza has been operating a force over the past few months whose sole task is to prevent the firing of rockets into Israel,” Haaretz reports.

Wow, this is big!