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to Dump ExtremistsGays Dr. Laura's Cohort Endorsed 'Religious Justification' for Murders Newspapers Eye Link Between Dr. Laura & 'Sin = Death' Zealot |
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Compiled By GayToday
Both The New York Daily News and the Los Angeles Times revealed that Schlessinger recently posted on her web site a letter of support from the Rabbinical Alliance of America. (A banner advertisement for Priceline.com was prominent on the same page as the letter to Schlessinger.) In 1995, the organization's leader, Rabbi Abraham Hecht, offered a religious justification for killing then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, three months before the head of state was assassinated. Hecht said, "According to Jewish law, any one person you can apply it to who you want any one person who willfully, consciously, intentionally hands over human bodies or human property or the human wealth of the Jewish people to an alien people is guilty of the sin for which the penalty is death. "And, according to Maimonides you can quote me it says very clearly, if a man kills him, he has done a good deed." (source: Washington-Report on Middle Eastern Affairs, 1/99) Because of this statement, Hecht, who was called a security risk by Israeli officials, was barred from entering Israel for a time.
Late Tuesday night, Dr. Laura removed the Rabbinical Alliance letter from her web site and has now replaced it with a statement thanking the Rabbinical Alliance for their support, and stating that she and the organization are not necessarily "in total agreement on absolutely everything." A copy of the original letter alongside Priceline's advertisement (the ad was removed a few days ago) can be found here: www.stopdrlaura.com/news/fromus/july/letter.htm Goldman says that it is not enough that Schlessinger has removed the letter from her web site. "Dr. Laura got caught with her hand in the 'bigotry jar' and now wants to wiggle out of this moral dilemma. She talks a lot about 'doing the right thing,' and taking responsibility for your own mistakes, now it's time for her to practice what she preaches," Goldman said. "You don't express gratitude to extremists, you repudiate them and their message. Dr. Laura is accepting support from people who have offered religious justification for murder, and the erasure of the memory of gay Holocaust victims. Dr. Laura and Priceline must publicly affirm that accepting support from such extremists, in any form, is unacceptable." HateWatch.org, ( hatewatch.org ) is a non-profit organization that combats the evolving problem of online bigotry. In 1996, HateWatch began to actively monitor hate groups on the web. Among other resources, HateWatch now keeps the most up-to-date catalog of hate groups using the web to recruit and organize. HateWatch also has a weekly web radio show. HateWatch is considered an innovator and leader in the fight for online civil rights. Additional Information: (New York Daily News, 7/25/00) - Laura Backer Hit as Extremist www.nydailynews.com/2000-07-25/News_and_Views/Scandal_Sheet/a-74378.asp (Los Angeles Times, 7/25/00) - What Is the Moral of This Story? www.calendarlive.com/tvent/lat_drlaura000725.htm (Jewish Bulletin Online, 3/14/97) - Rabbis Attack Gay Inclusion in Shoah Museum www.jewishsf.com/bk970314/1arabbi.htm |
Boston, Massachusetts--HateWatch.org called yesterday on Dr. Laura
Schlessinger and Priceline.com to repudiate the support of an extremist
organization that has espoused anti-gay bigotry in the teaching of Holocaust
history and whose head at one time supported "a religious justification" for murder.
