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A Faith-Based Litmus Test?

Greenberg' View

eg your pardon, but aren't Jews "people of
faith?" Because, somehow, a lot of us are feel-
ing pretty much left out of the assault-on-
the-courts fest that the Christian right is having and
to which it has invited the Republican leadership.
We can, to be sure, watch it on television this
Sunday (right after Passover) if we want to tune in
to our local Christian television and radio networks
and stations or check it out on a Web broadcast. If
we do, we'll get to see the Senate Republican major-
ity leader, Bill Frist of Tennessee, agreeing that the
Democrats who are fighting seven of President
George W. Bush's appeals court nominees are actual-
ly opponents of "people of faith."
It has to be one of the most shameful
acts of political pandering that the coun-
try has witnessed in decades — and one
with long-lasting impact on religious tol-
erance, independent courts and constitutional
process. And it will leave minority believers — Jews,
Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and the like — won-
dering just where this country is going and where
they will be within it.
The enthusiasm of fundamentalist Christians had
much to do with getting Bush a second term in
office. At least in that election they had a decent
opportunity to judge between Bush and his
Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry. But it is
hard to believe that most of them have any idea
about the qualifications or habits of mind of the
Bush court nominees about whom the Democrats
in the Senate are raising questions. The religious

right is concerned about court decisions
on abortion, gay marriage and most
recently Terri Schiavo, the brain-dam-
aged woman who died after her feeding
tube was removed under court order.
None are issues in the Democratic
opposition to nominees whom they feel
are too close to industry on environ-
mental questions or who have shown
consistent unfairness to ethnic minori-
ties.
The Republican leadership wants to
persuade the Senate to change its rules
so that if and when Bush nominees for
the Supreme Court come up,
those appointments will not be
subject to the kind of review
that has always served our
nation well. And to get that change,
Frist and allies such as House Majority Leader Tom
DeLay, are willing to stir religious passions that have
no place in a discussion about judicial merit.
That is a conscience-less abdication of their
responsibility to govern for the sake of the entire
nation — the nation that includes lots of people
who are religious but do not subscribe to the specif-
ic credos of the evangelicals.
We went to war in Afghanistan against a Taliban
regime that used a narrow interpretation of Islam to
impose its religious beliefs on an entire country. We
were appalled at what that form of Sharia (Islamic
law) meant, most particularly for women.

Whine With Dinner

mood of the table and butting right in
kind man who only insults people when
seems to be perfectly fine.
absolutely necessary.
And what's with the "you guys?" It has
Finally, after 45 minutes of this ordeal, she
become
the universal way of addressing cus-
handed me a check. Along with it came a
tomers
by
younger servers, regardless of age
that
she
urged
me
to
fill
out.
It
questionnaire
or gender.
a contest.
seems the restaurant was
I hate being stuffy, and I don't like preten-
The server who got the highest marks on the
tious dining. But a little formality doesn't
survey won some sort of award.
hurt once in a while, either.
No one had bothered to inform this young
GEO RGE
I'm a great believer in the maxim that
lady of the difference between attentive service CAN TOR
Matt
Prentice put on his menus at the Deli
and bugging the daylights out of someone. I
Re ali ty
Unique,
explaining why his wait staff
left a good-tip but tore up the questionnaire
CI heck
wouldn't come running over to our table
and threw it away. And made a mental note
every few minutes to see if anything was
that this was a restaurant needing an overhaul
wrong. "You've got a mouth," it said. "Use it."
in management philosophy.
And while we're on the subject, why am I sup-
I don't always dine alone, of course, and when I
posed
to be congratulated by the server on my
do have a companion I am quite the raconteur.
choice
of dinner entree? "Excellent choice, sir."
Especially when drinks precede the meal.
Who started this condescending nonsense? Show me
But I don't know how many times I have been
the menu, write down my decision and bring it to
spinning out a great yarn, leading up to an absolute-
me in a reasonable amount of time. I don't need to
ly knee-slapping punch line ("So then the
be applauded as a man who knows his way around a
Frenchman turns to the gorilla and says ..."), when
bill of fare.
the server bustles up for no apparent reason and,
Don't get me wrong. I -almost never send a meal
entirely oblivious to what is going on at the table,
back.
I'm very easy to get along with. I'm a princely
asks: "Everything OK with you guys?"
tipper.
In any other social instance, such an intrusion
But my patience is wearing thin. I'm warning you
would be regarded as the epitome of rudeness. But
guys.
in most restaurants these days disregarding the

B

00

4

INTO MAL

B

eing a waiter is a tough job. I know that,
and I leave it to my colleague Danny Raskin
to hand out accolades to deserving servers.
But sometimes ...
On a recent trip to Ohio, I went for an early din-
ner and settled in for a comfortable hour with one
of my favorite dining companions. Me.
I don't mind having dinner alone. In fact, I kind
of enjoy it, while on the road or when Sherry is oth-
erwise engaged.
I take along a book and am perfectly content.
Some servers, however, seem to find this intolerable.
This was one such occasion.
The young waitress kept popping up at my
table to inquire solicitously if everything were all
right. The place was nearly empty, and I told her
that I was in absolutely no rush. But every five
minutes; there she was, earnestly seeking to do
something, anything, to enhance my dining expe-
rience.
I wanted to tell her that her absence would go a
long way toward that end. But I am basically a

George Cantor's e-mail address is
gcantor@thejewishnews. corn.

Frist's embrace of the Christian right on the issue
of court nominees opens the door in this country to
exactly the same sort of intolerance that we fought
in Afghanistan and that we see in practice in Iran
and in much of the Arab world: The litmus test for
nominees will not be how they stand on Roe vs.
Wade (a woman's right to privacy on medical deci-
sions that affect her), but on whether they have
accepted Christ as their personal savior.
That would be breaking with all that this nation
has cherished for more than 200 years. On this
issue, Frist and his cynical invocation of religiosity is
the true "opponent of faith."

aN

4/21

2005

35

