| Email Luke Luke Ford Essays Profiles Archives Dennis Prager Dec 4 Reform finds new meaning in ritual Dr. William Pierce Status Symbol From the Anti Defamation League (ADL.org): A new ADL investigation reveals that the neo-Nazi National Alliance (NA) is the single most dangerous organized hate group in the United States today. In the past several years, dozens of violent crimes, including murders, bombings and robberies have been traced to NA members or appear to have been inspired by the group's propaganda. At the same time, the National Alliance's membership base has experienced major growth, with its numbers more than doubling since 1992. The National Alliance is the largest and most active neo-Nazi organization in the nation, with 16 active cells from coast to coast, and a reported membership of 1,000. In the last three years, there has been evidence of NA activity in no fewer than 26 states nationwide. The organization has been most active in Ohio, Florida, Michigan, New York, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and New Mexico. The NA's current strength can be attributed to several factors: its skillful embrace of technology, its willingness to cooperate with other extremists, its energetic recruitment and other promotional activities, and its vicious, but deceptively intellectualized propaganda. The NA is led by former Oregon State University physics professor and veteran anti-Semite William L. Pierce, 66. Using the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald, Pierce wrote the novel The Turner Diaries, which details a successful world revolution by an all-white army, and the systematic extermination of Blacks, Jews, and other minorities. Many extremists regard The Turner Diaries as an explicit terrorism manual, and the novel is thought to have inspired several major acts of violence, including the April 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Despite these crimes, Pierce continues to glorify violence, offering it as the ultimate solution to what he terms "the Jewish problem." Pierce's weekly radio program, American Dissident Voices, is rife with incendiary speech. Together, William Pierce's broadcasts and novels provide haters with both an ideological and practical framework for committing acts of mass destruction. Members of the Klan and other hate groups have long considered Pierce an elder statesman. As noted previously, his novels are wildly popular and highly regarded by other white supremacists. Pierce and other members of his organization have addressed Klan rallies and other hate fests -- further evidence of their stature in the extremist world. A 1998 flyer from the Minnesota-based National Socialist Movement, an organization that advocates armed struggle to defend the white race against "the common enemy" (including the Federal Government, Blacks, Jews, liberals, and gay people) used a quote by William Pierce as a call to action for the coming "revolution" they want to stage: "While it is the time to be 'legal' we must stolidly endure whatever the State sees fit to inflict upon us. And when it comes time to revolt, we must be prepared to unleash all the furies of hell on the state until it yields." The NSV Report, published by the National Socialist Vanguard, a virulently anti-Semitic, racist, anti-government, neo-Nazi group, reported that Will Williams, formerly the NA's regional coordinator in North Carolina, spoke at an annual gathering of Aryan Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Virginia in September 1995. In 1996, members of the National Alliance showed up to support a rally held by the Greensboro, North Carolina, chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), a "grass-roots" organization that is against "big government" and increased immigration and whose agenda includes "restoring moral values and the traditional family according to [the country's] Christian heritage." NA members from Florida also reportedly appeared at the second annual "White Christmas" in Fort Pierce, Florida, in 1997. The event, sponsored by the Florida-based Knights of the White Kamelia and attended by various Klan and neo-Nazi groups, is a rally celebrating "white pride." Pierce's propaganda also appears to have inspired members of other extremist groups to join the National Alliance, and to convince their former associates to sign up as well. Several former members of the North Carolina Confederate Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which later evolved into the now-defunct violent paramilitary group the White Patriot Party, are currently members of the National Alliance. At least two of these former Klansmen currently act as NA leaders or "coordinators" in their respective states, in charge of recruitment and other activities. Lessons In Grammer I posted to the RAME thread about lukeford.com's demise Tuesday night: "Hey guys, thanks for caring. This is my first time on RAME in about six months. I just heard of the thread. For my social well being, particularly within Orthodox Jewish life, I had to leave lukeford.com and pick other areas to write on. I still haven't found my new niche. Incidentally, I am still a pariah from my religious community, so quitting hasn't helped that. I'm without the two worlds I mainly lived in prior to June 22nd. I love many people in porn, such as Mike South, Brandy Alexandre, Pat Riley, Roger Pipe, Jimmy and Rob and company...and I harbor many pleasant memories of the fun we had on this newsgroup. Luke Ford Is YourMoralLeader.com" Jones replied to me: Luke, I have always enjoyed your insights into the porn business. As a writer, maybe I can offer you some advice that might help you in your career. Please take this in the way in which it is intended. I mean you no harm. This is simple, straightforward, constructive criticism from someone who is a successful screenwriter and sometime columnist for a national newspaper. Enroll in a grammar class. Improve your skills. Writing for porn groupies is one thing, but writing for the mainstream requires much more skill and precision. Your post [above] is a good example. It's replete with errors. No one in the mainstream press will waste their time correcting your mistakes. They simply won't hire you. UCLA extension is a good place to start. Good luck. Khunrum writes: Lukebonics? Chaim Amalek writes: In the real world, you will have the services of an editor to clean things up, so who cares, right? Focus on helping AMALEK (who is stuck in NY, so that if terrorists kill me now because I am here at the end of Ramadan or whatever that Saracen holiday is called, what a bummer). God will not look kindly on any of your endeavors if they do not include a substantial "help Chaim Amalek" component. Sorry, but this is how things are. This is what I would have said: As this is my first time on RAME in about six months, I have just learned of this rather complementary thread concerning my past work at Lukeford.com. While I do not mean to insult the many fine men and women I have met through my work covering porn (e.g, state names), I had to leave that gig and find other things to write about to enhance my social viability, particularly within Orthodox Jewish life. You see, in the world of Jewish Orthodoxy, a lowly paid scribe who has undergone a possibly questionable conversion to the Orthodox branch of Judaism who focuses on pornography to make his daily bread is a pariah. Unless, of course, he manages to become very rich (like: list some rich Jews in porn), which I did not. I still haven't found a new niche, and I remain a pariah in (or you could say outcast from) my chosen religious community. I thus remain isolated from the very two seemingly incompatible worlds I straddled prior to June 22nd. No matter the social penalties I have paid for associating with you people, I came to love many people in porn, such as Mike South (but not in any gay sort of way), Brandy Alexandre, Pat Riley, Roger Pipe, Jimmy and Rob and company (the understanding "dads" I never had), and I have many pleasant memories of the fun we had in this newsgroup. God Bless you all, for He sure has not blessed me. All I want is to be accepted by Jewish orthodoxy, and to earn a decent living doing socially useful work, but the Jews won't let me. They piss and moan when I quote social theorist William Pierce, yet they gladly accept monies from high level pimps, pornographers, and ecstasy peddlers. But no matter, prophets from Jesus to Mohammed have had to deal with the back-stabbing character of this accursed race, so who am I to complain about them? I cannot and I do not. I wish you all a very happy holiday season. God Bless. Levi Been Israel, Now Just Luke Ford Mr Hollywood Jew Update MrHollywoodJew writes: Luke, I still wish you did porn commentary; it was much more fun and you were great at it. I have been following your site but not communicating for a while. I am getting married again in a few days. No, not to a stripper or anyhting like that -- I am marrying my lawyer. We started dating a couple months ago and I've come to realize what a wonderful woman she is -- she is gorgeous, too ... and employed! Happy Chanukkah, by the way. Luke: Is she Jewish? MHJ replies: No, but close enough for government work: Episcopalian. WASP through and through but she could pass for Jewish looks-wise, which I love! The Luke Ford Show Rick writes on RAME about lukeford.com: Words can't express how bad this site has become since Luke quit. It's just a bunch of lame ads and a "Vote for your favorite porn era." No news at all. I could write a better column and I'm not even out in LaLa Land. Would the sponsors of this page get a real journalist/columnist. Hell, let Sid Deuce take it over...she'd do well...and it'd be fitting, given the words she and Luke traded in the past...Seriously, to those writing on it now...give it up, man. Dingle writes: Agreed. I deleted the link from my favorites three days after Luke left. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to find someone as fanatical as Luke who will work for so little money. General Schvanktkopf writes: You would think that if someone paid good money to buy a site like Lukeford they would at least be willing to put a couple of hours a week of work into it. As it is I don't thing that anyone has put in more than two hours of work since Luke quit. Patrick Riley writes: You would wouldn't you, unless the purpose of buying Luke's site was not to make money, generate advertising revenue, etc., but rather to remove a thorn from the side of the industry and particularly Paul Fishbein. As soon as Luke announced he was leaving there was a buyer at the door with apparently a good offer. Doesn't that strike anyone as suspicious given that without Luke or a direct replacement, the site was never going to be the same? Nah, at first it was sideline Luke altogether--don't talk to him--but when that failed due to the blabbermouths in the industry they hit upon a scheme of giving him a guardian (or two) in the form of Rob Spallone and DiGiorgio. Payback was the Sopornos for the pair plus some gonzo for DiGiorgio. All they had to do was keep him away from anything too embarrassing and feed him some easily de-bunked or unimportant rubbish--which porn performer is beating up his wife, for example. DiGiorgio even had a permanent place on Luke's radio show. Reminded me of those Commissar's who used to shadow potential dissidents/defectors back in the days of the old Soviet Union. On one session some female started to talk openly about the old days, organized crime and the like and DiGiorgio did everything short of singing to try to shout her up. Eventually she did. Jeff writes: Oh, so that's why the site sucks now. Where did Luke go? I remember like a year ago he went off the deep end and wrote a huge essay on his site about how some anti-depressant had made him delusional or something? Is he ok? Or at the funny farm? He seemed to wallow in the porn world... Frank writes: From what I understand, Luke finally gave up on his love-hate relationship with porn and decided to make a clean break from the industry. Somehow, I bet he's still accepting royalty checks for sales of his book, however. Robert writes: I agree. Where are the scoops, the fueds, the humor, and the serious Talmudic discussions. Luke, come back. Khunrum writes: Martin Brimmer. Isn't that the Nazi who escaped from Hitler's bunker at the end of World War Two? What the hell is he doing writing lukeford.com? I like Luke much better now that he out of porn. Sure his new stuff basically sucks. Sure he has no love life for us to comment on. No, there is nothing for The Advisory Committee to do. Luke, Will Dr. Pierce be writing the forward on your new book on Jewish, Hollywood Producers? He seems to have an interest in the subject. Luke says: Dr. William Pierce is my pen name. Khunrum writes: It is a sleazy biz with sleazy people for sure. As you have indicated it is a dead end professionally. You have more talent than is necessary for the job. You are a good writer. If you stayed in you would continue to be depressed. You'd end up like Martin Brimmer, bummed out and disillusioned. Better to be out and giving mainstreaming writing a shot. If nothing else you seem to be happier, true? How about a mystery novel with a porn back drop? Do you do the broadcasts too? Pretty good imitation of an old geezer. I have been tuning in lately and if nothing else, Dr. Pierce needs a new pair of choppers. The set he is broadcasting with sound like he purchased them on sale at K-Mart. I didn't know if I was listening to a lecture or a whistling act. What makes Dr. P hate the Jews so much? Was he wounded in love by a comely Hebrew lass in his youth? Did some Jewish furniture merchant repossess his love seat and sectional for back payments? Perhaps his corned beef and pastrami was not lean enough at Carnage? Why is he so cross with the (Jewish) Media Bosses? Luke says: Because of the Jewish moral challenge. Khunrum writes: I think people hate Jews because in olden times (and now) they were the merchant class. In some instances the wealthy merchant class. Are you familiar with the Armenian holocaust. The Turks killed 4 million Christian Armenians in the 20s but you rarely hear about it. Same reason. They were jealous of them. They were marched into the desert and killed or starved to death. Armenians don't talk about it much. The reasons were basically the same as the Jewish Holocaust. They were the business class and were of another religion. So they had to go. When someone came to Hitler and told him he better ease up on the slaughter of the Jews. That it wouldn't go down well he cited the world's indifference to the Turks massacre of the Armenians as a a reason to proceed. Luke, have you ever considered becoming an Armenian? How I Lost It All Writer- convert - wannabe jew - journalist - poor man - celebrity: How I got it all via my moden and lost it all to please people who hate me. I am feeling pretty vulnerable right now. Can I have a hug? The book should be written to be sort of punchy, as a try out for a movie deal. That should be your goal in this. A movie deal to help America take its mind off of the Saracen menace. March For Israel I joined about 4000 Los Angeles Jews for a march for Israel and the victims of terrorism Sunday morning. But nobody is going to pay attention to us unless we burn down our neighborhoods and riot like the schwartzes. Chaim Amalek writes: Speaking of dating, who is doing it right - Christians or jews? Check out the link and consider two approaches, one of careerist jews looking to economize on the time commitment of finding a mate (all that socializing in the Hamptons and networking for work takes lots of time), and the other increasingly used by culturally conservative Christian volk. The article below by the jewish guy Dr. Steinlight will prove to be one of those things that has enormous influence in certain circles, like Moynahan's article for The American Scholar in the early 90's on "Defining Deviancy Down". Traditionally liberal jews are going to have to formulate a response to it. (As an aside, who are the deep thinkers among Canadian jewry these days? Most of the Canadian jews I have met seem to think nothing will ever intrude on their tidy worlds.) Charles writes: Speed dating is a fad, like personal ads or dating services, a poor substitute for the sort of rich social connections woven among generations of people that can lead A to suggest that B would make a good match with C or D. That's how it was informally done in the past, and that is what is missing here. A real sense of community. By the way, real converts (e.g. Luke) are very very dedicated to their new found faith, some going so far as to travel to places like Afganistan to practice it (had to include a snarky comment). The most observant Jewesses I ever met were converts. I do not know many (or any, to be honest) baal teshuva types, so I cannot make generalizations about them from personal experiences. But I imagine (but again, do not know) that for most of them, the transformation does not "take", as that level of intensity is not all that sustainable. Most practicing Jews or Christians or Muslims migrate to the center line of things where they can maintain a certain level of practice for the long haul. Sudden, severe changes in lifestyle are always suspect and prone to further sudden changes in lifestyle. My gut feeling is that converts are more deliberative about these things than are baal teshuva people, since they must put more into it to be considered jewish, and they face the biggest shifts in their other relationships. Luke's New Project Chaim Amalek writes: Dear Miss... Luke Ford is commencing work on a new book in which he uses his status as an outsider jew to explore the reaction of comfortable insider jews to the forces of history now at work to change the world. In one chapter, he plans on discussing the reaction of liberal ACLU-sorts of jews to immigration and changes in culture, and to help him with this project he wants you to follow this link, read and consider this essay, and then share your thoughts with him while walking through the Museum of Tolerance. It is therefore requested that you do the following: 1. go to the site and read the essay. 2. formulate a liberal jewish response to it that is suitable for members of your generation and position in life. 3. CALL LUKE and ask him to meet with you at the Museum of Tolerance after the rally on behalf of Israel, and 4. Share your views with Luke. I know that there is still enough curiosity within you that you will do these things. You are still to young to close off your mind to new ideas in favor of the material. May God Bless you, Chaim Amalek Is Multiculturalism Good For The Jews? Here are excerpts from an important essay by Dr. Stephen Steinlight: Is the emerging new multicultural American nation good for the Jews? Will a country in which enormous demographic and cultural change, fueled by unceasing large-scale non-European immigration, remain one in which Jewish life will continue to flourish as nowhere else in the history of the Diaspora? In an America in which people of color form the plurality, as has already happened in California, most with little or no historical experience with or knowledge of Jews, will Jewish sensitivities continue to enjoy extraordinarily high levels of deference and will Jewish interests continue to receive special protection? Does it matter that the majority non-European immigrants have no historical experience of the Holocaust or knowledge of the persecution of Jews over the ages and see Jews only as the most privileged and powerful of white Americans? Is it important that Latinos, who know us almost entirely as employers for the menial low-wage cash services they perform for us (such a blowing the leaves from our lawns in Beverly Hills or doing our laundry in Short Hills), will soon form one quarter of the nation’s population? Does it matter that most Latino immigrants have encountered Jews in their formative years principally or only as Christ killers in the context of a religious education in which the changed teachings of Vatican II penetrated barely or not at all? Does it matter that the politics of ethnic succession — colorblind, I recognize — has already resulted in the loss of key Jewish legislators (the brilliant Stephen Solarz of Brooklyn was one of the first of these) and that once Jewish "safe seats" in Congress now are held by Latino representatives? Luke says: Jesus Christ, don't let the goyim read this. I loved that line about Jewish sensitivities enjoying "extraordinarily high levels of deference" and Jewish interests receiving "special protection." Stephen writes: Not that it is the case that our disproportionate political power (pound for pound the greatest of any ethnic/cultural group in America) will erode all at once, or even quickly. We will be able to hang on to it for perhaps a decade or two longer. Unless and until the triumph of campaign finance reform is complete, an extremely unlikely scenario, the great material wealth of the Jewish community will continue to give it significant advantages. We will continue to court and be courted by key figures in Congress. That power is exerted within the political system from the local to national levels through soft money, and especially the provision of out-of-state funds to candidates sympathetic to Israel, a high wall of church/state separation, and social liberalism combined with selective conservatism on criminal justice and welfare issues. Luke says: He's saying that Jewish money is our power. Stephen writes: It is also true that Jewish economic influence and power are disproportionately concentrated in Hollywood, television, and in the news industry, theoretically a boon in terms of the formation of favorable public images of Jews and sensitizing the American people to issues of concern to Jews. But ethnic dominance in an industry does not by itself mean that these centers of opinion and attitude formation in the national culture are sources of Jewish political power. They are not noticeably "Jewish" in the sense of advancing a Jewish agenda, Jewish communal interests, or the cause of Israel. And television, the Jewish industry par excellence, with its shallow values, grotesque materialism, celebration of violence, utter superficiality, anti-intellectualism, and sexploitation certainly does not advance anything that might be confused with Jewish values. It is probably true, however, that the situation would be worse in terms of the treatment of Jewish themes and issues in the media without this presence. I’ll confess it, at least: like thousands of other typical Jewish kids of my generation, I was reared as a Jewish nationalist, even a quasi-separatist. Every summer for two months for 10 formative years during my childhood and adolescence I attended Jewish summer camp. There, each morning, I saluted a foreign flag, dressed in a uniform reflecting its colors, sang a foreign national anthem, learned a foreign language, learned foreign folk songs and dances, and was taught that Israel was the true homeland. Emigration to Israel was considered the highest virtue, and, like many other Jewish teens of my generation, I spent two summers working in Israel on a collective farm while I contemplated that possibility. More tacitly and subconsciously, I was taught the superiority of my people to the gentiles who had oppressed us. We were taught to view non-Jews as untrustworthy outsiders, people from whom sudden gusts of hatred might be anticipated, people less sensitive, intelligent, and moral than ourselves. We were also taught that the lesson of our dark history is that we could rely on no one. Mark Kramer writes: Funny you should mention Steven Steinlight. It was always clear that he was destined for some kind of fame. Like you, Luke. Only different. There's a photo in a long-ago issue of Life magazine showing a wild-maned Steven Steinlight occupying a Columbia University administration building during the violent student strike of 1968.... In summary, there is no nicer guy on the planet than Steven Steinlight. Not even you, Luke. Director Paul Cowan I spoke this week with National Film Board of Canada documentary filmmaker Paul Cowan. From 1998-2000, he followed me around intermittently for the documentary released last year Give Me Your Soul. Luke: "The movie producers are much more carefully spoken than the pornographers." Paul: "Absolutely. That was the best thing about the porn people, they were straight forward." Luke: "Such a refreshing change from showbiz people." Paul: "Not just showbiz people. I've been in a lot of different sectors of life through making my movies and I don't think I've ever found a group that was as open and honest as the porners." Luke: "That's right." Paul: "I miss that aspect of them. I truly mean that. Not just because they're walking freakshows. I can actually say that I enjoyed them, mostly for their candor and lack of guile. They're not bad people in that sense at all." Luke: "They're more honest than most people." Paul: "They absolutely are. Nobody believes me when I say that. They think I'm apologizing for what they're doing. I'm not. Are you happy in your new life?" Luke: "I'm still in spiral. I still get thrown out of shuls even though I sold lukeford.com in early August." Paul: "Are these for past transgressions?" Luke: "Yeah, and some of the terminology on lukeford.net. Orthodox rabbis and Orthodox Jews act in concert. It's not a go-it-alone community." Paul: "What is the essence of lukeford.net?" Luke: "It hasn't found its voice yet. It's like lukeford.com without the porn and the shock value." Paul: "You're just doing it for personal satisfaction?" Luke: "No, it will eventually flower. All beginnings are difficult." Paul: "I just got an email from Richard Pacheco. I haven't talked to him for over a year. He didn't like the film. He thought it was too negative." Luke: "And Bill Margold?" Paul: "He loves it. By far, he thinks it's the best film about porn ever made. Jim South had no problem with it. I've never been able to find Katie June and her mom." Luke: "Kimberly Jade?" Paul: "Kimberly Jade had already cut me off before the end of the film. She didn't want anything to do with it and I don't know why. She wouldn't answer phone calls or emails. "One of the nice things about the porno world was once you got in one door, you were in all the doors. I don't think I'll have it that easy again." Luke: "In Hollywood, I have to deal with publicists." Paul: "They're brutal. And your love life?" Luke: "Nothing." Paul: "Now that you've removed this smirch on your lineage, I would've thought they'd be flocking to your garage. What now is the problem?" Luke: "I've felt buffeted the past few months and retreated socially. I'm not up to penetrating goyisha life and Orthodox Jewish life is difficult for me. And I have no income and I'm saving my shekels. "I met a peace corps volunteer the other night and I can't even fathom the selflessness to spend two years in some God forsaken equatorial dark hole as well as Calcutta. "Thank God my health is ok as I face some formidable challenges. I'm struggling with my memoir." Paul: "I would think that would be one of the hardest forms of writing." Luke: "People want conclusions. That was a problem with my first book." Paul: "You're not that type of guy. I know." Luke: "They want me to make pronouncements and points and to have learned lessons. Particularly they want me to condemn pornography. And I don't have great pronouncements. I would've kept writing on the industry except for the social ostracism. I don't have any conclusions." Paul: "People ask me that too. And I say I don't know. I don't regret the time I spent there. I don't feel sullied by it. I found it emotionally satisfying and exciting. You're playing with fire." Luke: "People who do that are more interesting. As a writer, I seek compelling material." Paul: "Yes, you want people putting it on the line. You want people risking something. If they're not risking anything, it's not interesting." Luke: "It's like playing in the National Football League. You get beat up and you can break bones. But it is your time in the spotlight. Now I feel like a sports player who's retired. I don't have any clue how I can shake up Hollywood the way I did the porn industry. I don't think it is possible because there is so much media on Hollywood already. How can I make a dent?" Paul: "And there have been so many insider accounts about what it is really like. I remember reading Julia Phillips book, 'You'll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again.' It was a big scandal but frankly who cares." Luke: "I picked it up and I saw no point to the book." Paul: "That was the insider's insider. Just getting inside and getting the real story isn't enough in this day and age. We live in an age where the real story has been out there for a long time in just about everything. You've got to bring something to it." Luke: "I've got a few months to make something of myself or I will have to take a job as a secretary or something. And I am dreading that." Paul: "It's not only the money, it's the boredom and tedium. I'd kill myself before I let tedium rule my life. That fear would keep me awake at night too." The Jewish Taliban Dr Menachem Mavet writes on soc.jewish.culture.moderated: Since Hanuka is around the corner, it's time to be a contrarian and diss the holiday. Not that I dislike it, I like latkes, even if my cardiologist doesn't. (Or maybe she does, after all the more of us who eat diets high in fat and cholesterol, the more business for her.) And I like jelly doughnuts, and the candles are pretty. But what does it celebrate? In the end, it celebrates the victory of the Jewish Taliban, fanatic kohanim (Priests) who illegally took over a monarchy that was supposed to be reserved for the descendants of David. (Whether the descendants of David _deserve_ the monarchy, based on the dynasty's performance the first time around is a matter for a different thread.) Basically, the war the Maccabees fought was not simply a war against a foreign invader, it was a civil war. And it wasn't a war for religious freedom, after all, didn't Judah Maccabbee kill the poor schlub in Modi'in who was willing to make an offering to Zeuss. In other words, there were those Jews who wanted to realize the benefits of modern world Hellenistic culture, and the religious fanatics who wanted to take people back to the "good old days." If one thinks about it, most of us secular/non-O Jews, if we had actually lived back then and had the same attitudes we have now, we would probably been on the side of the Hellenizers. So why are we bothering to celebrate Hanuka? I do, because I am attracted to post-modernist irony. How about the rest of the secular/non-O crowd? In Defense Of Fundamentalist Jews Seth Lipsky writes on OpinionJournal.com: Three days after the attack on the World Trade Center, Thomas Friedman of the New York Times wrote a column asserting, among other things, that terrorism reflects a struggle "between those Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and Jews with a modern and progressive outlook and those with a medieval one." It was one of those glancing sneers that took some people a bit of time to comprehend. But not Rabbi Avi Shafran of the Agudath Israel of America, an organization that represents fervently religious Jews and is affiliated with the Council of Torah Sages. "If Mr. Friedman means to impugn Jews who remain faithful to Jewish religious tradition and who accept and observe the Torah's laws even against the zeitgeist, he should be advised," the rabbi wrote to the Times. "Orthodox Jews express their fervency through prayer, study of texts, ritual observance and kindness toward others, not in terrorism. To try to compare them to Islamic radicals is outlandish and worse." A few weeks later came another of those sneers that are so subtle they can go right past a reader. This time it was by an author named Karen Armstrong, writing in Time magazine. She asserted that every fundamentalist movement she has studied "in Judaism, Christianity and Islam is convinced that liberal, secular society is determined to wipe out religion." She went on to say: "Fighting, as they imagine, a battle for survival, fundamentalists often feel justified in ignoring the more compassionate principles of their faith." This gibe prompted Phil Baum of the American Jewish Congress to write a letter to Time. "While there are extremists in Judaism and Christianity," he wrote, "the actions of this handful of marginal religious fanatics are almost universally repudiated by other Jews and Christians." By contrast, he added, "Islamic extremism includes thousands of adherents around the globe expressly trained and sworn to kill by leaders like Osama bin Laden. Except for a minuscule number of isolated individuals, Jewish fundamentalists act out their beliefs by railing against the modern world, prohibiting television in their homes and requiring the strictest possible interpretation of Jewish law, such as Sabbath observance. But they do not direct airplanes into the World Trade Center or the Pentagon." Orthodox Mob Sacks Jerusalem Porn Shop Yossi Klein Halevi writes on Tnr.com: In an ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood, a mob ransacked and later torched a photo shop allegedly selling pornographic movies. The secular owner shoved an old man who was instigating the riot; the old man later died of injuries sustained in his fall. He is now revered as a saint, ultra-Orthodoxy's first contemporary martyr in its war against the secular. Why Can't I Fall In Love? NEW YORK, NY - - This week, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach signed a contract with Talk America Network, one of the largest radio syndicators in North America to host a radio daytime talk show. The call-in, discussion and advice show will air Monday through Friday for 3 hours. You can expect the unexpected from the Orthodox Rabbi who has tons to say and now a platform to say it from starting in early 2002 on the Talk America Radio Network. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is the author of twelve books, including the international best-seller Kosher Sex. His most recent title, "Why Can't I Fall In Love" was nominated for a Books For Better Life award this year. His weekly essays and columns are read by a vast following. Upcoming highlights for rabbi Shmuley include a trip to Hong Kong in December where he will address the Jewish community there. Helpful writes: So he's a nationally recognized author, highly regarded lecturer and frequent overnight guest at the Neverland Ranch. Big deal! Our Luke has an honor that old Shmuley can only dream of .... Mr. Boteach can you claim to have ever been a Hustler magazine's Asshole of the Month? Didn't think so. Viva Luke!! Yes Emmanuelle, There IS A Chaim Amalek Skeptical journalist Emmanuelle Richard writes: "Dear Chaim: I am a French journalist. Some of my big media friends say there is no Chaim Amalek. My editor says "If you see it on the Internet, it's so." Please tell me the truth. Is there a Chaim Amalek?" Chaim Amalek responds (and he only responds to her, and not the dozens of other emailers who question his existence because she is young, French and beautiful): Emmanuel, your friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Emmanuel, whether they be men's or women's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, Emmanuel, there is a Chaim Amalek. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were Chaim Amalek! It would be as dreary as if there were no Emmanuels. There would be no womanly faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which the internet fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Chaim Amalek! You might as well not believe in equality, liberty, or fraternity! The most real things in the world are those that neither journalists nor porn stars can see. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Emmanuel, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Chaim Amalek! Thank God! he lives, and he dwells in New York on the Upper West Side. And for so long as internet archives are maintained of lukeford.com, so too shall he live on. Luke Bored By Ghost I watched the 1990 film Ghost, directed by Jerry Zucker and inspired by Dennis Prager's teachings about reward and punishment in the next life. I guess some films you either get into them and you buy them, or you don't. And within a minute or two into this film, I just wasn't buying it. I was not involved in the story. I could only look at it as a movie playing on my TV screen. It seemed like typical American sentimentality. Harry Potter And Jewish Values Last week in the Jewish Journal, Rabbi Toba August listed the following 7 Jewish values she identified in the film, "Harry Potter and the Sorcer's Stone. Value 1: "In a place where there is no leader, strive to be a leader. (B'Makom Sh'- T'heyeh) Value 2: "Cleaving and having loyalty to friends" (Avahat Achim) Value 3: "Fighting evil" (Yetzer ha 'Tove vs Yetzer 'he Ra) Value 4: "The importance of deeds over thoughts" (La HaMidrash H'ekar, Elch Hama esh) Value 5: "I have given you a great heritage, do not abandon it." (Ki Lekach Tov Natali Lachem ... Al Ta'azovu) Value 6: "Do not stand by idly by the blood of your neighbor." (Al Ta'amod Al Dam Rayecha) Value 7: "Redeeming the captive" (Pidyon Shevuyim) R' Shmuley Boteach Interviews Lindsey Vuolo, Playboy's Miss November Yisroel Markov writes on soc.jewish.culture.moderated: "R' Boteach mostly tried to persuade her that she did the wrong thing. One of the users commented on the discussion board: "I agree w/ the points the Rabbi made - and I think she did too. She seemed dazed by the logic and was giving him the ammo he needed to shoot her vague answers down handidly."" Abe Kohen writes: Yes, but where are the pictures? I would like to practice some Judaism with her - like the first mitzvah. Dr. Menachem Mavet writes on soc.jewish.culture: I read this piece of fluff, and I wasn't impressed with either of them. Sure, Boteach scored debating points, but Vuolo didn't exactly come across as someone with lots of intellectual prowess. (I hesitiate to use the word "airhead," let's just give her the benefit of the doubt and say that it appeared she didn't do her homework before this sorry attempt at intellectual jousting with a Rabbi.) And I think that with a little bit of thinkin, it would be possible to refute Boteach, especially if you admit that you don't believe in Orthodox Judaism. Basically, Botreach's schtick is that "modesty" is a necessary condition for happy sexual relations between a husband and wife. He thinks that if a husband and wife have thoughts and sexual fantasies about anyone other than the spouse, their marriage will suffer, and the family will be destroyed. From this cames all of his opposition to "pornogrpahy," and everyhting else that makes life interesting (in the sexual sense.) Based on my experience, I say this is bunk. My marriage is based on more than sexual attractiveness, and depsite occasionally viewing "pornogrpahy," I still find my wife attractive. (We are pushing 50, by the way.) As far as sex, I will do whatever it takes to keep her happy, which, it turns out involves keeping _me_ happy. And I'm sure this works both ways. So **anything** that I fanatasize about that works for me is, in my opinion, fair game. If that means my college girlfriend from 30 years ago, so be it. Some of this I'll share, and other stuff I won't, based on whether I think she would be offended. For all I know, she's doing the same thing, and as long as she doesn't belittle me, I don't care what she is fantasizing about. Hey, as long as it feels good... Now, as to whether Ms. Vuolo will find marital bliss as a result of having posed in Playboy, that's sort of a non sequitur. She should realize that that's not the purpose of posing there. As far as I can tell, the purpose for the model is to collect the fee and perhaps use the exposure to advance a career in the netertainment industry. Boteach seemed to make a big deal that only 200 out of 500 Playmates have gone on to further their careers in the industry, but given how hard it is to break into show business, that may actually show that posing in Playboy _does_ help your career. Also, whether her posing attracts the "wrong" sort of male interest is also a non-sequitur. Boteach seems to think that if men are allowed to look at young hard-bodied women, they will desire _only_ young hard-bodied women, and that this can be a problem for a woman as she and her husband grow older. This is _not_ true. I don't know Boteach's age, but when I got to my mid thirties, I was amazed at how a little grey hair in a woman was tuning me on. In fact, I think many women in their 20's are immature, so while the young harbdbody is attractive to look at, I would never want to dump my wife for one. So what's the problem with my fantasizing about them? Believe me Ms. Vuolo, as long as you have a good personality and maintain a good relationship, your husband will not leave you when you become middle aged, even if he _does_ read Playboy magazine. Markov writes: Gemara Nedarim 20b forbids thinking of another woman when making love to one's wife - even if the other woman is also his wife. R' Boteach reiterates this in his works. I buy that line with hook and sinker :-) No offense and IMHO, but if you don't need to picture a pneumatic 20-year-old in your mind to maintain erection - in which case you *might* be justified by the halachic need to satisfy your wife - then you have no halachic business thinking about someone else. How Does One Atone For Porn Journalism? Khunrum writes: How do you do that? Is it like the Taliban? Do they cut off your fingers so you can't type anymore? Do you just sit on your hands for six months. Just how does one "atone" ? Chaim Amalek writes: C'mon, this is America and you know how one atones for one's sins. You become rich and famous and donate money to those who demand atonement. Khunrum adds: In which case we are looking at a very long atonement. Perhaps Luke should offer The Hovel as a Day Care Center. It would hold two or three kids comfortably. Helpful adds: He could then invite Shmuley and M.J. over to study Torah and sample the kids. Luke's Pushka My dear readers, I am a troubled man. Until recently, I began each day in the company of my fellow Jews, engaged in communal prayer. Among the joyous rituals that this entailed was the laying of teffilin, an act that immediately served to bind me to my adopted faith and provide me with the structure in life that has otherwise been sorely lacking. As each of you knows, I was expelled from that comfortable world for being associated with the world of pornography, even if only as a journalist famously hostile to it. Without the benefit of a trial and without being given the opportunity to explain myself, I was ejected from my temple, and my teffilin were taken away from me. Now, like a lone piece of coal, my faith grows cold and old. I know that I must rekindle it by finding new Jews with whom to pray in the morning, but with now several Jewish temples already having taken the extremely rare step of expulsion in my case, I do not know where to go or where to turn. But then I had an epiphany - why not communally commune with other Jews and Noahidic Gentiles in prayer to God via the internet! If one of you would be so kind as to donate the necessary equipment, I shall install a daven-cam that will be turned on when I am engaged in prayer and other holy rituals. Spiritually inclined readers of LukeFord.net, won't you please help me to become the good Jew that I know I could be by purchasing for me a high quality daven-cam? I cannot pay you in money for your kindness, but trust that in the hereafter, you shall be rewarded for your acts of kindness. God Bless you all. Amalek18: HEY - why not a teffilin cam? You mount a small camera on top of your head for a teffilin-eye view of what you are doing all day? LATE UPDATE - Rejoice! Thanks to the generosity of my readers who've become ministers, the Daven Cam is now operational! Luke's New Path Minister Luke Ford has the power to make you a LEGALLY ORDAINED MINISTER within 48 hours!!!! BE ORDAINED NOW! As a minister, you will be authorized to perform the rites and ceremonies of the church!! WEDDINGS MARRY your BROTHER, SISTER, or your BEST FRIEND!! Don't settle for being the BEST MAN OR BRIDES' MAID Most states require that you register your certificate (THAT WE SEND YOU) with the state prior to conducting the ceremony. FUNERALS A very hard time for you and your family Don't settle for a minister you don't know!! Most states require that you register your certificate (THAT WE SEND YOU) with the state prior to conducting the ceremony. BAPTISMS You can say "WELCOME TO THE WORLD!!!! I AM YOUR MINISTER AND YOUR UNCLE!!" What a special way to welcome a child of God. FORGIVENESS OF SINS The Catholic Church has practiced the forgiveness of sins for centuries **Forgiveness of Sins is granted to all who ask in sincerity and willingness to change for the better!! VISIT CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES Since you will be a Certified Minister, you can visit others in need!! Preach the Word of God to those who have strayed from the flock WANT TO START YOUR OWN CHURCH?? After your LEGAL ORDINATION, you may start your own congregation!! Please send $29:95 to Luke Ford, 264 S. La Cienega Blvd, PMB 1417, BH, CA 90211 For only $29.95 you will receive: Goddess writes: You an ordained minister? Ya had me right up until the "shipping is FREE" part...then I *knew* it was a scam....Luke Ford does nothing for free..... Fred writes: When I was in high school, it was something of a fad to be an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church. One of my buddies ordained so many of his friends that they made him a bishop. I remember presiding over a ceremony in which I married one of the cheer leaders to a pencil sharpener. I don't think she took it very seriously. (The pencil sharpener never recovered.) Khunrum writes: 'Is it time for me to take this fateful step?' Absolutely. Long overdue. Time for you to take religion into your own hands. I have been urging this move for sometime. For you "Kids" who don't remember "The Draft" or for that matter "The War" (Vietnam I say) .. You won't know about Alan Klebs, Chief Boo Hoo of the Neo American Church. He ordained guys as ministers (The same $29.95 I believe) who then presented their credentials to the draft board. An easy and painless out. When the government finally caught on it was then off to the friendly anti war psychiatrist for a schizoid letter or as a last resort Canada. The history lesson is on me. Curious writes: I always envisioned you as a Catholic priest as you have already seemingly taken both the vows of poverty and celibacy. Khunrum writes: Luke As a newly ordained minister. Are you adhering to strict "Moral" principles? Amalekites Proud Of Luke's New Path Amalek18: We are all proud of you. Amalek18: I predict that you will move from orthodoxy to conservative to reform to some other faith in due course. Hustler Magazine And Betrayal Journalism David Steinberg writes for Richard Freeman's magazine Batteries Not Included in the November, 2001 issue: It all started innocently enough. I got a call from a guy named Stephen Johnson. He was writing a story about sex and developmental disability, a topic that had interested me for some time. Johnson was having trouble finding anyone who wanted to talk to him at all. The hitch was that he was writing his piece for none other than Hustler magazine. As soon as he mentioned Hustler's name, he explained, people backed away in a hurry. I was sympathetic to his plight. For the last eight years I have been a columnist and contributing writer for Spectator - a San Francisco Bay Area tabloid that regularly publishes interesting, thoughtful, dare I say intelligent, articles about sex - the kind of articles that should be all over the place but aren't... Despite its editorial content, however, Spectator looks very much like any of the other sex rags that dot the national landscape, magazines whose demeanors are determined by their dozens of pages of ads for phone sex, strip joints and lap dancing clubs - the more lurid, the better... Unfortunately, these magazines tend to be about as sexist, misogynistic, racist, adolescent, homophobic, guilt-driven, and just plain brainless as you can get... Hustler connection aside, Johnson sounded like a serious, well-intentioned young reporter. He responded enthusiastically when I spoke about the sexuality of developmentally disabled people as an issue of sexual civil rights - that developmentally disabled people had as much right to have their sexual needs and desires treated respectfully as anyone else. He agreed with me that the widespread institutional neglect and outright suppression of the sexuality of developmentally disabled people reflected our culture's tendency to relate to sex as a danger than as an opportunity for joy. And he took particular note of my itnerest in the sexual perspectives of developmentally disabled people as lessons about our essential sexual natures, about the primal nature of our sexuality before it becomes acculturated to the seriously distorted expectations of our sex-phobic society. I felt good talking to Johnson. I felt heard, understood and respected. I told him that I thought that these issues needed to be discussed, even in as unlikely and potentially distasteful a forum as Hustler. The issue, he said, was of particular relevance to Hustler publisher Larry Flynt because Flynt has been in a wheelchair ever since his near assassination by a right-wing sniper in 1977. Six months later the article came out in Hustler under the title "Sex, Retard Style: Slobbery, Stupid, and Horny as Hell." I was completely floored. I knew how crucial the issue of language is in the developmentally disability community where people are struggling to come out from under derogatory, dismissive, insulting terms like "retard." Even gentler terms, like retarded, or mentally retarded, are shunned in favor of more neutral phrase, "developmentally disabled." The language the article used to refer to disabled people, however, was nothing short of vile. Respectful references to "developmentally disabled people" alternated with a veritable thesaurus of insults for the developmentally disabled - feebleminded, retard, imbecile, dimwit, cretin, simpleton, not-so-smart, unintelligent, low-IQ, mental midget, dumb-as-a-plank. I called Johnson to find out what had happened. He explained that after he turned his piece in, his editors had essentially Hustlerized it. Blessed By The Gospel George writes: Hi Luke, I am very glad to hear you are no longer involved in the pornography business. I wrote you an email about a year ago and you answered it. Anyway, I am reading a book by your Father called "Daniel" right now and it is quite an amazing book. I do not believe I have ever read anyone outside of the Bible and Ellen White and maybe HMS Richards Sr. who blessed me like the writings of your Father, Desmond. I met your Father out in Riverside about a year ago and he signed my Bible. I was really blessed to see so many people come up to your Dad and tell him how much his writings have blessed them and helped reveal the love of Christ. Your Father spoke in Loma Linda about a year ago and there was a standing room only crowd there. Many theologians, and pastors and professors and ordinary people like me. And it was a day I will never forget. Your Father was introduced by Dr. Raymond Cottrell, who is a Biblical Scholar in his own right and helped write the Seventh day Adventist Commentary. And then Dr. Ford took the stage and with no notes and not even a Bible, began to expound on the gospel of righteousness by faith alone like nobody I have ever heard. We all left with the feeling that Christ loved us so much, he died for us and forgives us our sins and in this great controversy between good and bad, that he is for us. What a Savior he is. I know you do not accept Christ as your Savior, but Christ knows that and knows your circumstances. JustMrT writes: Your dad autographs Bibles? Isn't that a little presumptuous? Like if you were to start autographing people's copies of Fine Ass Ho's #4? Luke answers: Not at all. It is a little known fact that my father actually wrote the Bible. Though I did not have anything to do with the production of Fine Ass Ho's #4. |
