Pope Francis Wrong to Criticize Trump's Faith

A few years ago I was a first-time guest on a news radio show on Detroit's National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate. Following the show, the host asked me if I'd like to be invited back for other topics that might concern me. I told him I enjoyed the discussion and would be interested. Not long after that, I received a call to return as a guest. When I asked what the program would be about, I was surprised that I had been invited. The topic for the full hour of the radio broadcast would be a review of the year in religion, but the focus would be on the new pope. Uh oh, I thought to myself, I better go read up on Catholicism in general and Pope Francis in particular.

It turned out that the host of the NPR show, Craig Fahle, was intrigued by the wide praise the new pope was getting from all faith traditions and wanted to hear from various local religious leaders what we thought of Pope Francis during his first year. Like the other faith leaders sitting to either side of me, I explained how Pope Francis seemed wonderful and charismatic. I talked about refreshing it was to see a pope break from tradition and put human rights ahead of doctrine. We discussed the pope's views on homosexuality and abortion, in addition to his close relationship with Rabbi Abraham Skorka and his embrace of interfaith relations. When the discussion turned to the question of Papal Infallibility, a dogma of the Catholic Church, I explained that as a Jew I cannot say that any human being is free from error. No one is infallible because we all make mistakes.

That point was made last week when Pope Francis misspoke about Donald Trump's faith. While in Mexico, the pope was asked his views on presidential candidate Donald Trump. He said, "A person, who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian." My ears perked up when I heard the pope saying this on television. It didn't sound much different than ultra-Orthodox rabbis saying that liberal Jews aren't really Jewish.

I don't have a problem with Pope Francis making political statements, although he claimed his comments weren't intended to give any indication of how he thought American Catholics should vote in the upcoming election. My issue was that a religious leader saying that a man's views nullify him from considering himself part of a faith tradition are problematic. The pope can say he disagrees with Trump's stated immigration policies, but to say he's not Christian is a slippery slope. I remain impressed by Pope Francis and applaud his efforts in the realm of human rights and interfaith relations, but saying Donald Trump is not Christian warrants a papal apology.

Cross-posted to Rabbis Without Borders blog at MyJewishLearning.com

Who Owns Jewish Ritual?

My rabbinic networks have been abuzz about the second episode of a new reality TV show on TLC called "The Sisterhood." I first learned of the controversial episode when someone Tweeted the clip to me asking me what I thought. I then sent an article about the episode from The Christian Post to my colleagues in Clal's Rabbis Without Borders program and an interesting discussion ensued.

TLC's new reality TV show "The Sisterhood" has been panned by Christians for disrespecting Christianity and by Jewish people for using Jewish ritual in a Christian framework.

The new reality show features Texas couple Brian Lewis and his wife Tara and their children. The show premiered on New Year's day. In the second episode, the family discusses their preparation for their son's upcoming bar mitzvah. The couple's 13-year-old son Trevor however isn't Jewish and neither are his parents. In fact, Trevor's father is a Christian pastor who was raised in a Jewish household before converting to Christianity before marriage.