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Yes, whether it's his homie Jack Abramoff or the rantings of Mel Gibson, Rabbi Daniel Lapin puts the Jew in "Jew-likeDevil's Advocate". His latest downtrodden martyr? D. James Kennedy, head of Coral Ridge Ministries, which has produced a new film that's sure to be fun for the whole family. What's that? What's the title? Oh, you'll love it, it's quite catchy- "Darwin's Deadly Legacy". It tells you all the important stuff about Darwin that those people don't want you to know. That's right, we all know who "they" are.

Its premise is that Darwin's thinking changed the world's perception of people, so instead of considering them made in God's image, they became just another organism. Bloggers Internet-wide as well as the Anti-Defamation League launched their criticism in pointed phrases when the airing was announced.

Seems fair. But wait, Rabbi Lapin to the rescue!

"Some American Jews may believe that Christian conservatives pose the biggest threat to Judaism. Therefore Jews should insult and attack Christians and suppress dissent by constantly evoking the Holocaust while darkly implying anti-Semitism," he wrote in a column addressing the dispute. "God help Jews if America ever becomes a post-Christian society. Just think of Europe."

This, of course, is ridiculous. The issue is not Christian conservatives, per se, but rather any religious group that seeks to turn America into a theocracy, or dictate their religious morality to others via American laws. A Christian Republican who does not share, say, Pat Robertson's conviction that non-Jews or Christians should not serve on juries, is not a threat to either myself personally, or to the American democracy I believe in. Just as the Jewish liberal is more nuanced than merely Holocaust-baiting anti-Semite accusers, so too are there quite a few shades of gray among American Christians, conservative and otherwise.

WND continues:

Kennedy, the Coral Ridge founder, acts as host for the program, and suggests, "No Darwin, no Hitler." The program goes even further, linking the two men with the concept of eugenics, formulated after Darwin wrote his theories and before Hitler came to power, with the contemporary abortion industry which does not recognize the value of all unborn human life.

First of all, it is generally a rather futile exercise to play the "historical what-if" game- not only do you get into the messy issue of proving a negative hypothetical, but there's also the problem of gross oversimplification that such discussions tend to involve. Darwin may have played some sort of role in forming Hitler's world-view, but Hitler's decisions were based on much more than merely seeing man as (possibly) the result of an evolutionary process. You might as well say something like, "no bratwurst, no Hitler", or "no crappy hair pomade, no Hitler". (Though I admit, one of the better ones of these I've heard has been, "had Hitler been accepted to art school, he might have been different.)

That aside, let's call a spade a spade. This isn't being done in a spirit of "open inquiry", this is a politically-motivated attempt to delegitimize Darwin, abortion and anything else Kennedy and Coral Ridge don't like by linking them to Hitler. It may not trivialize the Holocaust, as Abraham Foxman has argued, but it's certainly exploiting it, and being pretty damn obvious about it, too. Incidentally, for those keeping score, yes, this qualifies under the oft-implied Godwin's Law.

Rabbi Lapin's column can be accessed in full here:

Examining which issues raise its organizational blood-pressure, it is easy to see that the ADL chiefly represents two categories of Jews.

One: Jews for whom the doctrines of secular fundamentalism and of the Democratic Party have replaced the authentic principles of Judaism.

Two: Jews who consider Christian conservatives to be a far greater peril than Islamic extremism.

Uh, no. See, I'm pretty sure God didn't tell Moses what party to vote for. B, as stated above, ANY kind of theocratic extremism is a KIND of danger to American democracy. This actually includes far-left secular fundamentalism, too- Stalinism, et al wouldn't be very good for America, either. I have no problem admitting this. I'm centrist like that.

It now turns out that the ADL represents yet a third category of Jews: those passionately dedicated to defending Darwin. Once again, like a friendly and frolicsome puppy with a large, bushy tail that constantly knocks down expensive vases, the ADL, though filled with good intent, is utterly, completely clueless. Not only is it misrepresenting Judaism, but it may well be cracking the priceless vase of Jewish survival.

This is complete crap. The ADL hasn't claimed to be speaking on behalf of Judaism. They've said Coral Ridge is offending Jews and is using the Holocaust to make a cheap point. And you know what? They're right. And cracking the vase of Jewish survival? Huh?

...This dazzling production shows how ideas always have consequences, often unintended, and how Darwinism has impacted American culture. It discusses how the philosophy of evolution can dehumanize people and how Adolf Hitler, on his own admission, was influenced by Darwinian thought.

Does it also mention how Darwinism has had POSITIVE effects? Does it discuss secular scientists that have helped revolutionize the way people have understood and looked at the world? Or is this mainly a hatchet job?

Serious people are asking these three questions:

Why is a movie that shows how Darwinian thought helped shape Hitler’s murderous mind, dangerous to Jews?

No, again, it is not DANGEROUS to Jews, it is INSULTING to Jews, and arguably, anyone with more than a few brain cells. It is "dangerous" only so far as it helps push an anti-secular, anti-Darwinian agenda. It's also intellectually dishonest by indirectly attacking Darwin by poisoning the well. It doesn't actually go after Darwin's ideas or arguments, it takes the coward's way out- "You know who also liked Darwin? Adolf. Just saying."

Why is it necessary to insult so harshly one of America’s most prominent Christian leaders? Or to put it more bluntly, how exactly does it help Jews when the ADL humiliates an Evangelical leader whom as many as forty million Americans revere? Especially since Christian conservatives are virtually alone in acting benevolently towards Jews and standing with Jews in support of Israel.

One of America's most prominent Christian leaders? Since when? I've never heard of this bozo. Let's see some statistics to back up those numbers. Then again, I hadn't heard of Lapin's pal Abramoff before his story broke, either. How does it help Jews when the ADL goes after someone? Well, arguably, it helps let these guys know that not everybody thinks their BS cowardly-exploit-the-Holocaust-argument is ok. And no, Dan, the argument that "these guys are willing to support Israel and like us (insofar as we play bit players in their end-times Passion play) doesn't wash with me. You don't let a guest shit on your floor just because he says he'll pay you back.

Finally, had some Protestant pastor said in 2000, “Vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman is a leader among a distinct group of Jewish supremacists who seek to eradicate Christianity from America and turn the U.S. into a secular society based upon their strange notions of Jewish socialism,” would Mr. Foxman not have decried it as anti-Semitic? Intellectual honesty, if not a sense of decency, surely compels us to acknowledge that if anti-Semitism is an evil, so is anti-Christianism—bigotry is, after all, bigotry.

Fair enough, but first, that's factually inaccurate, as Leiberman is not a supremacist, a Christian hater, or a socialist. Neither is Foxman, arguably. And again, this "sense of decency" argument is pretty funny coming from a guy defending an anti-Darwin and abortion screed that says Darwin leads to the Holocaust by saying "Christians like other Christians, and besides, some of them like Jews". How "decent" is that?

I believe it appropriate for thoughtful Jews to support the Coral Ridge documentary and perhaps even for it to be shown in Jewish schools because there really are only two ways to account for human presence on our planet. One is that God created us in His image. The other is that by a lengthy and random process of totally unaided materialistic evolution, primitive protoplasm evolved into Bach, Brahms, and Beethoven. This approach, ruling out any role for God, is simply incompatible with Jewish values.

In other words, Lapin is willing to support any work that attacks Darwin or other components of a secular world-view, because he's already decided that such a view is not only incorrect, but also anti-Jewish. Hey, that's open-minded.

I would also be open to "thoughtful Jews" seeing this documentary, as well as countless others. Thoughtful Jews should, well, think. Darwin should be no different. But simply because you disagree, dislike, or even hate Darwin (or how he has been used to rationalize something by a specific group) does not mean that you should give your official Jew-stamp of approval to anybody who attacks him. That's not only dishonest, it's also pretty damn indecent, too. Particularly when you then bash the ADL in the process because they happen to come on the wrong side of the Darwin-debate. Hey Rabbi, how many Jews do you think respect Abraham Foxman? How does it help Jews to insult him?

Why a Jewish organization uses communal resources to defend Darwin is inexplicable. That Hitler embraced Darwinian views does not mean that Jews must support them any more than it means that Jews should support smoking because the Nazi’s set up stringent anti-smoking laws.

I agree. It also works the other way, though. Jews should no more oppose Darwin than they should stupid facial hair (c.f. the rabid ferret the Toldos Aharon rebbe called a beard). Whether or not Hitler, or Stalin, or the Baal Shem freaking Tov liked a particular belief, or hat, or goulash recipie, does not mean a damn thing- THOUGHTFUL JEWS SHOULD THINK. I know, it's hard, but so is life.

Jews should surely support all efforts to diminish the philosophical role of materialistic evolution on our culture. That doctrine violates the principles of Judaism and it threatens to coarsen the culture creating potential peril, just as it did in Germany seventy years ago. For his efforts we Jews owe gratitude to Dr. D. James Kennedy not pejorative name-calling.

Again, B.S. Maimonides used scientific principles of his age to better understand the Bible and Talmud. As did the Maharal of Prague, who was close friends with Johannes Kepler, among others. Jews of this age should not reject evolution simply because clowns like Lapin accuse it of being anti-Jewish. Look at the facts, look at the Jewish sources, and then decide. Don't let Lapin make your decisions for you- certainly don't let him question the Jew-dentity of people who disagree with him over evolution (like, you know, Rashi). Even if you decide evolution is crap, it still doesn't justify rubber-stamping every anti-Darwin asshat simply because you agree with them on a political point.

The rest of us Jews believe that today’s Islamic extremism is the real problem and that we must ally with religious Christians to defeat this mortal threat. We feel that the correct way to interact with all our fellow-Americans is by generating genuine friendship, respect, and yes, even affection. I call this the politics of Kidush HaShem—encouraging Jews to interact with our non-Jewish fellow citizens in ways that bring credit to the God of Abraham.

Lying and insulting works both ways. This documentary seems to do both. That's not a kiddush hashem, and whatever Foxman and the ADL's faults, going after them for pointing this out is not a kiddush hashem either. Sorry, Dan. One can oppose extremism from all sides without forsaking one's Jew-card. I don't have to choose between Bin Laden and Coral Ridge- I can reject them both. And you, too.