DUMB HOLOCAUST ANALOGY OF THE MONTH

IN FRIDAY'S BOSTON GLOBE, ELLEN GOODMAN COMPARES DENIAL OF GLOBAL WARMING TO ... HOLOCAUST DENIAL.

I would like to say we're at a point where global warming is impossible to deny. Let's just say that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers, though one denies the past and the other denies the present and future.

IS THE GLOBE GETTING WARMER? PROBABLY. ARE HUMAN BEINGS CONTRIBUTING TO IT? PROBABLY. BUT AS JAMES TARANTO OF THE WALL STREET JOURNAL POINTS OUT:

There's an enormous difference between doubting an outlandish prediction (even one that comes true) and denying the grotesque facts of history. Because we are ignorant of the future, we can innocently misjudge it. Holocaust deniers are neither ignorant nor innocent (though extremely ignorant people may innocently accept their claims). They are falsifying history for evil purposes.

AWARD WINNER FOR WORST SERMON TITLE

Apologies in Maine over Jewish ad (JTA)
The minister at a Maine church apologized for a newspaper ad touting a sermon titled “The only way to destroy the Jewish race.” In a statement Monday, the Rev. Philip Andrukaitis of the South Portland Baptist Church wrote, “Please forgive me for causing alarm in your hearts.”

The sermon actually was about fighting anti-Semitism and supporting Israel and Judaism. “When you read it, it is absolutely pro-Israel and pro-Jewish,” said Emily Sandberg, executive director of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine. “It’s the title that is absolutely inappropriate.”

The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, which published the ad Saturday, also apologized for what it called an “oversight” and said safeguards had been put in place to avoid a recurrence.

The Portland Reform synagogue Bet Ha’am featured the ad in a Sunday Hebrew school session with 50 middle- and high-school students.

Andrew Tarsy, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said he hoped to meet with Andrukaitis and Jewish community leaders concerning the incident.