[net.religion.jewish] No Joking Matter

samet@sfmag.UUCP (A.I.Samet) (03/28/85)

> Sometimes people on the net get the wrong impression. Worse,
> sometimes they broadcast this misapprehension worldwide.

1) Considering that the original article was broadcast worldwide,
it's  one-sided  to  focus  solely  on  the  worldwideness of the
response.  It's fine to defend your friend, but that can be  done
without trying to shift the "bad guy" label to someone else.

2) Someone getting the "wrong"  impression  was  inevitable,  not
happenstance.   Not  everyone in the world saw Star Wars or reads
and remembers Bloom Country cartoons, so many if not most readers
would be unable to decode Monica's double entendres and recognize
sarcasm was intended. At  face  value,  the  words  are  negative
towards Jews.

3) Ignoring the strong potential that even one  person  might  be
offended  was insensitive and thus wrong even if no maliciousness
was  intended.   That  type  of  carelessness  is  understandably
upsetting  to  people  who  feel  that anti-semitism is no joking
matter.