Remember the “good old days,” when some people thought it was okay for a man to make a lewd comment to a woman, and, when she protested, to say, “Can’t you take a joke?” Even if one gives Lake Theater & Café manager Jordan Perry a pass for his recent marquee “joke,” his comments afterward (reported by several news sources) don’t deserve a pass, (“Provocative Lake Oswego theater’s marquee message about Jews provokes criticism, worry,” July 17).
There should be no passes for people who think it’s their right to tell Jewish people whether or not comments are antisemitic or offensive. Jews may disagree among each other, but that’s our privilege, not a privilege held by others. This is no different for Jewish people than for Muslim people, LGBTQ+ people, Black people and all other minorities who demand and deserve the same respect.
There should be no passes for people who demonstrate a superficial understanding of a complex, painful conflict in the Middle East, and who moralistically blame one side, as if life were that simple. Learn first, moralize second…