When I first stepped into literature twenty-five years ago, I wanted to work on behalf of the oppressed, the working masses, and it seemed to me, mistakenly, that I would not find them among the Jews.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
This is always a pain because it's injustice too and so my response to it, I tell you what I am more surprised or horrified at Jews who forget to be humanists than I am at anybody else.
It is an open secret that Jews do not work, but rather let others work for them.
You can easily see why the experience of Jews would be helpful if you're looking to get action on religious persecution.
In my work with young Jewish adults in the gay community, I hear their stories of discrimination, of struggling for acceptance, of feeling invisible not for what they have done but simply for who they are.
It seems, though, that historically we have now reached a position in which Jews cannot legitimately be understood always and only as presumptive victims.
It's interesting when you're part of a group - the Jews, to be exact - that the world has had such problems with.
Discrimination against Jews can be read in Thomas Aquinas, and insults against Jews in Martin Luther.
I have a 10-year track record of writing for the Jewish community.
Jewish persecution is a historical memory of the present generation and people fear it in the present day, and that's why those references are so much more powerful. I just understand that better now.
I never knew any Jews until I got into show business. I've found them to be real smart and good workers.