{"id":940,"date":"2011-09-18T01:18:48","date_gmt":"2011-09-18T05:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/windowsanddoors\/?p=940"},"modified":"2011-09-18T01:18:48","modified_gmt":"2011-09-18T05:18:48","slug":"apples-jew-or-not-jew-app-should-it-be-legal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/windowsanddoors\/2011\/09\/apples-jew-or-not-jew-app-should-it-be-legal.html","title":{"rendered":"Apple’s “Jew or Not Jew” App — Should It Be Legal?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

An Apple application<\/a> that let users guess which French politicians or celebrities are Jewish was pulled from France’s App Store. but its American equivalent is still available.<\/p>\n

French activist groups said the “Jew or Not Jew?”<\/a>\u00a0app violated bans on compiling information on people’s religion and revealing that religion without their consent, according to United Press International<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

I still remember when Saturday Night Live introduced this as a mock game show almost 30 years ago!\u00a0 Those with long memories will recall that the show was hosted by Kurt Waldheim, then becoming infamous for having lied about his Nazi past.\u00a0 Frankly, I though it was hysterical.\u00a0 But perhaps that’s the point.<\/p>\n

What’s funny in America may not be so funny in France, where Antisemitism is a much more prevalent and dangerous fact of life than it is in America.\u00a0 But is that really a sufficient argument?<\/p>\n

I do appreciate that in France, far more likely than in the United States, the “Jew or Not Jew” game\u00a0 could be used in ugly ways.\u00a0 I just think that laws which prohibit such things mask very serious underlying problems, much more than they actually address them.<\/p>\n

The problem is not the app per se — it is not in and of itself hateful or ugly.\u00a0 The danger lies in how it could be used by hateful and ugly people.\u00a0 Not having this app will not address the problem of their hate and ugliness.\u00a0\u00a0 Not to mention that the app’s unavailability in the french-based app store does not mean that it will not be readily available in France.\u00a0 That’s one of the blessing and the burdens of the internet, right?<\/p>\n

This seems like a well-intentioned, but totally unsophisticated response to a very real problem.\u00a0 And in this case the old adage about the road to Hell and good intentions seems pretty apt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Apple application that let users guess which French politicians or celebrities are Jewish was pulled from France’s App Store. but its American equivalent is still available. 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