Although I’m not a fan of network television, I do enjoy “The Big Bang Theory.” It’s a consistently funny show, which reminds me of such all time greats as “Cheers”, “Seinfeld”, and “Malcolm In the Middle”.

So I was interested when I saw an article entitled “Mayim Bialik: Hollywood is not friendly to people of faith.” Mayim Bialik plays Amy, the geeky girlfriend of Sheldon, played by Jim Parsons, star of The Big Bang Theory. (That’s Bialik in the upper right of the photo.)

In the article Bialik says, “I think in general it’s never going to be trendy to be observant or religious in Hollywood circles.” She also discusses being attacked with anti-Semitic comments on her blog simply because she said “I’ve gone to Israel” to visit a friend.

Christians have long believed the entertainment industry discriminates against us because of our beliefs, but this was the first time I’d heard of a Jew with the same complaint. Wanting to learn more, I went over to Bialik’s blog. Imagine my surprise to discover a post there, in which Bialik bashes a store merely for playing Christian music.

In the post Bialik announces she was “dumbfounded” to realize the music in the background was (gasp!) “singing about Jesus Christ.” When Bialik confronted the manager, who apparently did not share her concern, she “was shocked. I couldn’t stop my mouth from saying the words, ‘I don’t want to shop here,’ and I stumbled out the door.”

This, in a blog which also includes a post about the LGBTQ community which is presented with the hope that it “will inspire respectful conversation” and “build bridges to community and understanding for us all.” Community and understanding for all except Christians, apparently.

In addition to her acting career, Mayim Bialik is a neuroscientist, who wrote a dissertation called “Hypothalamic regulation in relation to maladaptive, obsessive-compulsive, affiliative, and satiety behaviors in Prader-Willi syndrome” (PhD Diss., UCLA, 2007). So Dr. Bialik is not an ignorant woman, or a woman unfamiliar with logic or deductive reasoning. This makes it all the more puzzling that she would complain on the one hand about antisemitism and a generally anti-religious atmosphere in Hollywood, while simultaneously complaining about a store simply because it plays Christian music.

This makes it all the more puzzling that she would complain on the one hand about antisemitism and a generally anti-religious atmosphere in Hollywood, while simultaneously complaining about a store simply because it plays Christian music.

As a Jew and an intelligent person, how can Mayim Bialik not understand that intolerance breeds intolerance? How can she expect the store owners to be silent about their faith, while simultaneously complaining about the Hollywood elite in who want her to keep her Judaism to herself? Does she really expect her fans to sympathize with bashing a store for playing Christian music, and also respect her Judaism? The hypocrisy is breathtaking. Yet this kind of doublethink is popping up everywhere, it seems.

I just left this comment on Bialik’s post:

“I get a little creeped out in home decor shops that sell statues of Buddha or Hindu gods, and I do notice when a Jewish restaurateur or shop owner puts a mezuzah on their door jamb. But so what? If you truly want a pluralistic society, you have to get comfortable with people being who they truly are. Otherwise, you’re just giving lip service to ideas like tolerance and diversity, when what you really want is a world where everyone is just like you.”

It’s too bad I had to write those words to an intelligent woman who is a member of one of history’s most persecuted minorities. Honestly, sometimes it seems like the world has gone insane.