Charles Taylor converts to Judaism

Madonna was bad enough, but this is really beyond the pale. Former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, currently imprisoned at the Hague awaiting trial for war crimes in Sierra Leone, has apparently decided to convert to Judaisim, one of his wives tells BBC radio (my transcript): Q. So he’s now a practicing Jew? A. He’s now ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
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585203_090605_charlestaylor2.jpg
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor (R) sits in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court prior to the hearing of witnesses in the trial against him in The Hague 07 January 2008. Taylor is accused of controlling militia that killed and raped thousands in Sierra Leone. Taylor, the first African head of state to appear before an international war crimes tribunal, was present in court for the hearing in which the prosecution will call its first witness, an international expert on conflict diamonds. AFP PHOTO / POOL / Michael Kooren -NETHERLANDS OUT- (Photo credit should read MICHAEL KOOREN/AFP/Getty Images)

Madonna was bad enough, but this is really beyond the pale.

Former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, currently imprisoned at the Hague awaiting trial for war crimes in Sierra Leone, has apparently decided to convert to Judaisim, one of his wives tells BBC radio (my transcript):

Q. So he’s now a practicing Jew?

A. He’s now a Jew. He’s practicing Judaism. 

Q. Tells us about that? What led him to that?

A. Because of the difficulties, he always wanted to know God in a very diffent and special way. From a very small boy — because we talk about his childhood a whole lot — he asked himself questions about Christianity. Too many questions about why certain things happened. And why, this one and that one. Just too many question in Christianity and the whole thing about Christ because he does believe in Christ. When he got to the Hague, he got to know that he really, really wanted to be a Jew. Wanted to convert to Judaism. And that…

Q. Does that mean he has rejected Christianity then? Because that’s quite a radical departure.

A. No, no, no he hasn’t rejected Christianity. He has always been a Christian. He just decided to become a Jew. He wants to follow the two religions.

Least. Welcome. Convert. Ever.

I also can’t help wondering if he got this idea from George Bluth on Arrested Development.

(Hat tip: Shelby Grossman via Chris Blattman)

MICHAEL KOOREN/AFP/Getty Images

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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