The Annoyed Man wrote: ↑Wed Feb 20, 2019 12:59 pm
srothstein wrote: ↑Wed Feb 20, 2019 11:19 am
It is very educational to note who has come out in her defense in the media also. Not in defense of her saying her opinion, but in defense of that opinion itself. It is not just the immigrants and refugees who feel this way. It appears to me that the liberal, left-leaning base of the Democratic party are saying that she is right too. This is also revealing to me. I can only hope that many other American Jews are seeing this and wondering if it has become time for them to leave the Democratic party, as it has left them.
I think this is a bigger question than just concerning American Jews. I think it is part of a larger winnowing of the harvest.
I am not Jewish, so I cannot claim to speak
for Jews. But as a Christian, grafted onto Father Abraham’s vine, I can most certainly speak
in support of Jews, and to issues affecting their wellbeing - most particularly their well-being as my fellow citizens. I am aware of the historical tradition of Jewish intellectual rigor, and the consequent presence of Jews in academic endeavor in numbers out of proportion to their representation in the population. In and of itself, that was never a bad thing. But I think I can say - because this affected my
own family too - that intellectual pursuits, within the cloistered environment of academia, can tempt one into believing the lie that the power of one’s
own intellect frees one of the need to follow a
higher power. And by the way, some of this trend has affected Christianity too. It’s really - at least in my opinion - about the war between secularism and spirituality.
So in the end, just as we end up with 2 kinds of Christians under academic pressure, we also end up with 2 kinds of Jews. For purposes of describing this phenomenon, you can even lump Jews and Christians together into those two kinds.....
There are the kinds for whom intellectual rigor and pursuit is a
spritual exercise, in which they seek to know more about, and draw closer to, their God. They understand obedience to scriptural precepts, and they actually seek the Deity’s help in achieving that obedience....on a
personal level. It’s a faith of submission.
Then there are the kinds for whom intellectual rigor and pursuit is a
liberation exercise, in which they seek to be freed from the “autocratic” precepts of Scripture, so that they may pursue making the world a better place according to
their definitions, not God’s. It’s
not a faith of submission.
We ask why American Jews would tend to politically support those policies which are harmful to Judaism, or politicians who would gladly see them wiped out. But we also ask why a Catholic Pope or Cardinals would not excommunicate nominally Catholic governors or congresswomen who actively promote infanticide at birth. We ask why a prominent “evangelical” Protestant “thought leader” would use his pulpit to promote abortion, or same-sex marriage, under the false notion that both are sanctioned by Jesus, even when Scriptures very CLEARLY say differently.
So while we can keep asking that question, about when American Jews will see the writing on the wall and flee the democrat party, we could say the same thing about many alleged Christians, who pursue what is euphemistically called “liberation theology”, but literally has nothing to do with submission to the Lord, and everything to do with pushing a humanist doctrine in place of submission.
So I don’t think Jews are in this alone. I think that a lot of us are asking the same kinds of questions - Jews and Christians alike.
CAVEAT regarding Same-Sex marriage: in my own opinion, I do not believe that God sanctions same-sex marriages. But I also believe in the notion of civil/political liberty, and that is why I don’t think that the state can or should abrogate the right of same-sex couples to codify their relationships. This war is in the spiritual plane, and it will be won or lost there. I believe it has already been won - by God - and the rest of us just have some catching up to do. In a secular sense, it’s none of my business. In a spiritual sense, God won, and I just haven’t seen it yet.