Why do Orthodox Jews generally feel the need to be swept up with the whims of the “orthodox” denominations of other religions’ political persuasions? Just because the gay movement in America has embraced the Democratic Party, that makes the Democratic Party the party of Satan? Is that really what we’ve been reduced to? Look, I’ll be honest. Full disclosure here: I voted for Bush in 2004 in part because of the gay issue. The radical-left wing of the Democratic Party seemed to have taken over, and John Kerry was more of an advocate for “the people” than a leader who could strike compromise and build bridges and consensus. In other words, he seemed more likely to cave to the loudest shouts and screams than to proactively create change. I saw in him a weakness to give in to pressure and a lack of principled judgment and decision making. I figured – Bush has pretty much given in to the radical wing of his party, and thereby trashed the US’s standing in the world, sent our economy into a downturn and destabilized the Middle East. As bad as he has been, he couldn’t possibly do much worse. Four more years of him and he’s out. If Kerry wins, then we get at least four years of a guy who will give into the radical wing of his party, and he could potentially be re-elected, or else another radical on the other side could get elected four years down the line. I wanted a fresh start in four years, not more of the same problems with a future choice of the lesser of two evils once again. Unfortunately – in my view – I was woefully wrong about Bush’s ability to tank the country even further. On the other hand, fortunately, we now have an opportunity to choose among three (ok, probably two) good replacements from his opposing party.
I hate partisan politics. I would like to choose someone based on his ability to lead. In today’s day and age, however, you have to prioritize your political issues. You have to choose someone based on his positions on the issues that matter the most to you. The only man in the race – I think – who can unite people and lead across the vast partisan divide, is Barack Obama. But why, oh why, do Orthodox Jews seem to suffer from the same blind-sheep syndrome from which the right-wing Christian voting bloc suffers?
In 2004 it was the gay agenda. And I admit that I voted for the guy who swore up and down he would never allow a gay marriage to happen. Now we know that he either could not or else chose not to prevent it. We now have gay marriage in many places in America. What about the rest of his policies? How much of the damage that was done in the last 3 years didn’t have to happen? Would Hurricane Katrina have become the disaster that it did? Would the housing market and stock market crashes that are still wreaking havoc on the economy have been as bad? Would Hamas have won the 2006 parliamentary elections? We will never know.
Now it’s the false notion that Republicans are the only friends Israel has. Bull! Bush was the first president to use the name Palestine in a speech on part of his foreign policy agenda, and has been criticized for his pro-Palestinian agenda repeatedly by Daniel Pipes, no left-winger, I might add. But for some reason, many Orthodox Jews, and most of my friends in Israel, are ardent Bush supporters and hate the Democrats. I don’t understand it. They have just swallowed what the Republican Party has fed them, hook, line, and sinker.
As someone recently told me, he’ll never vote for Barack Hussein Obama. I tried telling him that, having studied Arabic, I could assure him that the name Hussein does not mean “terrorist dictator”, but in fact means handsome or pleasant. It would be the equivalent, I told him, of a Jew naming his son Noam. He was taken aback just a bit, and led me to believe that he will never name any future son Noam either, which is ridiculous.
I understand that politics can be petty. Thomas Jefferson was accused of incest by the Adams campaign in 1800. But can’t we use our brains, just a little? Isn’t that was being Jewish is about? RaMBa”M writes in Hilchoth Yesodei HaTorah (1:1) that “The foundation of (all) foundations and the pillar of (all) wisdoms is to know that there is a Primary Being, and that He {It} causes to exist all that exists.” We are commanded not to believe in G-d, but to know that G-d exists and creates all. Jews are not meant to follow blindly, but to investigate. Yes, we are rewarded for our proclamation at Sinai, “Na’aseh VeNishma’” – “We will do and (then) we will listen/learn”. But we still promised to devote ourselves to study and investigation of everything. If we’re going to be politically involved – which is a topic for another post – why should our political decisions be given any less thought? Why follow like sheep the man who says he loves Israel but then promotes an agenda that harms her? Why believe the guy who goes out of his way to say again and again how religious he is and how much he believes in the sanctity of marriage? Where are the policies that promote monogamy among heterosexuals? Where are the policies that support funding for marriage counseling and sex-ed in schools to encourage kids to THINK about the consequences of pre-marital sex? I know, this is a long post, and it’s a bit rambly, but I just had to get it off my chest. I’m so fed up with people telling me that they can never vote for a Democrat because they’re too religious to. This is what I have to say to my Orthodox friends who vote Republican because they’re “values voters.” If the Republican Party really were the party of values, and really tried to live up to its stated principles, you and I would not be able to have this discourse. We would be run out of America as heretics in a real hurry.
As for the president and the Republican Party, and their “values”, to paraphrase Shakespeare, “Bush doth protest too much, methinks.”
