Jewish leaders freak out

The Washington Times reports that a group of “Jewish leaders” is developing a response to the religious right, which they say is eroding civil liberties and planning to “christianize America.” One such leader, a rabbi named Eric Yoffie, says “we understand those who believe that the Bible opposes gay marriage. . .[but] we cannot forget that when Hitler came to power in 1933, one of the first things that he did was ban gay organizations.” Unless Yoffie can show that the religious right seeks to ban gay organizations, as opposed to gay marriage, he should apologize for comparing that movement to the Nazis.

Don Feder, president of Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation, counters the hysterical Rabbi Yoffie by asking

Is wanting to keep God in the Pledge of Allegiance Christianizing America? Is opposition to gay marriage Christianizing America? [Are] efforts to keep public displays of the Ten Commandments Christianizing America? If so, Moses was a Christianizer.

As Feder suggests, it is not the “religious right” that is seeking to transform this country. In the America to which Jews flocked, homosexuals could not marry one another, the Ten Commandments were publicly displayed, and our coins said “In God We Trust.” If liberal Jews wish to reverse all of this, it’s their right to try — that’s one of the things that makes our country great. But to demonize those who want to preserve the traditional social, moral, and religious arrangements strikes me as vicious and not very smart.

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