Dennis Prager [click to read] in Jewish World Review makes the astute observation about where religious people who consider themselves 'on the left' actually get their values. During the 2008 campaign I wondered how Donald Miller [1] [Blue Like Jazz] could overlook so many red flags and support Obama. Likewise I was concerned that some left-leaning Christians expressed contempt for America's policy in Iraq but neglected the reign of terror of Saddam Hussein and his barbaric sons. Good history, and good policy, digs deeper.
Prager observes that liberal American Jews, likewise, support Obama even though his policies put Israel at great risk. The President's treatment of Netanyahu and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is totally naive. Ahmadinejad, Obama would have you believe, is a rational man we can negotiate with while Binyamin Netanyahu is a threat to the stability of the region. Never mind that Israel is the one stable representative government in the region and Ahmadinejad states openly that he will wipe us off of the face of the Earth.[2] The Left has its template, firmly rooted in its belief system that sees individual liberty and exceptionalism as obstacles to the progress it desires:
"Leftism, though secular, must be understood as a religion (which is why I have begun capitalizing it). The Leftist value system's hold on its adherents is as strong as the hold Christianity, Judaism and Islam have on their adherents. Nancy Pelosi's belief in expanding the government's role in American life, and therefore her passion for the health care bill, is as strong as a pro-life Christian's belief in the sanctity of the life of the unborn." -- Dennis Prager
It is no accident that Jewish tradition and Christian ideas are wonderfully self-criticizing. The ability to recognize our own shortcomings is rooted in a healthy theology of man. All of us, Scripture teaches, are inclined to sink to our basest instincts. Redemptive Religions contrast human nature with the Divine and establish a benchmark for noble aspirations.
Liberalism retains the self-critical aspect of our traditions but eschews the Divine definition of Virtue. Everything is relative. Right and Wrong are no longer absolutes but somehow society is evolving into something better. We're still wrong, but we no longer have a standard for seeing true evil for what it is. We're no longer permitted to say that one society is better than another, but Western society, according to the Left, is clearly worse.
Without Spititual Boundaries [click to read] to tell us what is truely noble we are left with the need to assign ever more oversight to government.
Paper white daffodils.
Very sad and so true. So much to pray about.
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