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Title: US Jews Feel Threatened by Religious Right
Source:
Yahoo News
URL Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051215/us_nm/religion_jews_dc
Published: Dec 15, 2005
Author: Michael Conlin
Post Date: 2005-12-15 19:32:09 by Zipporah
Keywords: Threatened, Religious, Right
Views: 143
Comments: 12
U.S. Jewish leaders say they are
increasingly worried that Christian conservatives want to turn
America politically and culturally into a country that
tolerates only their brand of Christianity. "There is a feeling on all sides that something is
changing," said Abraham Foxman, director of the New York-based
Anti-Defamation League. "The polls indicate a very serious thing -- that over 60
percent of the American people feel that religion and
Christianity are under attack," he said on Thursday in an
interview. "Some are saying we are attacking (Christianity). This
whole movement is not anti-Semitic or motivated by
anti-Semitism. But sometimes unintended consequences are much
more serious than intended" he added. Foxman recently arranged a meeting in New York involving
six Jewish organizations to discuss the problem. He said that
while participants did not agree on the exact level of the
problem, they felt a strategy was needed. "It's not a war room strategy," he added. "It's to
understand what's out there." He said Jews are a people of faith but are opposed to
anyone who would say only they know the truth and want to
impose it on everyone else. While every December brings disputes over what to call the
"holiday season" and its trappings, the level of lobbying by
those who fear Christmas is becoming something generic has been
particularly high this year. But the issues raised by Foxman and others goes much deeper
into American society, ranging from challenges to teaching
evolution to bans on abortion and same-sex marriage or deciding what kind of people who should serve on the U.S. Supreme
Court. "Every room (from bedroom to classroom) in the American
mansion is under assault to impose either de facto or de jure a
Christian theocracy -- I call them Christocrats," said Rabbi
James Rudin, former head of interreligious activities for the
American Jewish Committee. "They are people who believe there should be a legally
mandated Christian nation, where the concept of separation of
church and state is weakened or abandoned," he added. Rudin said he has met pastors "who say that Jesus Christ is
the ultimate leader of America and that God's law trumps the
Constitution ... I'm very concerned." While far from all evangelical Christians hold those views,
he said, the influence of those who do is strong. Rudin, whose book "The Baptizing of America: The Religious
Right's Plans for the Rest of Us" will be published in January
by Avalon, said those with a theocratic agenda are not
anti-Semites, and in fact some of them are among the strongest
supporters of the state of Israel. But he said they are Christians who see secular humanists
and globalists as their enemies and who feel they are being
attacked. Mathew (cq) Staver, general counsel of the Florida-based
Liberty Counsel, a group which backs conservative Christian
causes in court and which has been particularly active in
Christmas-related issues, says "there is absolutely no effort
that I'm aware of to theocratize America or put down other
faiths to expand Christianity." He credits the increased activity surrounding Christmas
issues this year to three years of building an organization
over the matter.
Poster Comment: I dont get this ..this is the 2nd story of this kind in the last few weeks.. why the continual beating of this drum? (1 image)
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 11.
#1. To: Zipporah (#0)
Athiest Hippy feels threatened by Orwellian Zionists - no film at eleven
OMG - The surreal becomes real.
waiting for a miracle ping
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#9. To: Dakmar (#1)
Athiest Hippy feels threatened by Orwellian Zionists - no film at eleven
#10. To: tom007 (#9)
#11. To: zipporah (#10)
Replies to Comment # 11.