Posted on 01/26/2015 4:42:46 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Republican Senator Ted Cruz recently made a splash by agreeing to appear at a glitzy retreat for observant Jews. There, he will likely promote his hawkish foreign policy, but would be wise to avoid another of his favorite topics, the “Judeo-Christian" values which he says make up America's moral foundation. These values belie a dangerous, exclusionary worldview, deeply at odds with the universal American dream Cruz claims they represent.
Politico, which described Cruz as “a likely Republican presidential candidate and vocal Pro-Israel hawk,” speculated that this was likely an early effort on Cruz’s part to woo Jewish elites and powerbrokers.
This past September, during a well-received address at the Values Voter Summit, Cruz described the United States as a “center-right country, built on a foundation of Judeo-Christian values.” These include the belief that religion should be the center of public life, and a set of specific values, which include “standing for life,” “standing for marriage” and “standing for Israel.” Cruz insisted “our values” (the values of the religious right-wing at the summit) are “fundamentally American.” While many American Jews may “stand with Israel” (though probably not in the sense Cruz means it), they overwhelmingly support gay marriage and a woman’s right to an abortion. So where does the “Judeo” half of Cruz’s equation come from?
Writing in Religion Dispatches, Shalom Goldman – a professor of religious studies at Duke University – describes the history of the term. Goldman notes, interestingly, that it was first popularized in the 1930s by Jewish and Christian liberals who sought to combat growing American xenophobia by fostering "a more open and inclusive sense of American religious identity." Orthodox Jews and conservative Christians both rejected the term....
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
Unbelievable ignorance on the part of this writer. The Old Testament, including the first 5 books of the Bible (the Torah) are JEWISH and specifically forbid homosexuality ("gay marriage") and infanticide ("a women's right to choose"). Just because many Jews today are secular and have abandoned God's law and teaching does not make it void.
“While many American Jews may “stand with Israel” (though probably not in the sense Cruz means it), they overwhelmingly support gay marriage and a woman’s right to an abortion. So where does the “Judeo” half of Cruz’s equation come from?”
The laws of God that those Jews abandoned, that’s where.
Politico speculating...that was all I needed to see
“they overwhelmingly support gay marriage and a woman’s right to an abortion.”
That doesn’t mean the Jewish Religion shares those views anymore than the number of self-described “Catholics” who support those positions, are reflective if Catholic teachings.
In fact, I’m not aware of any religion that supports those views.
I think the author may have missed that Cruz is conservative and is talking with conservatives.
Homosexual conduct is explicitly forbidden in Jewish and Christian scripture and teaching. No need to keep repeating what everyone ( except maybe this article’s author?) knows or can easily verify for themselves. Similarly, while there are some differences, abortion has been recognized as basically at odds with Biblical teaching, by Jews and Christians throughout the many centuries, beginning with explicit penalties for causing an abortion and, of course, the principle command to “ choose life,.” And as believed concerning the human soul of the child- in- the - womb. It is simply wrong for any author to go around and find s bunch of people who have Jewish of Christian names who don’t follow Biblical teachings — or who flaunt them — and then say that homosexual behavior and abortion are somehow approved by Judeo-Christian teachings. If the Church would finally - at long last- deny Nandi Pelosi the Eucharist — it will help clarify things do that maybe just maybe confused articles get properly edited before appearing in print. Judeo- Christian teachings , especially as regards most ethical and moral matters, are very much alive — and verifiable — and ( yes, with some variability ) agreed upon by most believere and anyone who cares to check into this can confirm it anytime they wish.
Re: “These values belie a dangerous, exclusionary worldview, deeply at odds with the universal American dream Cruz claims they represent.”
Yeah, those “dangerous, exclusionary” values such as, “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Those are dangerous ideas to all those who believe in an all powerful government where the State is god over the rights of the individual.
True.
Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord!
TED CRUZ - 2016
The "Judeo" half comes from those Orthodox and Conservative Jews who have remained faithful to the Tanakh and recognize children are a blessing from the LORD in a Jewish marriage between a Jewish man and a Jewish woman. That the majority of young American Jews are abandoning the Tanakh is only mitigated by them removing themselves from the Jewish people over time, which is regrettable, and being replaced by more observant Jewish parents who want to have Jewish children and grandchildren and choose not to kill them (life) nor to apostatize (approve of homosexual behavior).
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