Most Jews are liberals who think that evangelicals are all ignorant. In part this hinges on the issue of evolution. Jews think that “inherit the Wind” is historically accurate. Won’t get into the famous confrontation between Darrow and Bryan; however, with regard to the cause of John Scopes, I must say that Scopes is nothing like the one that Dick York played. My mother was a good friend of Mrs. Scopes. When I was in In high school she showed me a Christmas card we got from her. In short, Scopes was an unemployed geologist who was promised a lot if he became party to the suit. Because the case was lost, and Darrow fell out with his clients over appeal tactics, Scopes never got the windfall he expected and felt he had been double crossed. Ended up working in the oil field , He had expected to become a national celebrity. Played for a patsy.
So what has this to do with Jews in particular? Jews are urban folks and when they end up in “outback”places like Mississipi, they are outsiders, as much as any Jewish peddler in old Poland. They don’t get Christian fundamentalism any more than the average evangelical “get” the liberal Jewish point of view.
Sounds like an overly broad statement. I'm sure that though some of that exists, reasonable Jews, such as those of us here on FR, have nothing against evangelicals in general. We respect all other faith traditions and individuals of all faiths, except those who expressly seek to harm us and our tradition (e.g., Islamists).
Scopes never got the windfall he expected and felt he had been double crossed. Ended up working in the oil field. He had expected to become a national celebrity.
He did in fact become a national celebrity. There haven't been too many folks whose name appears in just about every American history textbook, and Scopes is in just about all of them, at least he used to be.
Jews are urban folks and when they end up in “outback”places like Mississippi, they are outsiders, as much as any Jewish peddler in old Poland.
Again, you make too broad of a statement, one not all that historically accurate. Some Jews came from Europe to settle in "outback" rural and small town areas in the US and assimilated and prospered, which had to require some understanding and interaction with the predominant Christian population. (I don't know how numerous evangelical Christians would have been in these areas, though.) Today, there are 100+ villages, towns, and small cities in the US named for prominent Jewish settlers, although most of these have no current Jewish inhabitants.
The average Jew disdains Christians period far more than the average Christian in America disdains Jews
Alas....the tiny minority of Jewish conservatives notwithstanding it is a chasm that ebbs and flows but nonetheless is constant and providential
And given the tensions in this progressive era that perspective could not be more stark
Many years ago (before 2000 election maybe) I read that someone asked a room full of reporters covering the presidential race - how many of you know someone who is gay. All raised their hands. How many of you know an Evangelical Christian? No one raised their hand.
Therein lies the problem.