The Answer Is At Least As Old As Daniel

Posted on | March 3, 2014 | 25 Comments

by Smitty

One of the supreme ironies of my lifetime — at least, from my perspective — has been the dogged adherence even the most erudite of cosmopolitan Jews have shown toward the Democratic Party, even as the Party itself has grown increasingly hostile to Israel, increasingly removed from at least basic support for free market principles, and more and more obviously the vehicle of the New Left, who back before they took over the Party deplored it as a bastion of bourgeois ineffectuality.

Whatever else you care to say of Jews (and I’m pro-Israel) they are survivors. From slavery in Egypt to captivity in Babylon (hence the Daniel reference in the title), to the Diaspora at the time of Josephus, the Jews are about finding away to keep everything intact. This should be a lesson to all but the least useful students.

You can do what you want with the other explanations for the Jewish/Democrat alliance, but I think the lens of power pulls it most sharply into focus. The Democrats/Republicans/Progressives are where the power is at.

The rest of Jeff’s post, where he rides his linguistic hobby horse is worth a read, but that’s all just implementation detail.

Update: In almost entirely unrelated news, the great Cynthia Yockey has a product review for Verizon’s SureResponse product that is worth your time if you’re in the market for a response system for that special someone.

She’s also gathering support to make it down to CPAC, so help a lady out.

Category: Protein Wisdom

Comments

25 Responses to “The Answer Is At Least As Old As Daniel”

SKHigginbotham
March 3rd, 2014 @ 10:03 pm

RT @smitty_one_each: The Answer Is At Least As Old As Daniel http://t.co/E9HBIQF5jf #TCOT
RS
March 3rd, 2014 @ 9:22 pm

it’s always interesting to ask someone who doesn’t have Dispensational theological background to explain two things about the Jews: 1) Why they have been on the receiving end of so much hatred over the millennia; and 2) Why they have been so resilient in the face of that hatred.
CrustyB
March 3rd, 2014 @ 9:26 pm

Jews have always had a self-destructive gene. I am in no way suggesting that they have deserved their suffering but look at their history.

“Gee, Europeans sure have given us a hard time over the centuries. I know! Let’s settle in 1930’s Germany!”

“Wow, Germany really treated us wrong, we need a place for a homeland. I got it! Israel! It’s smack dab in the middle of the Muslim world and it’s the one place in the Middle East without an ocean of oil a foot underneath it!”

“Democrats? They hate Israel, the Jewish homeland? They’ve got my vote!”

American Jews are even 93% pro-abortion. Anything that promotes the destruction of their kind, they’re in favor of it.
reliapundit
March 3rd, 2014 @ 9:29 pm

the answer is simpler: shit in = shit out. most jews are raised in lib to left households with grandparents who grew up on fdr and they follow the editorial page of the nytimes more than the Torah. they do not read the wsj or watch foxand so they are blinkered. this is how the left keeps most of its adherents in line – by attacking talkradio and fox and any other media outlet that might open the eyes of their sycophants. not matter how fast a computer can process data, if you only enter bad data, then you will only get bad data out. if more jews read nro and hot air and tom and watched fox, then more jews would be gop. many jews have also been brainwashed to believe the postmodern leftist lie that jews and westerners are alien invaders/colonists in the holy land and that it rightly belongs to arabs. again: the solution is opening their eyes.
BobBelvedere
March 3rd, 2014 @ 10:41 pm

RT @smitty_one_each: The Answer Is At Least As Old As Daniel http://t.co/E9HBIQF5jf #TCOT
RS
March 3rd, 2014 @ 10:08 pm

Alas, your grasp of European history is not the best. The Jews were in Germany, particularly Prussia for centuries. Prussia was one of the few places in Europe where they were not molested. Indeed, the German Jewish population was the most assimilated. It was the safest place in Europe, and the settlement there did not begin in the 30’s.

As for settlement in the Middle East, the Balfour Declaration established Jewish settlement as part of the League of Nations mandate upon the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, which had taken the Middle East from Byzantium. There had been no “Arab” countries of any sort, ever, other than perhaps Egypt, and even that was not based on tribal affiliation originating on the Arabian Peninsula. None of the countries in the current Middle East (Levant) existed before the end of WWII.

As for the affinity of Jews for the Democrats, part of it goes back to the fact that Harry Truman recognized the State of Israel and gave it international legitimacy and the Dems were strong supporters up until Jimmy Carter’s election. As more progressives gained power in the party the typical Oppressor/Victim narrative took over and the Israelis had the audacity to be the winners. Thus, the Demos started to hate them. I’ll grant you that modern American Jews have been slow to catch on, but it’s happening. It’s hard for them to deny what’s in front of their eyes.
DaveO
March 3rd, 2014 @ 10:12 pm

Look at history. Starting with the Old Testament, it’s been Jews versus the World. For every David, there is an Ahab. When the Christians came along, they were considered Ahabs who persecuted Jews for centuries after. Jews immigrated to America for 2 reasons: to escape discrimination ranging from being second-class citizens to pogroms; and, to find new opportunities. Initially, just as in Europe, the Jews settled into ghettoes, some of them the poorest areas of New York and other cities. The last really large group came from Tsarist Russia where the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” (a Tsarist intelligence publication) and that a large number of bolshevik and menshevik communists came from the Jewish community were excuses used to justify a huge pogrom. Those Jews came to NYC and from there flowed west from the Borscht Belt in the Poconos all the way out to Hollywood. The Tsarists, and monarchists everywhere were considered to be The Right. Those who fought for liberty, and to protect citizens were The Left. Today, whether in movies, media and politics, we see that the Right is demonized as racist, sexist, anti-semitic (inspite of its zionist Pro-Israel policies and beliefs) and so the GOP’s candidates become the agents of evil oppression to the Jewish communities (Orthodox, Reformed, and Atheist) instead of viable alternatives to Leftist slavery.
RS
March 3rd, 2014 @ 10:43 pm

Christian persecution of the Jews was predicated upon faulty theology, specifically that God’s covenant with the Jewish people terminated at the time of the Resurrection of Christ and that either 1) the promises made to the Jews were transferred to the Church or that God created a set of new promises for the Church. It’s called “Substitution Theology, New Covenant or similar.

Dispensational Christians (mostly evangelical) think that God’s promises to the Jews are still in force. That’s why there is strong support within Evangelical denominations for Israel. Most modern American Jews, however, don’t know the difference between the two and are thus, very leery of all Christians. They especially don’t know what to make of modern evangelicals, who tend to be Republican. They seem to think they get a fairer shake with secularists. True once, maybe, but not anymore.

Interestingly, modern Israelis do know about Dispenstionalism in the U.S. and what it means for their country. I was enjoying a beer with a retired senior IDF officer some years back, when I commented that he must be thankful for F-15s. His response: “I’m thankful for American dispensational Christians.” He, himself, was an atheist.
storibund
March 4th, 2014 @ 12:34 am

A bit to add to the discussion:

http://www.endofyourarm.com/2014/02/heres-why-jews-are-our-own-worst-enemy.html
Adjoran
March 4th, 2014 @ 1:36 am

There is something of a disconnect between observant Jews who tend to be supportive of Israel and nonobservant Jews who are secular leftists in every respect. Self-preservation has little to do with it – secular Jews have been heavily involved with communism since the beginning, even though communism practices a severe antisemitism.

Even the observant Jews tend strongly towards being Democrats, though. Go figure.
Anon Y. Mous
March 4th, 2014 @ 2:15 am

You can do what you want with the other explanations for the Jewish/Democrat alliance, but I think the lens of power pulls it most sharply into focus. The Democrats/Republicans/Progressives are where the power is at.

I don’t understand what you are saying here. In the first sentence, you speak of the “Jewish/Democrat alliance”, which seems clear enough. But, then in the second sentence, you name the “Democrats/Republicans/Progressives” as the group in power. I get combining Democrats and Progressives into one, but I’m not following you when you throw in the Republicans, especially in the context of where Jews are politically.

If you are making a point about how Republicans in DC behave like Democrats, fair enough, but that doesn’t explain why the Jews vote Democrat instead of Republican. Or maybe the inclusion of Republicans in your axis of power was an unintended mistake?
Dana
March 4th, 2014 @ 6:46 am

It has been suggested that Democrats need to pass only the slightest “I support Israel” test to be kosher enough for Jewish voters; once that test has been passed, the rest of the equation defaults to domestic politics, and in those, American Jews are mostly center-left in their outlook. A lot of that has to do with being more heavily urbanized than the population in general.

But I’ve also heard the suggestion that American Jews vote so heavily Democratic because the Republicans are much more ostentatiously Christian, and a more secular Democratic Party seems less hostile to non-Christians.

And it’s a real problem. From every logical metric, American Jews ought to be heavily Republican! They are, generally speaking, more highly educated, and more prosperous. The things for which the Republican Party stands — self-reliance, hard work, striving to get ahead for yourself and your family — are all very much Jewish cultural traits.
smitty
March 4th, 2014 @ 7:01 am

If you are making a point about how Republicans in DC behave like Democrats, fair enough, but that doesn’t explain why the Jews vote Democrat instead of Republican.

Yes. Again, it’s about power. Recall, House Majority Whip Cantor is Jewish, NTTAWWT. However, I could have been more clear.
CrustyB
March 4th, 2014 @ 10:32 am

I’ll admit, I don’t have the grasp of Jewish history over the centuries like you and I thank you for the schooling. But if the Jews aren’t gluttons for punishment, how do you explain Adam Sandler?
Quartermaster
March 4th, 2014 @ 11:10 am

Orthodox Jews vote heavily GOP. A very large portion of the rest are mostly “reformed” (read heretical) Jews who are JINOs.
Quartermaster
March 4th, 2014 @ 11:14 am

A lot has been done un the rubric of Christianity to various peoples and even other supposed Christians. IN watching most of the supposed Christian political violence I long ago came to the conclusion that most of those perpetrating the violence hadn’t the slightest idea what it meant to be a Christian, and therefore, were not Christian. Adopting a label doesn’t make it so.
Quartermaster
March 4th, 2014 @ 11:19 am

Many of Calvinist theological extraction don’t read Romans as it was written and so replace Israel with the Church (Roman Catholics did this starting with Augustine). The fact that Paul stated that Israel was only temporarily set aside is ignored.
The promises made to Abraham were not conditional and so must be carried out or God has lied. God takes that seriously and He has outlined what is going to be happening soon, and Israel is central to that. Even the so called atheistic Jews (an oxymoron if there ever was one) and the Orthodox will be astounded by what happens.
RS
March 4th, 2014 @ 1:23 pm

Quite so.
RS
March 4th, 2014 @ 1:29 pm

I agree with you. As for my comment, I probably should have been clearer. Substitution theology has provided theological cover for persecution of the Jews by those who are Christian in name only. Now, in the 21st Century one can see vestiges of that in the positions of various Christian denominations toward Israel. Those which are traditionally dispensational are supportive; those which are not view Israel as merely a curiosity in the present day Levant, with only the rights assumed by a squatter. It’s simply Jew-hatred by another name.
RS
March 4th, 2014 @ 1:32 pm

Don’t forget Sammy Davis, Jr. 🙂
@RonanFarrow, ‘Reluctant’ TV Star, May Be Right… | Regular Right Guy
March 4th, 2014 @ 4:36 pm

[…] The Answer Is At Least As Old As Daniel […]
Quartermaster
March 4th, 2014 @ 6:42 pm

Strange thing about the Bible is that it is dispensational. Scofield and Chafer suddenly discovered that fact when much of the Wesleyan and Holiness movements noticed before they did. Ironically, Scofield and Chafre were both Calvinists. Chafer coming from the belly of that beats was a Presbyterian and founded the premier dispensational Seminary, Dallas Theological Seminary.
DaveO
March 4th, 2014 @ 7:42 pm

Are you looking at the question of Christians persecuting Jews as a Christian would look at it, or as a Jew? I was trying to look at from a jewish perspective, but I am not one. Would a Jew care know about or care about dispensationalism, sufficient vs efficacious grace, or the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation? Or Sunni, or Hindu, or animist, pagan, or atheist? After a couple of thousand years of being conditioned that persecution is in the name of God, or gods, and that such a God or gods is the totem of the Right, any people will reflexively vote Left, even when their knowledge and experience begs them to vote Right.
RS
March 4th, 2014 @ 8:16 pm

I think that’s my point. Most, at least in this country, don’t know the difference and vote accordingly. See, the discussion here, for general thoughts as same pertain to Israel.
Liberals are Bolsheviks
March 6th, 2014 @ 9:41 pm

From my experience, there exists a genuine hatred for Christians and Christianity, particularly among European Jews, that tends to far outweigh any allegiance to Israel.

The likes of Mark Potok, Gyorgy Schwartz, Mikey Weinstein, Cass Sunstein, Arie Perliger, Harvey Weinstein, and Lois Lerner are some obvious examples.

That’s not to say that all Jews hate Christians, but – from my experience – I have observed a visceral hatred for Christians and Christianity within European Jews that runs far deeper than anything I’ve ever encountered in the Arab world or in Asia.

We should also keep in mind that there are three rather obvious shared connections between marxism and Judaism:

– Marx’s grandfathers – both rabbis
– Notion of historicism/inevitability
– Notion of entitlement for a “chosen” group