Roger L. Simon thinks they should:
From the days of FDR, the vast majority of American Jews have identified with the Democratic Party almost if it were their religion. This included most especially secular Jews like me whose blasé attitude toward their faith and toward religious observance in general made such a replacement all the more important emotionally. This same Jewish majority also identified with the cause of social justice and, as Barack Obama among many others has noted, were some of the most active participants in the civil rights movement of the Fifties and Sixties. That was all how it should have been and was a perfectly logical and praiseworthy epoch in the development of our country.
Hello – those days are over! The events leading up to Monday’s anti-Ahmadinejad demonstration by Jewish organizations at the UN put the final nail in an already long-moldering coffin. Jews should no longer align themselves with the Democratic Party any more than they should align with the Republicans. They should act and think for themselves, devoid of ideological or partisan bias. They should first be Americans, not Democratic Party Americans…
…The virtual night of the long knives played out between the Democratic Party and various Jewish organizations surrounding the Iran demonstration, including allegations that party operatives were threatening the loss of tax exempt status over Sarah Palin’s appearance, with more unpleasant revelations undoubtedly to come, is obviously causing people to reconsider this allegiance to the Democratic Party that approaches fealty.
I urge my fellow Jews to keep thinking about this and not to retreat into the cocoon-like safety of an outmoded tradition. Change is difficult. But remember that Hillary Clinton – that paragon of the Democratic Party, a woman who calls herself a “progressive” (oh, desecration of the English language!) – was willing to forego the protest of the man who is arguably the most significant enemy of the Jews since Hitler for partisan and (most likely) personal pique reasons. How morally repellent is that!
Strong stuff, but it needed to be said. Remember, once upon a time to be Catholic in America meant to be a Democrat. As far as I can determine, I may very well have been the first descendent of Thomas Francis Noonan to actually register as a Republican, and that ancestor arrived on these shores in the 1850’s. Catholics had to turn aside from the Democratic party as it became increasingly hostile to what Catholicism teaches – Jews will have to do the same. That is, all Jews who hold to an actually Jewish identity will have to do so – plenty of fallen away Catholics adhere to the Democratic party, but the more rock solid the Catholic, the more likely he is to be non-Democrat (even if he’s also non-Republican). Jews who are concerned with the morality of Judaism and the unique role Jews have played in western civilizaiton – and, of course, the defense of the one absolute refuge for the Jews of the world, Israel – should be (and I believe, are) recoiling from a Democrat party being consumed by a leftwing growing more anti-Semitic as it grows more anti-western in outlook.
When it comes to the really crucial issues – faith, family, morality, patriotism – the Republicans far outpace the Democrats. In the end, there is really no contest – and while there is an understandable wariness on the part of some Jews for Christians, and especially devout Christians, the plain fact of the matter is that when push comes to shove, it will be the Christian who will fight for the Jews while the secularist finds a host of reasons for throwing Jews under the bus. This doesn’t mean that all Jews should register Republican (though, its an idea, ya know?), but it does mean that American Jews should consider things beyond the “D” after the candidate’s name when making a voting decision.
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