Another Brief Note

Somewhere in the middle of my Friday roundup, I inserted a brief note expressing my disappointment with American Thinker for running a column which used Judaism and its Kosher laws as a negative metaphor for Bloomberg's war on food, writing...

"Mayor Bloomberg is not an Orthodox Jew. Attacking his policies by conflating them with Orthodox Judaism is just as offensive as criticizing Cuomo or Pelosi's legislative activities in terms of Catholic doctrine."

Thomas Lifson of American Thinker has responded to that with a full post stating that the "article was far from an attack on Judaism and was not using Judaism as a whole as a metaphor for the left" because its author, Fay Voshell referred to "transmogrified politico/religious sensibilities."

I don't really think that an article which frames the current diet controversy in terms of old arguments between Judaism and Christianity, while negatively describing major elements of Judaism, is not talking about Judaism because it throws in "transmogrified politico/religious sensibilities."

Voshell finds the time to defend Mormons and Southern Baptists, while using Jewish custom and history as a metaphor for the actions of a Jewish public figure.

Lifson states that using Kosher and the Pharisees are logical themes for discussing Bloomberg's soda ban, but they are certainly not random choices from history. And they have no natural relevance except the theme of Jewishness.

Lifson suggests that this isn't worth the energy. I would not have bothered had this been Vdare or TakiMag. I inserted my brief note to express my disappointment because I expected better from American Thinker.

He writes, "I do not think that Jewish history should be off-limits for drawing metaphors and lessons for humanity. That would be to treat Jews differently from other peoples."

And I strongly agree. I don't think that there should be a double standard. I propose the same standard for all religions. If you wouldn't use your beliefs as a metaphor for the left, don't use those of other religions. It's a variation of an idea from an old Pharisee named Hillel.

If you wouldn't run an article comparing prayers to saints or transubstantiation to the agenda of the left, then don't run an article that uses Kosher as a metaphor for the left. If you wouldn't dip your own religious symbol in urine and put it on display in a museum, likewise don't do it to another.

Traditional Jews are not the enemies of traditional Christians and conflating Judaism and the Left creates unnecessary divisions in all our efforts.

“That which is hateful to you, do not unto another," Hillel said. In our mutual relations, they aren't bad words to live by.