POD 1950, make this happen. Bonus for the GOP being SoCon, Double Bonus for a conservative Jewish GOP POTUS by 1988.
Rather ironic since the Southern GOP is among Israel's strongest backers in Congress, albeit not for reasons that Jews would find appealing. As Begin said in 1980: "If the Christian fundamentalists support me in Congress today, I'll support them if the Messiah comes tomorrow."
Rather ironic since the Southern GOP is among Israel's strongest backers in Congress, albeit not for reasons that Jews would find appealing.
That's going to be difficult, given that social conservatism is where antisemitism has traditionally thrived.Bonus for the GOP being SoCon,
I'm not sure I'd agree with calling it utopian, but no matter.1. Less "utopian" Democratic Party. Post-1945, you've still got the New Deal, but perhaps the Great Society is never proposed?
That's also going to be difficult. I don't think the Southern Democrats (or rather, the conservative and "Dixiecratic" ones in question as you had a number of Progressives such as Yarbrough and LBJ) could manage to take over the Democratic party. If I recall correctly, while they could cause an upset by their numbers, the Northern Democrats held a Lion's share of power. There's also a deviation from the GOP's own realignment as a Conservative party within such as scenario. The Southern Democrat's Conservatism was regionally gridlocked.2. This ties in with the above, but perhaps the Southern Democrats win some internal power struggle? Southern Dems tend to be more fiscally conservative, plus there's the whole racism thing. I remember a Jewish speaker I saw on TV saying Jews and blacks had a "kinship of hardship" and in 1950, the Leo Frank lynching was not all that long ago.
That could work to some degree depending on the date (which I'm admittedly unsure of concerning when Soviet Jews were allowed to emigrate). The problem is, everyone in the US is an anti-Communist, and Bible thumping Adam Smith's works is a heavy part of every Cold war candidate's platform, at least in the earlier part of the Cold war. So I'm not sure why that would give the GOP preference, that is depending on the date and exact climate of both parties at such date.3. If more Soviet Jews are allowed to emigrate earlier (or more of the ones that do go to the US, not Israel), you might have a stronger undercurrent of anti-Communism to American Jewish life. I knew a Jewish girl who came from Russia who hated Stalin more than Hitler--she said Hitler killed other people but Stalin killed his own.
It'd need a cause, though.4. A more radically-left turn by the Democrats that sets them against Israel.
No disagreement.5. The GOP stays fiscally conservative but does not become so socially conservative. This deals with the "fear of the religious right" issue.
I think that would require no Evangelical element in the GOP or at least a neutered one since I think that'd turn off many Jewish voters as I think it has in the OTL.6. More socially-conservative Jewish population. With its prohibitions of adultery, homosexual behavior, premarital sex, etc. the Torah is pretty darn socially conservative, and most of the liberal Jews are Reform who ignore a lot of the Torah to start with. IIRC many Orthodox Jews are conservative--I'm thinking Michael Medved, although I'm not 100% sure which Jewish denomination he's in.
POD 1950, make this happen. Bonus for the GOP being SoCon, Double Bonus for a conservative Jewish GOP POTUS by 1988.
If you Actually Knew ANYTHING of Either The Jewish People or of our Ways, I would at Least Put Some Effort into being Offended, But as it is I Find I can't be Bothered ...I remember seeing a quote from a Jewish woman leery of the Christian conservative support for Israel because she thinks it could lead to violence against the Jews in some way.
Thing is, it would only lead to violence against the Jews if the conservatives are theologically right and support for Israel helps bring about the Second Coming, the lead-up of which includes violence against the Jews by the Antichrist.
If Jesus is not the Messiah (or if He is and the premillenial dispensationalists are theologically wrong), the Christian conservatives can be safely exploited.
If you Actually Knew ANYTHING of Either The Jewish People or of our Ways, I would at Least Put Some Effort into being Offended, But as it is I Find I can't be Bothered ...
In Truth it is Views Such as yours that an Apocalypse is Even a Possibility that Puts Jews at Grave Risk, if Only because our Status as The World's Punching Bag Leads other Peoples Unjustly to Take out their Frustrations upon us!
To Address The OP, The ONLY Thing Keeping Jews Other than Moderates Like Senators Coleman, Grassley and Specter Away from The GOP is The Endemic Institutionalized Racism that has been Present in The Core Republican Areas, Unfortunately My Very own State Included up Until Very Recently, Since Even Before The GOP Moved into them ...
Furthermore, I Believe The Simple Fact Only Grassley Continues to Remain a Senator Under The Republican Banner, that Tends to Prove The Battle as a Losing One!
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I don't think there was such a thing as the "religious right" until the evangelical movement fused with the Reagan revolution (there certainly was a religious left which played a key role in the Progressive movement decades before the New Deal coalition, and who heralded reform and so forth on the basis of morality; but I think that had largely subsided save for the Civil Rights movement). And if there is no New Deal Coalition, there's likely not to be such a thing as the Rockefeller Republicans as a heavy part of their ideology was support for the New Deal policies (just thinking they could run them more efficiently).The problem is that this needs to do away with the New Deal Coalition and at the same time keep the Religious Right with the Democrats and the East Coast Rockefeller Republicans as their dominant faction.
In Truth it is Views Such as yours that an Apocalypse is Even a Possibility that Puts Jews at Grave Risk, if Only because our Status as The World's Punching Bag Leads other Peoples Unjustly to Take out their Frustrations upon us!
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However, Leo_Caesius said that many prominent "Jewish liberals" are open atheists and most American Jews have a fairly secular upbringing to start with.
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Just because you reject the idea of God, doesn't mean you leave behind the moral and ethical concepts that came from the religion that have become interwoven within your culture.
True.
However, has "Jewish liberalism" always been part of Jewish culture?
I remember reading about the issue and I recall that the first large wave of Jewish immigrants to the United States (from Germany) were actually conservative, while the later waves (from Russia/Eastern Europe) were more left-wing in their views.
Could this be a function of geography or politics? Perhaps Jews were subject to more odious behavior in Russia than pre-Hitler Germany and that affected their politics.
Only as long as Jews have realized that liberal societies were the ones that would leave them be.However, has "Jewish liberalism" always been part of Jewish culture?
Hendryk, I couldn't have Put it Better myself ...Only as long as Jews have realized that liberal societies were the ones that would leave them be.
You seem to be trying very hard not to acknowledge this fact. Whatever their personal view on morality, Jews as a whole know that a pluralistic, secular society is the one in which they can most comfortably find a place for themselves.
Only as long as Jews have realized that liberal societies were the ones that would leave them be.
You seem to be trying very hard not to acknowledge this fact. Whatever their personal view on morality, Jews as a whole know that a pluralistic, secular society is the one in which they can most comfortably find a place for themselves.