Why are so many Jewish U.S. voters liberal?

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Norman Podhoretz, editor of -Commentary- speaks on this question.

Please see: http://www.wrongplanet.net/forums-posti ... -f-20.html

His conclusion is that many Jewish liberals have made the liberal agenda their new religion.

ruveyn

That is not really an explanation, is it? An interpretation, I would say.

With a slew of begged questions hanging out the edges.

What I have seen of the gent's views from time to time has not always satisfied. Even from where I sit I can see a number of factors in history, social structure, ingrained though patterns that I would like to see addressed.

Obviously because most Jews possess above-average intelligence.

Please fix your link

Most Jews in the US are liberal is probably why. The explanation I've always heard was the Jews perceive the modern Democratic Party and the left as a whole as more protective of oppressed minorities. I don't have the numbers but I suspect Orthodox Jews probably vote much more conservatively because of social issues.

I have actually known a few Jews, and the truth of the matter is that they are extremely conservative in some respects. However, I think they perceive the conservatives in our government as habitual bigots, and this is poisonous turf for a Jew. Even moderate conservatives in Israel, in spite of their understandably although malconstructively hostile attitudes toward the Palestinians, are egalitarian in most respects by comparison to American Democrats.

Although they can be highly conservative, they find bigotry of any stripe to be poisonous for the same reasons that the black people do. They might not necessarily have strong sympathy toward other outgroups or downtrodden class and may actually hate them, but they are wary of any zeitgeist that suggests assigning special privilege to those in power. It is savagery, and it is disgusting.

Try this link:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 01498.html

ruveyn

I doubt that Jews are generally intellectually superior to any other group but they have long traditions of respect for learning and introspective thinking that develops potentials in every human sector. Unfortunately their culture is, out of experience, quite paranoid with good reason and that skews their thinking in a very bad way.

The enigma of the Jew is that there are many kinds of "Jew."

There is the "Spiritual Jew" --- A Christian.

There is the "Physical Jew" --- A Jewish person by birth/blood or conversion.

There is the "Orthodox Jew" --- A Jewish person who strongly adheres to the teachings of their faith.

There is the "Heretical Jew" --- A Jewish person who only practices the parts of their faith they find convenient.

Among Jews, there are many who are basically atheist. In fact, I believe well over 50% of Israel is made up of atheist Jews. These people are Jewish by bloodline/birth, but they are not practicing the Hebrew faith.

In America, much of the Jewish population are not Orthodox (or "Zionist" if you find it easier to label that way). Hence, they don't care so much about what happens to Israel as others do. They might be passionate about anti-Semitic issues, but they have no real passion for the "Promised Land."

So, the conclusion is an excessively bigoted one and pretty stupid, eh?

Anyway, my theory would be that all the conservative Jews went to Israel.

I think American jews probably have a learned revulsion to reactionary politics due to their history. Not just the Holocaust and before but also their treatment in the US.

It was only 50 years ago when hiring jews in certain industries was still considered bad form. That shared experience of bigotry might be why jews were one of the groups who would sell their homes to blacks back when that wasn't considered appropriate.

I am not a pinko stinko liberal and I am still here.

ruveyn

The Jews have always been a very religious group, whether it's a theist-based religion or a political or social religious "ism" that they adhere to.

The reasons they are largely secular and democrat is because they fear right-wingers, Christianity, and nationalism from their historical experience with it and the anti-semitism often involved.

Most American Jews are not all that observant.

Proof. Check the parking lots near reform and conservative synagogues on the Sabbath.

ruveyn

Aside from the very orthodox many of the Jews I know really don't know what the hell they are. It's more a culture than a religion and even the atheist Jews partake of the ceremonies. Some people, like ruveyn, are religious reactionaries and never probe deeply into the realities of economics and the necessities of social life. Religions are petrified dogmas and ruveyn is a classic example of this.

you missed the point... taken alone, the part about being very religious is false, but reading the entire sentence you can see that I was equating their religiosity in religious life their secular preoccupations in more recent history with various political isms, to today with saving the world from climate change, right-wing fascism, intolerance, sexism, racism, or any other social justice movements.