This article is a brief
evaluation and extension upon "Why Are Jew So
Liberal"--Chapter 42 of Rabbi Daniel Lapin’s excellent book, America’s
Real War. Lapin writes, "Well-intentioned and philo-Semitic
Americans, decent folk without an anti-Semitic bone in their bodies, are
genuinely puzzled by this question." "...the question baffles
people." Given the widespread level of liberalism amongst a
majority of Catholics in America, the same question should be on the minds of
thinking Christians as well.
For his Jewish brethren,
Rabbi Lapin's answer is, in part, very biblical. Their motive, he
asserts, is "the eternal search for 'liberation' from God's seemingly(1)
restrictive rules" and that rebellion from Divine authority "fuels
all of secular liberalism's adherents." Rabbi Lapin appropriately
credits his understanding as "years spent in detailed analysis of
countless ancient Jewish text", i.e., familiarity with the Old Testament
and the recorded history of the nation--Israel.
Given the heavy "authority" structure
of Roman Catholicism, the same holds true for Catholics. Catholicism is
a 'baptized" form of Judaism. Old Testament Law theoretically assumes a central role in Catholic living. While claiming to
be "Christian", it has adopted a number of Judaistic tenets.
Catholic dogma asserts that God transferred his dealings with the Jewish people
(Israel) to the true "Church"--i.e. Catholicism. Many erroneously believe that
Christianity is simply an extension of Old Testament Judaism.
Concurrent with the liberal views of
both Reform Jews and Catholics is their widespread assimilation of
postmodernism. See our RECOMMENDED
page for books addressing this problem.
1 - As
an ardent and self-proclaimed "disciple of Moses", the Rabbi has
carefully used the adjective "seemingly." While
he has come to biblically understand the effect of the Law upon human nature,
he really doesn't fully understand human nature--the
divinely-engineered bane of Judaism.
* Several large Protestant
denominations should be included as well. The most liberal are those of
the Anglo-Catholic tradition—Anglican, Episcopal, Methodist. While
these denominations have their genesis in Europe and with the Reformation, Theologically,
they are the offspring of Catholicism. See the article, THE UNHOLY
ALLIANCE.