Interesting choice of Bible verse there, don't you think? Very demonstrative of Santorum's sensitivity to the Jewish community. But you can't really blame Santorum. I mean, it's not like there is any parts of the Jewish religious tradition which Christians also consider to be there own, and that he might be familiar with. Because if there were, why, the decision to choose a verse like this might be considered gratuitously insulting.
UPDATE: And speaking of things that aggrieve me as a Jew, celebrating a famous historical killing spree by Christian soldiers slaughtering Jews en masse also seems more than a little ill-advised.
Eh.
ReplyDeleteWhat "sensitivity" should Sentorum exhibit towards the Jewish community? I don't know the details of his faith, but assuming he sincerely believes in leading people to embrace the teachings of Jesus, the card seems reasonably in keeping with this objective. True, some people may take offense at this agenda. But perhaps that reflects well on Santorum's sincerety -- that he would act in accorance with his faith, even knowing that it may cost him votes.
I already have plenty of reasons to oppose Santorum; I don't feel the need to manufacture them.
My assumption is that Santorum was trying to make a positive impression on the Jewish community by wishing us a Happy Hanukkah. In that case, why use a verse from the Gospels, which Jews don't accept as scripture? You would think he'd pick an anodyne verse from the Hebrew Bible about light - and there's plenty of them - if he (or rather, someone in his campaign) wanted to really reach out to Jews.
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