Radical Rabbi Rips Religious Right

In the Intermountain Jewish News (7/29/05), from an article entitled; Democrats need spirituality, Rabbi Michael Lerner preaches that Republicans and the Religious Right “get it wrong”, that (their) analysis, regarding the state of spirituality in America, “is fundamentally flawed” and that “(they) misuse G-d and religion”. Despite these bellicose accusations, nowhere in (that) story does the good Rabbi provide even anecdotal evidence in support of his sweeping indictments, much less any facts.

Quite to the contrary; when Lerner bemoans an “ethos of greed and materialism driving Western culture”, he prays that Democrats undergo the changes necessary to “build a movement”. As to the Religious Right, Lerner tells us that (they) have “cornered the market “and will “continue (their) ascendancy”. Therefore, the Rabbi must feel that the Religious Right has transcended the “culture of greed” and is directly addressing the “human hunger for meaning [in life]” already.

In his quixotic effort to defeat Republicans, Rabbi Lerner wants to infuse “spirituality” into Democrat issues, but never once mentions instilling (in Democrats) a genuine belief and reverence for G-d and his “issues”. One gets the impression, that for Lerner, it’s all about; “framing the issue” rather than changing hearts, re-packaging the same old Liberal message, as opposed to voicing the consistent “core” values of Conservatism and then following it all up with a little “how can we fool ‘em today” Democrat song & dance.

Rabbi Lerner is correct when he states, “there is a huge spiritual crisis in America”. That being the case; why try to change the Liberal Pharisees? Why not join the rising tide of Jewish Republicans who already embrace people of all faiths? Lerner proclaims that all will be well, “if only the Third World was permitted to extort 5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the G-8 countries” and that leftists should “take back G-d and the White House”. Perhaps Lerner’s partisan, political energies would be better expended getting his own house in order and redirecting his efforts toward asking G-d to take him back.