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Berkeley, CA, USA - Bernie Marcus does a lot of good with his money. The Atlanta philanthropist invests a lot of his money in improving the quality of life for Jews and non-Jews alike. In many ways, Marcus illustrates the apex of Maimonides' Eight Degrees of Tzedekah. He gives generously and freely without demanding of his beneficiaries.
But not all of Bernie Marcus' money goes to causes that are in the best interest of Jews. It was recently announced that he had given $26,000 to the Lt. Gov campaign of Ralph Reed. Yes, that Ralph Reed. What's wrong with the picture of a prominent Jewish citizen giving generously to the campaign of Ralph Reed? Plenty.
Bernie Marcus For years, conservative Jews have been voting and donating against their own interests by supporting politicians on the sole basis of whether they are a "friend" to Israel. The ubiquitous question in political discussions in our community is, "Is it good for the Jews?" or "Is it good for Israel?"
I suppose that all depends on what you mean by "is" and what you mean by "good."
People of a certain age remember when Jews were in the forefront of the civil rights movement. Indeed, our small but influential voice ENABLED the civil rights movement. Equality and fairness are central to Jewish values. So are making sure that poor people have food to eat and adequate shelter.
Now, it seems that Jewish benefactors ENABLE the empowerment of the Republican agenda; something clearly inimical to the civil rights movement, thoughtful environmental concerns, separation of church and state, and therefore the core interests of Jews as a people.
Call me old-fashioned but I always thought that separation of church and state thing was good for the Jews. Marcus' support of Ralph Reed is deeply disturbing. It presents yet another illustration of how Jews have been hoodwinked by the new right on the strength of their "support for Israel."
Christian Evangelicals support Israel; but is it for the right reasons? Considering that they want all the Jews to emigrate to Israel so they can hasten their Apocalypse and 2nd Coming, I ... don't ... think ... so.
Bernie Marcus has a dangerous counterpart in the House of Representatives in Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA). (See my article on Cantor) Cantor has staked his political career on being Tom Delay's loudest and proudest defender. Say what? How and why does a Jewish Congressman become a point man in defending the very face of the evangelical movement? Like all other House Republicans, Cantor owes political chits to Delay. But is the man he is defending really good for the Jews?
Consider:
1 - Delay's call for faith-based programs that portend the end of separation of church and state.
2 - Attacking judges and the judicial system for doing its job in upholding the balance of powers among the 3 branches of government.
3 - Attacking the Constitution for making it inconvenient to accomplish all of the aforementioned.
4 - Grandstanding to "use" the Terry Schiavo tragedy as a political tool of rank sensationalism, while imposing an intimidating shadow of heavy-handed Christianity. Jesus was not about intimidation or attacking other peoples' religion and culture.Eric Cantor is a naive and willing stooge in this Congressional passion play.
In the April 10th Washington Post, Cantor loudly and proudly defended the beleaguered DeLay, dismissing his critics as, "unwilling" to accept the Republican majority in Congress and stating that (they) "see this majority leader as one that they can't beat at the polls and now have taken to a planned attack of personal destruction."
Cantor promoted DeLay's martyr status by saying, "He is taking arrows for all of us ... Tom DeLay is not the issue. It is much larger than that, and it's about the majority that they're after. They didn't win in November and in fact had a setback. So it is do or die for them." Genuine righteous indignation is the natural by-product of DeLay's crusade to consolidate right-wing power forever more, but Cantor dismisses it as petty political sour grapes. And it most certainly isn't good for the Jews.
Ralph Reed presents a similar political face to that of Delay, namely in promoting a "faith-based" agenda whose ultimate goal is to establish Christianity as a state religion. Where's Benjamin Franklin when you need him?
Jews began turning away from our traditional political base and supporting the Republican agenda when Ronald Reagan came to power. He looked good, he sounded good and he promised to lower taxes and put an end to those pesky social services like pre-natal programs, school lunches for poor children and benefits for severely disabled people. Huh? The Jews supported the guy who trashed all those good things? Why? Well, Reagan was a friend of Israel, so it's all good, right? I ... don't ... think ... so.
Ultimately, the "faith based" agenda brings the focus back to making Christianity the official state religion of the United States. This is the agenda of Ralph Reed and this is what Bernie Marcus supports to the tune of $26,000.
In the 1970s, young Christians across the country joined in a huge proselytizing mission to convert their non-Christian friends to their faith. They pressured public schools into allowing use of school resources for their very personal "faith based" agenda. Teachers and administrators winked at this transgression of separation of church and state. Jewish and other non-Christian students faced daily harassment, intimidation and worse for standing up to the proselytizing army of Christian soldiers.
And now, one of Atlanta's most prominent Jewish citizens has made a generous gift to the very face of this attack on our own freedom of religion.
Bernie Marcus, get your money back. There are better places to put it.
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