Jewish Christophobia
Fear of Christians keeps many Jews on the left
It seems obvious to conservatives that Jews should figure out that in politics their friends are conservatives.1 Conservatives support Israel and oppose the social justice activists who have a negative regard for Jews. Jews should see conservatives as allies to be cultivated. Why aren’t more Jews receptive to this idea?
One reason that most Jews are reluctant to move right is that they have what I call Christophobia. This is not a fear of Christ. It is a fear of Christians. Many Jews fear that Christians are either out to convert Jews or otherwise make American Jews feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.
In America, there are three major Jewish movements, or “brands” of synagogues. The most traditional “brand” is Orthodox. The least traditional is Reform. In the middle is Conservative (not to be confused with politically conservative). But at least one-third of Jews in the United States do not affiliate with any of these movements.
I think that Orthodox Jews, which represent a relatively small proportion of Jews in America, do tend to be receptive to the idea that conservatives are their allies. But Jews who identify as Reform or Conservative, or Jews who are not affiliated, are not receptive to joining forces with conservatives.
When Ryan Burge writes that 85 percent of Republicans are Christians, that is enough to trigger Christophobia among many Jews. I think that if conservatives would like more Jews to espouse conservatism, then we have to find a way to directly confront and overcome Christophobia.
For example, many Jews will say that “the only reason Evangelicals support Israel is because they believe in a prophecy that when all the Jews move to Israel they will be converted to Christianity.” This ignores the possibility that Christians who are conservative in outlook might support Israel because they view the Israel-Palestinian conflict along civilization-vs-barbarism lines.
Jews will see a specter of fundamentalist Christian political power in issues like abortion and sex education. The left, including its Jewish adherents, treats the pro-life movement as above all a movement to impose Christian theology. It treats the movement to protect young children from teachers and books that glorify LGBTQ sexuality as another front for Christian bigotry.
This fear of fundamentalism is not limited to American Jewry. In Israel, non-Orthodox Jews fear the Orthodox. Before October 7, the big issue in Israel was judicial reform. To the secular Jews in Israel, the existing powers of the Israeli Supreme Court are a bulwark against fundamentalist Orthodox Jews taking over, trampling the rights of the non-Orthodox. Secular Jews saw judicial reform, which would alter the role of the Supreme Court, as putting Israel on a path toward theocracy.
I wish that American Jews would step back and examine their Christophobia. Are the fears of a Christian theocracy taking over America really justified? Or are they exaggerated by Democratic politicians and media desperately trying to keep Jews in the left-wing fold?
And I wish that conservatives were more sensitive to the issues that trigger Christophobia. They should base their stands on abortion and sex education on basic moral principles, not on exclusively Christian beliefs.
I believe that most Jews can understand the problem with late-term abortions and with coaching six-year-olds on alternative sexual identities. Conservatives need to be careful to avoid framing these issues as religious issues, and to counter the attempts of their opponents to impose such a framing.
But above all, it would make sense for Jews to realize that nowadays their values and interests align better with conservatives. They just need to get past their Christophobia.
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Practically nothing unifies the American right like opposition to wokeness and political correctness, and the job of allies of Israel in the coming years will be to make clear to conservatives that support for the Palestinians is simply the foreign policy version of everything they hate and want to stand against at home.
Eric Cohen wrote,
we need the clarity to recognize that our true friends—the ones attending our seders in Florida, flying Israeli flags in Texas, and seeking Jewish wisdom in rural Michigan—need us as much as we need them.
"Conservatives need to be careful to avoid framing these issues as religious issues, and to counter the attempts of their opponents to impose such a framing."
It is not Republicans/conservatives who frame it that way - it's Democrats and the media. They seek to discredit opposing voices by claiming those voices are only speaking for their religious confreres.
I am a devout conservative Christian. My reasons for opposing abortion are based in science. From the moment of conception an unborn baby is a unique individual (unique DNA), living (cells are dividing, multiplying), and human. It is wrong in law to kill an innocent human after they are born, it should also be so before they are born.
My reasons for opposing men who identify as women in women's spaces are also based on science. No matter how you feel, no matter what cosmetic surgery you have, and no matter how many hormones you take if you are a man every single cell in your body testifies to it in your DNA. And men are genetically bigger, stronger, faster and more aggressive (both physically and sexually) than women. Compassion for the mentally ill should not be an excuse to put women at risk or strip their accomplishments.
My reasons for opposing sexually explicit books in schools and inappropriate sex education is that it is bad for children. I also add a "natural rights" view on this in that parents should be able to choose how their children are educated - not the state. This is the same reason I support robust school choice.
These are common arguments for conservatives, especially the last. If you believe otherwise then you are not listening to conservatives, you are listening to what other people say about them.
Also, my support for Israel is that it is a democratic, free nation in an area where those are in short supply. My support for the Jewish people overall is because, as a devoutly religious person myself, no one should be persecuted for their religion or their ethnicity. And as a Christian, I believe it is our religious and moral duty to stand up for people who are, whether their religion is the same as ours or not. I take the same stand regarding countries like France that try to ban veiling for Muslim women. I agree with the wording of the Religion Freedom Restoration Act - any restriction on the exercise of religion should have to overcome the strictest legal test that it is 1) a "compelling interest" for the government and 2) has the least impact possible to achieve the essential government aim. For instance, it makes sense to require a hijab be removed for a passport or driver's license photo because there is a "compelling government interest" in being able to identify someone with that ID. To fulfill the "least impact" portion it would be reasonable to provide a curtain for privacy and make sure a female employee is available to take the photo. There would not be a "compelling government interest", however, in banning the hijab in, say, government buildings. It's important to respect religious expression of all religions. By speaking up for the religious freedom of others, I help secure my own.
I have always spoken out against antisemitism and have been particularly vocal since October 7 as antisemitic protests and vandalism have multiplied. Not because of any "end days" prophecy (anyone who claims to know exactly what Revelation means is lying or deluded) but because it is wrong. Duh!
The mainstream Democratic Party is overwhelmingly pro-Israel. Biden has the leverage to put a lot more pressure on what is a very right wing Israeli government and for the most part he has let them do what they want. Zionist Jews on the right can basically get what they want from the Democrats in terms of foreign policy while left wing Jews can lobby for the domestic agenda they want. Yes, I am aware of a what a few Democrats in Congress have SAID, but look at how they and our government votes. A few thousand young people protesting on some Ivy League campuses and a few politicians talking about Israeli "colonialism" is meaningless in the grand scheme of things.
As someone from a Christian background I do want to point out that outside of the large and vocal Evangelical movement Christian Zionism isn't a thing. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Mainline Protestant (progressive and traditional) churches don't have any theological stake in this fight because none of them teach that the existence of Israel is necessary for any prophecies to come true or for anyone's salvation. Non-Evangelicals also don't buy into this notion that the old covenant is still in effect and Jews can be saved without Jesus unless they are ultra progressive universalists.