Sooo, Glenn Beck is in the cross hairs (yes, cross hairs; can you handle that?) of the Jewish left again. The other day he made what even he considered an inept comparison between the Reform Movement and radical Islam. (He apologized the next day.) The meat of the comparison: They are both more political movements than religious ones.
The Reform Movement's Religious Action Center (RAC) is has spoken out in protest, as has the ADL. I can understand that.
But let me say this in Beck's defense: One of the reasons I and countless other Jews have left the Reform Movement is precisely because it has become too political. The fact that the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) even has the RAC -- whose sole purpose is to organize, advocate, and lobby for primarily liberal/Democrat causes -- is proof that Beck's controversial statement has more than a kernel of truth to it. The Religious Action Center is in fact a political action center; the dues of every URJ-member congregation in the country goes partially to them, and synagogue members are encouraged to have a direct relationship with them. In fact, this very weekend hundreds of Reform Jewish teens are traveling to Washington D.C. to visit the RAC, learn about liberal/Democrat political advocacy, and then meet with their representatives in order to lobby for liberal/Democrat causes.
I myself have expressed to the president of the URJ my concern for the existence of the RAC as an arm of the URJ, but to no avail. And I'm certainly not the only one. Leftist politics (often under the guise of the innocuous description "social action") pervades the Reform Movement -- from rabbis' sermons to synagogue-wide programs and speaker events, and especially youth programming.
The Reform Movement is obsessed with the political issue of global warming climate change, to the point that my region's youth organization have both a Social Action chair and Green chair. (A "Green" chair isn't religious; it's political. Period.)
As I wrote in this post back in 2007, the URJ invited two former members of Bill Clinton's administration as guest speakers at their recent Biennial Convention. No conservatives/Republicans need apply. Reform Jews also gathered at both the national and local level to oppose the war in Iraq.
Oh, did I mention that not once but twice hundreds of Reform rabbis participated in a conference call with President Obama to discuss pushing his policies to their congregations?
So, the point Beck was awkwardly trying to make -- that the Reform Movement is more a political movement than a religious one -- is valid and worthy of discussion. But his critics have missed that point because he made the mistake of comparing them to a group of violent extremists. And I do understand the critics' objections.
I do find it a little hypocritical, though, that liberal Jews are upset with being associated with something unpleasant, given their history of celebrating or engaging in the smearing of conservatives, Christians, the Tea Party, and other politically opposed groups.
As I mentioned above with the link, Beck has apologized for making the ill-advised analogy. That was very big of him. I doubt many of the supposedly tolerant and open-minded liberal Jews who hated him even before he made Tuesday's comment will even accept his apology -- not even on Yom Kippur, when we are commanded by G0d not only to apologize for our mistakes but also to forgive those who have transgressed against us. That's their problem.
But I'd like to ask such Jewish brethren: Now do you know how it feels to be unfairly smeared and compared with human monsters? How many of you have referred to those with whom youdisagree as Nazis, extremists, anti-choice theocrats, etc.? Beck admitted that his statement about the Reform Movement was ignorant. How many of you, dear Reform Jews, have referred to devout Christians in general or to specific adherents like George W. Bush or Sarah Palin in the same way, with no sense of remorse?
Where were you when back in 2001 some Democrat Congressman or Senator (don't remember who, don't care to look it up) called religious Christians "the Taliban wing of the Republican Party"?
I recommend you take stock of of your own glass houses before throwing any more stones at Glenn Beck.
Then I suggest we call this a "teachable moment" for all and move on.
UPDATE 2/25: Sure enough, one Reform Jewish Facebook friend's status reads "Dear Glenn Beck. I do not accept your apology." Do I know how to call it or what?
UPDATE 2/26: Yet even more of my tolerant, open-minded Reform Jewish FB friends continuing to bash Beck post-apology. Pathetic yet predictable.
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