Recently at a small gathering of liberal clergy and professors, the question was asked: Should a prayer be said in time of war for the U.S. government? The conclusion reached was that the prayer to be said was for “the U.S. government not [to] abuse its power.” Military victory and the protection of our soldiers were not considered vital to this group whose self-interest lies in the protection of what it does during war– which is not serving and soldiering, but protesting.
Forty years of bending over backward to “understand” criminals, terrorists and our nation’s enemies have led many on the Left to empathize with those elements and view them as fellow “protesters.” It is only natural to begin admiring the object of one’s “understanding” – to feel a kinship with those to whom we give our political talents and energy and in whom we have invested so much time and purpose (witness the attorney Lynn Stewart).
Without doubt this phenomenon has led many on the Left to indulge in an abject form of self-hatred – as well as hatred of our country and the people they hold responsible for causing “all of society’s and the world’s suffering.” The old mantra, “it’s society’s fault” has morphed into “it’s America’s fault.” The consequence: a greater concern and sympathy in certain “progressive” circles for the “oppressed” jihadist than for the white, Christian, conservative, red-state rancher George W. Bush.
The neutral observer can’t help but see the blatant selectivity employed by groups such as the ACLU when they decide whose “rights” are worthy of defense – mostly, it seems, the hardened criminal, the illegal alien, and now the terrorist. Their priorities are upside-down.
Avoda zara, strange worship (or strange ideologies), persists today as it did in times of antiquity. It is always the same, giving respectability to all forms of sexual lust; scoffing at laws that limit our “choices”; tolerating and even identifying with the unwholesome while mocking and abhorring that which is wholesome. It is sophisticated and disarmingly charming. It justifies itself with noble and high-sounding terminology, even invoking God’s name.
Avoda zara retains its inner core even while its outer face changes to suit the zeitgeist of its particular era. Be it Molechism, Jezebelism, Hellenism, Communism, or post-modern Left liberalism, the outcome is always the same: a self-hate born of misplaced priorities that if unchecked leads to a nation’s suicide and the destruction of its civilization.