When Democrats Use God Talk

David Klinghoffer, writing in the Forward, asks why the Democratic Presidential candidates get a pass from liberal Jewish organizations when they use religiously charged language that those organizations would condemn if the same words were uttered by a Republican. For example, let us imagine how the so-called Jewish defense organizations, such as the Anti-Defamation League, would react if Mitt Romney said the following in a campaign speech:

“We’re going to keep on praising together. I am confident that we can create a Kingdom right here on Earth. I want all of you to pray that I can be an instrument of God.”

Yet when Barack Obama said exactly that in a recent speech in a Greenville, S.C. church, his remarks occasioned no protests from the Jewish community. Klinghoffer cites similarly messianic declarations from Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.

The answer to Klinghoffer's question, of course, is that the liberal Jewish national organizations so closely identify with the philosophy and policies of the Democratic Party that they practically function as its alter-egos. The Reform Jewish movement has been aptly described as the Democratic Party with holidays.

Please don't misunderstand my point. I welcome "God talk" from Democrats and Republicans, so long as the religious freedom enjoyed by all Americans, regardless of their faith or lack of it, is not threatened. I merely want my co-religionists to provide the candidates of both parties with a level playing field.