dualstow wrote: ↑Sun Sep 22, 2019 7:54 pm
I just think the idea that American Jews are loyal to Israel first and America second, especially those in office, sounds like...well you know what it sounds like.
Let me preface this by saying my intent is to engage in legitimate discourse and not stir the pot...I suspect I'm treading into risky territory...
I'm not Jewish (am white, male, raised presbyterian but am agnostic/athiest at this point), but over the last 20 years have had a number of close Jewish friends. One thing that's always struck me is the ingrained preference/positive bias towards other Jewish people (as far as romantic partners), and Jewish businesses.
For example, a good friend got married and chose a horrible wedding photographer -- why? Because it was one of the two jewish wedding photographers in the area, and simply choosing of the full pool of available/qualified photographers in the area was out of the question.
Another example -- another good friend who would only consider marrying a Jewish woman and wanting to procreate to ensure the proliferation/propagation of the Jewish race (I'm not speculating on motivation here, but had a number of conversations with both the man and the woman of the couple on this subject)
I get that these are just anecdotes, and I get that most cultures have similar biases towards marrying/preferring their own. But is it really unreasonable to observe common trends in certain cultures and consider/possibly be concerned about how that might impact one's motivations and priorities?
One thing I try to do when considering political candidates is understand their beliefs, motivations, and principles rather than worry about a particular stance on a particular topic, as stances/topics change, and I'd rather vote for/support a value system that aligns with mine. If someone is always going to be biased against me, or prioritize a different set of principles than I believe in, I think that's wholly appropriate to consider and/or be concerned about, no?
(Edit: I'd also say that one's personal beliefs and one's political principles can certainly be kept separate. One thing I really respected about Ron Paul is while he may have personally believed certain things, he didn't believe it was the government's job to enforce/chime in on certain matters and such he would vote based on different principles than his personal beliefs, and as such I could support him even though I didn't agree with all of his beliefs)