And let me be the first to ask, what the hell is that supposed to mean?
As someone who isn't Jewish, but who since college has been on the receiving end of a good deal of anti-Semitism since a lot of folks think I'm Jewish, I like to think I've developed a bit of a sixth sense for identifying anti-Semitism. With that in mind, it's always troubled me how the religious right always seems to find a way to maneuver a nice Jewish-named Senator into far-too-many of their ongoing attacks on Democrats. It's almost as if they like having a nice big Jewish-sounding name in the mix in order to scare all the good Christians that the horned-people are coming to drink the blood of their children.
With that in mind, I was a bit troubled by the religious right's use of Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer as their foil in their latest "if you don't like me, then you hate all Christians" diatribe. It's bad enough they chose Schumer to be the Christian-hater, but then they describe him thusly:
Schumer, who was born into a Jewish family, chastised people of all faiths who opposed embryonic stem-cell research (ESCR), calling them "theocrats" and saying it is un-American to try and push their views on the issue.Born into a Jewish family? Why did they feel obliged to mention that? We don't know that Schumer is a Jewish name? Or even if we didn't know, why do we need to know the guy is Jewish? Or are they trying to say that Schumer was BORN into a Jewish family, but he's not a REAL Jew?
It's not clear what the religious right is up to here, whether they're Jew-baiting or what, but it doesn't sound good.
Then again, anti-Semitism never does.
