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I'm replying only to the portion about tone, because I've said pretty much all I have to say about the main topic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil75230
Very much so. Tone is at least as important as the actual substance of your message, and I'd argue even more so. Tone has a message all its own - an unspoken but obviously present level of meaning the explicit words don't convey. It's the difference between people at your office telling you "Hey, this is a pretty nice house you have!" and a Mafia enforcer saying saying the exact same thing.
The latter, obviously, is a threat ("Pay up PDQ or we'll burn it down"). The former, depending on the tone it could be taken at face value or in a condescending manner, or even outright sarcastic.
Tone says a lot about how much the person values your essential personhood (the value of your feelings, your thoughts, and how much appreciation as a person you deserve). Furthermore, tone also implicitly invites other people to think the same way you do - for better or worse. Do you deserve or not deserve to be part of their inner social circle - the informal information channels ("grapevines"), helping hands, and personal support you need to make less difficult the everyday burdens of living. Thus, tone can have a subtle but very real effect on your long-run quality of life. Nobody wants to have a severely reduced quality of life, so we should all be very careful about how and when we should use tones.
Tone - or, more accurately, its absence - is one of the reasons why online conversations can go off the rails so quickly. Sarcasm or other humor gets missed (or, occasionally, is assumed where it doesn't exist), facial expressions are't in play, and it's very easy to base one's opinion of another poster on a past disagreement, or even a single disliked comment. This last is particularly relevant when the conversation is about politics. The temptation to assume the worst about people who are perceived as "the enemy," politically, seems to be almost irresistible. I think a lot of baseless conflict could be avoided by politely asking for clarification: "It sounds to me like you are saying XYZ. Would you please correct me if I am wrong?"
You would never see them bend over backwards for blacks, Mexican Americans or gays. When they get up on their soapboxes, they look hypocritical when you consider how they’ve put Trump on a pedestal.
I can't speak for every Republican out there but the reason I support the Jewish state in Israel is fairly simple, I support democracy over totalitarianism and terrorism which resides over the rest of the middle east.
As for Jews living here in the states, most of them are all democrats. Just food for thought.
When it comes to the whole Muslim vs. Hebrew debate thingy, I don't have a preference for either one. If the Muslims suddenly adapt to democracy and run the Jews out of there somehow then I would support them the same way I support the Jewish state right now.
I'm replying only to the portion about tone, because I've said pretty much all I have to say about the main topic.
Tone - or, more accurately, its absence - is one of the reasons why online conversations can go off the rails so quickly. Sarcasm or other humor gets missed (or, occasionally, is assumed where it doesn't exist), facial expressions are't in play, and it's very easy to base one's opinion of another poster on a past disagreement, or even a single disliked comment. This last is particularly relevant when the conversation is about politics. The temptation to assume the worst about people who are perceived as "the enemy," politically, seems to be almost irresistible. I think a lot of baseless conflict could be avoided by politely asking for clarification: "It sounds to me like you are saying XYZ. Would you please correct me if I am wrong?"
Yes, facial expression is crititcal too (and obviously missed on the internet).
That's why Omar should NOT have been the one to question Abrams yesterday - just a day or two after she revealed her strong anti-Semitic attitudes. When she questioned the Jew (believe me, she was very aware she was questioning a Jew) about the "massacre" (her characterization), she paused....and then smiled. (The pause was for effect, to emphasize the smile.) And then, after Abrams answered her with a "no," she condescending said "I'll take that as a yes."
A Congresswoman who was forced to apologize for her anti-Semitic tropes barely a day prior should NOT have been the one to question, argue with, and disrepect a Jew. And the Democrats should not have assigned her the role - it was an F-U to Trump (rather than show sensitivity to American Jews).
I can't speak for every Republican out there but the reason I support the Jewish state in Israel is fairly simple, I support democracy over totalitarianism and terrorism which resides over the rest of the middle east.
As for Jews living here in the states, most of them are all democrats. Just food for thought.
When it comes to the whole Muslim vs. Hebrew debate thingy, I don't have a preference for either one. If the Muslims suddenly adapt to democracy and run the Jews out of there somehow then I would support them the same way I support the Jewish state right now.
But the Muslims HAVE run the Jews out of Arab countries, stealing their land and property in the process. Just look at a map of the Jewish population in Muslim countries from 100 years ago, and compare it to now. Take Baghdad - it had a thriving Jewish population, and now I'd be surprised if there are 50 Jews left there.
Yes, facial expression is crititcal too (and obviously missed on the internet).
That's why Omar should NOT have been the one to question Abrams yesterday - just a day or two after she revealed her strong anti-Semitic attitudes. When she questioned the Jew (believe me, she was very aware she was questioning a Jew) about the "massacre" (her characterization), she paused....and then smiled. (The pause was for effect, to emphasize the smile.) And then, after Abrams answered her with a "no," she condescending said "I'll take that as a yes."
A Congresswoman who was forced to apologize for her anti-Semitic tropes barely a day prior should NOT have been the one to question, argue with, and disrepect a Jew. And the Democrats should not have assigned her the role - it was an F-U to Trump (rather than show sensitivity to American Jews).
To build on my thoughts on the last paragraph above, let's say a white Democratic congressman made a racist comment, and was forced to retract it. Would he then be the one assigned to hostily question a black man giving testimony, a day later, knowing the optics of the whole thing? With the "gotcha" attitude and the smiles? NO, because Democrats would have been sensitive to the feelings of black Americans. But they did not extend the same courtesy to Jews - and that is what I mean by "soft antisemitism" that's bubbling up on the left.
But the Muslims HAVE run the Jews out of Arab countries, stealing their land and property in the process. Just look at a map of the Jewish population in Muslim countries from 100 years ago, and compare it to now. Take Baghdad - it had a thriving Jewish population, and now I'd be surprised if there are 50 Jews left there.
But I digress....
And here is the crux of the left’s hatred of the Jews. There were roughly 1 million Jews forcibly removed from Muslim countries in 1948. While the left screams about the displaced “Palestinians,” (who btw were not forcibly removed but rather elected to move away in unfounded fear that the Jews would treat them in the same murderous way they had previously treated the Jews) how many times is this huge thread have you seen someone on the left cry out about the injustice of a million displaced Jews? That would be zero. And that my friends, is what makes them anti Semitic.
Well, duh, it's obvious - most Jewish Americans aren't single issue voters. A majority even took exception to Trump's decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
The reason American Jews are liberal is because they tend to sympathize with the less fortunate and with minorities: like many black and Hispanic Americans, 54% of Jews believe government should be bigger, with more services, compared to just 40% of the public at large who believe the same. And 82% of Jews think that homosexuality should be accepted by society, while just 57% of the general public believes so.
Tellingly, Jews sound a lot more like a minority when it comes to discrimination than one might expect from a group of people who are mostly white. Despite problems between Israel and its Arab (and Persian) neighbors, 72% of Jews say Muslims in America are discriminated against, versus just 47% of the public at large who say that. While 64% of Jews say there is discrimination against African Americans, only 47% of all Americans do. This gap extends to attitudes towards Latino Americans, as well.
The roots of these liberal values probably lie in Jews' own understanding of what they went through in their history, with 73% of Jews holding the belieef that remembering the Holocaust is an essential part of being Jewish. Indeed, Jews say it is the most essential part of what it means to be Jewish. Third on the list, though, at 56%, is working for justice and equality.
It's unlikely that outreach by religious Christians, who tend to be very conservative, on the issue of Israel is going to break this pattern. Jews simply don't feel any real affinity towards Evangelical Christians. Jews, for instance, don't buy into the idea that there is a (secularist) war against Christianity, as Rand Paul has argued. Only 16% of Jews agree there is discrimination against Evangelical Christians in the United States (a much larger 30% of all Americans think there is).
Thank you for a comment rather different from the rest, based on facts and fairly well reasoned rather than the bias that tends to overwhelm most of us. Just look at the premise most of these comments assume, and it's hard to think much else is going on between the ears since these beliefs and attitudes were "cemented" a long time ago...
That said, I think we all tend to turn a blind eye to what we don't want to see or believe about ourselves and our kind. We all prefer to focus more on the virtues, real or perceived. I'm not sure there is any group of people who can claim they are different in this respect, generally speaking, including Jewish people. Human nature is to band together and get ours at the expense of others. Our history has shown this is what we're inclined to do over and over again.
Doesn't matter our color or religion. What matters is who has the power, influence and wealth and/or who can do what to whom and get away with it...
So the question is not Why Do Republicans stand up so hard for Jewish Americans? but instead Why the Left purportedly does not?
The question is based on false pretenses.
Based on voting patterns, it's probably safer to say that more Jewish American voters align with left-leaning positions than hard-right ones. 75% with the Democrats, period. You will find a majority of these voters supporting issues or views that are contrary with the policy directions of the national GOP.
There is generally bipartisan support for Israel. It's just that AIPAC has a louder or the loudest voice in shaping or forming the dialogue on this; however, there are alternative positions or voices in this same space, such as J-street - that may shift that dialogue a bit.
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