David M. Doran

I try not to make politics personal too often (though I know I sometimes fail). But one thing that gets under my skin is people who either a) pretended to be conservative and cultivated a wide following and then dramatically changed their tune, or b) were ACTUALLY conservative and later changed -- without admitting they've changed but instead still claim the conservative banner under which to peddle their new poison. This confuses the H out of their naive or ignorant followers and damages the conservative brand and long-respected conservative institutions. A particularly egregious version of this is when purportedly conservative Christians now promote (overtly or subtly) antisemitism, and slander Israel – often denying their animus and saying their focus is purely based on disagreements with Israeli policies and actions. Many of these people have also adopted and advocated some utterly bizarre historical and political opinions apart from antisemitism, which causes even further confusion. I’ll add that many of the people doing this, as part of a cynical calculation, are playing to younger audiences and those with grievances and looking for someone to blame. Common sense, tradition, and especially the Bible frown upon corrupting, confusing or leading youth astray. I could cite the Scriptures but the cynics would just say they’re not applicable to this situation – and they can believe that all they want. So much of this has become personal. And those of us defending conservatism and standing up for the Jewish people are not the ones who have made this personal. I don’t apologize for being personally repulsed by what’s going on. As to those to whom any of the above applies, why don’t you just admit you have animus for Israel and/or Jews? Why don’t you admit you have become political liberals in the name of conservatism? If you’ll just come out in the open and admit who you are and what you’re about, we can fight you openly and the public can make informed choices. I happen to believe truth and decency will win in the end, but first we need to call out the deceit. I leave open the possibility that some purveyors of this toxicity may actually be out of their minds or unwittingly under evil influences (though the latter’s hard to believe), but even if that’s the case, they deserve to be called out too. The stakes are too high. We have a country to save. We have values in which we believe and try to live by. These are strong, bright red lines we must draw. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but it's the way I see much of what's going on "inside" the conservative movement.