Lisa Schiffren writes on FB: “I was really put off by Rubio’s Catholic schoolboy interjection about how there is only one savior and he is JC who came to earth and died for our sins, at the debate last week. Pandering. Not to be outdone, today Cruz went on at length about how his supporters need to lift the country up in prayer –(tolerable so far) and if they do enough of this it will revive the country and reanimate the body of Christ. Or something like that. Ugh. Just a little too much.
As a Jew, I am more than happy to elect a serious Protestant or Catholic to be commander in chief and POTUS. But you must confine your public speech to broad ecumenical evocations of God, morality, prayer and blessings. Anything beyond that will cost you credibility with more Americans than it can possibly be worth. You are not a preacher.
Cruz’s father is a preacher, so it’s part of his background. That’s fine. This is a political contest and he needs to understand what people do and don’t want to hear in politics. If he wants to conduct prayer services at the White House in Sundays — more power to him.”
Luke Ford: “Should Israel’s PM similarly confine himself to ecumenical evocations? Or is Jewish nationalism super duper but Christian nationalism inappropriate? The more divided a country, the weaker.”
Lisa Schiffren: “No Israeli PM would speak so piously, though he might make reference to universally known, by Jews, stories and scripture.”
