After having virtually every argument they have made this election thoroughly refuted by former President Clinton and President Obama at the DNC, Republicans still found something in the Democratic platform to fuss about. Apparently the word "God" was nowhere to be found in the platform, and neither was any mention of Jerusalem and how it should be the capital of the Israeli state. This, according to many conservatives I've spoken with recently, makes Democrats "Godless" and "anti-Israeli."
On the God issue, I would point out that we are a secular nation where all faiths, or none at all, are openly respected and protected by our Constitution. Thomas Jefferson coined the phrase, "separation of church and state" for a reason. Ours is a constitutional democratic republic, not a Christian theocracy or any other kind of religious theocracy. I see no need for a political party to specifically mention God in its platform. And apparently conservatives failed to catch that a nun was a speaker at the DNC, that Elizabeth Warren and President Obama both quoted scripture and that almost every speaker asked God's blessing on America and all Americans. It's not as if God was totally left out.
As for Jerusalem, it is the official policy of the United States not to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Our embassy is in Tel Aviv. In seeking a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital is a terrible foreign policy move. And all of this is second chair to the fact that the Arab peoples in the area, most commonly referred to now as Palestinians, have as much cultural and religious history in the area as Jews. The former British mandate may have been awarded to Jews in the wake of the Holocaust as a way of easing the Jewish people's suffering in the wake of the slaughter of over 6 million, but that doesn't change the fact the Palestinian people have rightful claims as well.
The Democratic Party made changes to the party platform following Republican criticism, but I think it was a mistake. Not only was the voice vote taken at the convention clearly in favor of the "nays" on change, but the changes made were nonsensical political cover. I'm with Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Democrats need to grow a backbone on these religious issues just as they did at the convention on virtually every other issue Republicans have raised this election.
Eric Engle
Parkersburg
