re: #675 SanFranciscoZionist

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing.

I realize that many American Christians have intense feelings about Israel, and they are entitled to them, even if I don’t necessarily ‘get’ it. And if I can live with Hollywood stars running around wearing bendels, I guess I can live with Sarah Palin wearing a magen david.

I don’t see this as pandering TO JEWS though, I see it, if pandering it is, as being aimed toward her own people. There’s an element of appropriation to it that I don’t care for. Palin’s shown precious little interest in Jews, Judaism, or American Jewish communities. Or in Israel for that matter. Her whole angle seems to be “Oh, I support Israel THIS much,” which is easy to say.

Our last three presidents put on kippot as appropriate—don’t know if George Bush Sr. did—and that’s fine.

I don’t know. I live in downtown central for cultural appropriation. Maybe I’m over-sensitive to this.

I don’t like appropriating other people’s cultures. I don’t like seeing my own appropriated.

It is particularly an issue with certain lowbrow fundamentalist Christian types. There is always this undercurrent of them being the “real” children of Israel to contend with and that theme is never good for us.

On a lighter note. I don’t care for non Irish folks painting themselves green on St. Patrick’s day (I think it’s rude to Irish folks even if most Irish folks I know could care less) any more than I care for McBagles with sausage.

I see that sort of trivialization of cultures as degrading.