Saturday, January 27, 2007

Regarding Carter's intervention on behalf of a Nazi murderer

There has been some confusion about the incident reported by Neal Sher [see previous post] regarding how President Carter intervened to try to win a stay of deportation of a Nazi murderer.

I don't think this kind of action indicates he is an antisemite. It does seem to indicate two things, both of which are relevant here:

a) his inclination to forgive often seems to overwhelm the need to do justice. Forgiveness is good and is a fundamental of Jewish life. So, however, is justice.

b) he is automatically on the side of those who appear to be weak. While it's good to favor the weak and the oppressed [Jewish tradition stresses that repeatedly], sometimes those who appear weak or oppressed have put themselves in that position. [You can draw whatever analogies you wish.]

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