A prominent political and social commentator warned the Jewish community that it must not allow the “deligitimization of criticism” that has evolved under President Reagan to deter it from helping to correct domestic social ills.
Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of The New Republic and a frequent writer on political issues, told leaders of the American Jewish Congress meeting here that six years of Reagan’s tenure has made criticism of any aspect of American society suspect.
Reagan’s main achievement since taking office has been to paper over a wide range of contradictory policies with a “belief in the primacy of enthusiasm,” Wieseltier told the AJCongress 1987 National Domestic Policy Conference at the Shoreham Hotel. He said the President’s emphasis on enthusiasm as a solution to all social ills has lead to the “delegitimization of criticism” and the equation of criticism with disloyalty to American society.
THREE AREAS OF IMPORTANCE
Wieseltier, whose topic was “1988 and Beyond: Shaping America After Reagan,” said the task of the American Jewish community should be to help deal with concrete problems. He outlined three areas he said will be of particular importance.
Civil rights, he said, are subject of “moral and historical delicacy.” Incidents such as that in Howard Beach have illustrated the fact that while great progress has been made in civil rights, and the nation has evolved into a non-racist society, there continue to be “vast pockets of racism,” making it imperative that efforts to advance civil rights not be allowed to falter.
The constitutional principle of church-state separation must also be “drastically and passionately reaffirmed,” Wieseltier said. “That is not to say that religion should be banned from the private realm, but it is of absolute importance that realm, but it is of absolute importance that religion be kept out of the public realm. Even though this is a country largely populated by Christians, it is not a Christian country.”
Wieseltier also urged the Jewish community to help in the “rehabilitation of the welfare state.” While acknowledging the danger of abuses and corruption in government programs, he contended that such a risk does not outweigh the importance of assisting those who need it. “The real danger” he said, “is that the moral duty of government to help people who cannot help themselves will be delegitimized.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
