This is the time of year when we see a lot of folks try to appropriate Jesus to fit their political agenda, and some on the left are at it again this year.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has had a lot of bad takes in the past, but she may win the award for worst take on Jesus, Christmas, and Gaza with her latest Instagram post.
AOC slammed over Christmas message about Israel-Hamas war: ‘Jew hate’ https://t.co/tDZ0Krb7H5 pic.twitter.com/4pnuTEaWRn
— New York Post (@nypost) December 25, 2023
AOC said Jesus was born in "modern-day Palestine under the threat of a government engaged in a massacre of innocents" and that he was part of a "targeted population being indiscriminately killed to protect an unjust leader’s power."
As many pointed out in response to AOC, there was no "Palestine," and Jesus was a Jew born in Judea. Talk about trying to disappear Jews— to deny or twist his Jewishness to something that isn't the case to fit the script they want is the height of trying to make Jews go away.
Plus, the targeting of Jesus wasn't "indiscriminate." If you're targeting, it isn't "indiscriminate." According to the Gospel of Matthew, Herod assassinated the babies because he was trying to target the birth of the "King of the Jews." Herod used that title, and he wanted no challenge to his authority. Kind of a significant thing to miss — all the Jewishness there. Does AOC not know this, or is she just leaving it out because it doesn't help her point?
“Thousands of years later, right-wing forces are violently occupying Bethlehem as similar stories unfold for today’s Palestinians, so much so that the Christian community in Bethlehem has canceled this year’s Christmas Eve celebrations out of both [fear for their] safety and respect,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.
“And yet, also today, holy children are still being born in a place of unspeakable violence — for every child born, of any identity and from any place, is sacred. Especially the children of Gaza,” AOC said.
What is she talking about? Does she think the Palestinian Authority that controls the area is "right-wing," or does she think Bethlehem is somehow in Gaza? It's in the West Bank.
“The entire story of Christmas and Christ himself is about standing with the poor and powerless, the marginalized and maligned, the refugees and immigrants, the outcast and misunderstood without exception,” she wrote.
“This high Christian holiday is about honoring the precious sanctity of a family that, if the story were to unfold today, would be Jewish Palestinians,” the Democrat said.
Again, she's missing the "entire story of Christmas and Christ itself." The point of Jesus was being born into the world to save mankind. It wasn't about being a socialist or just about helping the poor. It was very much about the saving of souls. Leftists get the helping the poor part but seem to miss out on the greater, more central point.
AOC, of course, also leaves out the reason for the response of Israel in Gaza: the Oct. 7 attack and the continuing attacks on Israel from Hamas. There's nothing in her comment about the American hostages still being held by Hamas or the Americans who were killed by Hamas, which, as a member of Congress, should be her first concern.
Today is about the birth of Jesus and the gift he was for the world, not someone's political agenda to turn Jesus into something he wasn't.
Related:
AOC Goes From Bad to Worse With Latest Statement About How Israel Aid Should Be 'Conditioned'
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