A lightly leftie God?! So suggests a quick view of the Thirteen Divine Attributes, in Exodus 34:6-7.
This resonant biblical passage comes from this week's Torah portion, Ki Tissa. After the Golden Calf, Moses climbed Sinai again; wanting to see God's face, he can only apprehend God's "backside," God's "goodness" -- revealed through thirteen attributes (middot). The liturgy keeps it positive, ending the quote early with God's blanket pardon. Yet Exodus 34:7 actually reads, "and God pardons?! - God does NOT pardon; God passes the parents' iniquity onto the children, and grandchildren, to the third and fourth generation."
As suggested below, this last attribute has new relevance and resonance in our era of human-induced climate change. Molecules of CO2 stay aloft an average of 100 years, trapping heat all the while, causing ever greater climatic disruptions, ad endangering the world in which our own progeny will grow. Since one generation is about a quarter-century, our "iniquitous" one-time combustion of fossil fuel does indeed get passed to the fourth generation.
But why might we say that God leans liberal, and by how much? By the following scorecard, God currently stands two-thirteenths (15,4%) left of center: five liberal characteristics, five that are neutral, and just three conservative ones. However, given such a small sample (just thirteen attributes), these findings are well within the margin of error!
The first expansion of each divine descriptor follows a well-known interpretation (after Talmud Rosh Hashanah 17b); the second expansion, rather cheekily, I made up:
1.יְהוָה "Adonai -- compassion before one errs." Call this one conservative, giving the benefit of the doubt to good-seeming folks, revocable if they err.
2.יְהוָה "Adonai -- compassion after one has erred." Liberal, as in suggesting amnesty and a path to citizenship for those who violated U.S. law to enter this country.
3.אֵל "El -- mighty in compassion, giving to all creatures according to their need." Liberal, with the Divine act of sustenance here based solely on need, not perceived merit.
4.רַחוּם "Rachum [compare holy Quran, "rachmani-rakhim"] -- merciful, that humankind may not be distressed." Conservative, tending to see success (non-distress) as proof of merit, deserving of further reward.
5.וְחַנּוּן "V'Chanun -- and gracious if humankind is already in distress." Liberal, with a tendency to see distress as owing to greater forces more than to one's own poor choices.
6.אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם "Erech apayim -- slow to anger." Liberal, apparently, given how many on the right are now "anger voters," raging at the status quo while picking their nominee.
7.וְרַב-חֶסֶד "V'Rav chesed -- and bounteous in loving-kindness." Neutral. Political leanings are irrelevant here; kindness lies on both sides of the aisle.
8.וֶאֱמֶת "V'Emet -- and truth." Liberal, for now, given conservative denial of basic truths, like the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change.
9.נֹצֵר חֶסֶד לָאֲלָפִים "Notzer chesed la'alafim -- extending lovingkindness to the thousandth generation." Neutral. Again, kindness knows no politics.
10.נֹשֵׂא עָוֹן "No'se avon -- forgiving iniquity." Conservative, in this softer version of mercy; even those who copiously judge others will fall into iniquity at one time or another.
11.וָפֶשַׁע "Vafesha -- and [forgiving] transgression. Liberal. To be "transgressive" is now deemed a compliment on much of the left, and an insult across the right.
12.וְחַטָּאָה "V'chata'ah -- and [forgiving] sin." Neutral. We disagree on what constitutes "sin," but minus the extremists of far right and far left (who resemble one another in their narrowness), all condemn it.
13.וְנַקֵּה "V'nakeh -- and pardoning." A tie. Conservative, as the quote continues with a right-wing preacher's angry God who "won't pardon; instead, remitting sin...to the 3rd & 4th generation. Liberal: as the 4th generation is one century hence - exactly how long the carbon dioxide we emit remains aloft, threatening our progeny.
Admittedly some - all, actually - of these attributes could be characterized differently. This tally is quite subjective. Again, it's "within the margin of error." And most importantly, it can change. Quickly.
Take #8, truth - the U.S. is the only developed nation whose right wing routinely denies basic science. Were this analysis done elsewhere, "truth" might instead be neutral, tightening the race considerably. Some brave Republicans, led by Rep. Chris Gibson, now seek to make that shift. May they! Ensuring a sane climate future should not be partisan.
Then take #2, compassion after one has erred - as in the current immigration debate, where the dominant left/right split is "judgment" on those who entered without permission, versus "mercy" for those desperate enough to take the risk. Yet this is far from settled within the right (see early Republican primary debates). While the current front-runner evinces little compassion on this front, his likeliest rival did once advocate (before disowning it) a more merciful approach to "illegal immigrants."
The deeper truth? God, of course, transcends any box in which we seek to contain the Divine. No human label can stick to the Ineffable One; theology demands humility. God is (as Rev. Jim Wallis has eloquently taught) neither Blue nor Red - nor Purple, either. God is the pan-hue rainbow seen by Noah; and God is Black, as well as White.
Let these Thirteen Attributes lead us in the unmistakable direction this sacred Biblical text, along with the holy Quran, points: God is "the most gracious, the most merciful." May we be gracious and merciful, too.
(Post-Script: In seeing God's "backside," the very human Moses stands precisely where God does -- looking the same direction, seeing the same view, readying the same action - imitatio dei. As God scans society, and privileges the structurally disempowered widow and orphan and immigrant, so does Moses - and so can, and should, we. This from the late Leibel Fein, after Maimonides, Guide I:38.)