September 02, 2010
During the last Olympics, Ahamadinnejad (unintentionally) inspired me to write a blog in which I responded to the vile, poisonous filth of Anti-Semitism and since the subject matter is still more relevant than ever, I would like to revisit some of those same thoughts tonight. First of all, how did the dictator inspire me? Actually, it was easy. All he had to do was be his charming self. You see, the Iranian government would not allow one of their swimmers to participate in the Olympics because it meant such participation would cause him to share a pool with an Israeli athlete. Better to not even compete than to contaminate himself, due to deadly Jewish proximity.
For the last two thousand years, Anti-Semitism has not only demonstrated man’s inhumanity to man, it has also been a puzzle and bewilderment to the entire world. Nothing, and I mean nothing about Anti-Semitism makes sense: Consider the following:
The only thing that the extreme Right and the extreme Left have in common is a hatred for Jews. Just recently, I read a conservative blog in which somebody blamed the problem of illegal immigration on the Jews. He also went on a tirade against Zionism. As a Jew who is very outspoken against illegal immigration, I found this laughable. As a Zionist, I remind everybody: a Zionist is merely one who believes Israel has a right to exist. Ironically, many of the people who support illegal immigration hate Israel as much as that brilliant blogger. Leftist Marxists also hate Israel, along with countless Muslims who hold conservative values.
Some people view Judaism as a religion. Others view it as a race. It gets hated equally for either designation.
Those who object to the religion are known to call the Jews Christ Killers. But this only shows how little they understand Christianity, for the Bible teaches that Jesus was meant to die, that it was God’s will to offer Him as a sacrifice for our sins, that if not for our sins, He would not have needed to die, and as a result, we are all responsible for His death. One who does not understand this concept, basic and foundational to the gospel, does not understand Christianity and is not a true follower of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the bigot’s disdain for Jews is actually not religious at all and we are forced to view such hatred as a mystery.
On the other hand, those who view Jewish people as a race have a difficult time explaining exactly what it is about the race that they don’t like. Is it the skin color? Not all Jews have the same color of skin. Some are tan, but the Jews in Sweden have blond hair and blue eyes. They don’t all have big noses either and even if they did, many people have big noses. Those who are not Jewish are not hated.
OK, maybe it’s those “nasty Jewish traits.” After all, aren’t they a conspiracy of Communists trying to take over the world? Actually, just as many suggest that they are a conspiracy of greedy Capitalistic bankers trying to take over the world. The Nazis found it useful to accuse them of both, hoping nobody would notice the contradiction.
And then there’s Israel. Dennis Prager put it perfectly: “Israel is the only country in history that people feel has no right to exist. Countries war with each other and sign treaties all the time, but the right of the enemy country to exist is never brought into question.”
For those who believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, this mystery finds a partial explanation in what the Bible calls spiritual warfare. You may not believe in the existence of good angels and evil spirits. Other articles of mine defend their existence. For now, let’s just stipulate that whatever your opinion of the Bible, this is just exactly what the Bible teaches. Demonic beings seek to keep people from the love of God and these beings especially hate the Jews. They hate the Jews, because through the Jews, the Messiah came into the world. They hate the Jews because through the Jews we received the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.
The ability of demons to foster irrational hatred may be a missing piece of the puzzle here. If you don’t wish to accept this idea, so be it. But I hope you will at least agree with me that Anti-Semitism is a mystery because it makes absolutely no sense. Unfortunately, its lack of logic does not keep it from spreading. Anti-Semitism is as bad today as it has ever been and it is growing all over the world, not just the Arab world, but Europe, once again, where it had a happy home not so long ago.
Have you heard the one about the Jew and the nitwit? A nitwit went into a bar, sat next to a Jew and said, “You Jews killed Jesus Christ!”
The Jew shrugged his shoulders and said, “Even if that were true, it happened two-thousand years ago.”
The nitwit replied, “I just found out about it today.”
