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Antisemitic acts filled with cowardice, evil and hatred

Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn, in his recent CD, You’ve Never Seen Everything, includes a rather haunting, provocative song called “Postcards From Cambodia.” Reflecting upon the Cambodian killing fields, the chorus offers the following philosophical and theological insight: “This is too big for anger, it’s too big for blame. We stumble through history so humanly lame—so I bow down my head—say a prayer for us all that we don’t fear the spirit when it comes to call.”

Cockburn is correct, it’s so easy to become angry and blame “an enemy” for all of our problems. Such anger and blame often destines us to “stumble through history so humanly lame.” Tragically this historical perspective necessitates a scapegoat.

Right from the beginning, the Jewish people have become nearly everyone’s scapegoat. Although Wilhelm Marr invented the term antisemitism in 1879, anti-Jewish anger and blame is as old as the biblical conflict between Sarah and Hagar, Pharaoh and Haman plotting Jewish genocide, and Amalek attacking God’s Chosen people in the wilderness.

The New Testament writers also put forth some very unlikely anti-Judaic polemics, products of heated, in-house squabbles between those Jews who regarded Jesus as Messiah and those Jews who did not. Out of this, tragically, the theologians of the Church escalated the anti-Jewish polemics and teaching of contempt by applying the charges of deicide and blood libel to “the Jews” of all times and places.

The theologians then influenced heads of state, who systematically implemented legal, political and economic hatred of the Jews by oppressive laws, which confiscated Jewish property, confined them to ghettoes, and restricted them to scapegoat vocations such as the role of moneylender. The Jews were thus blamed for secretly conspiring to gain economic and political control of the world. In rejecting Christ, both Church and state condemned God’s Chosen to be “wandering Jews.”

Raul Hilberg in volume one of his, The Destruction of the European Jews, sums it up well: “Since the fourth century after Christ there have been three anti-Jewish policies: conversion, expulsion and annihilation. The second appeared as an alternative to the first, and the third emerged as an alternative to the second.” (p. 8)

Most of the mainline Christian Churches have issued statements renouncing and repenting of the past anti-Judaic and antisemitic doctrines and practices of the Church catholic. These Churches have also affirmed the legitimacy of the eternal covenant between God and Israel. This has proven to be nothing less than the work of God’s Spirit among us.

Now is a kairos time for us Christians in Canada—especially in light of the recent firebombings, vandalizing and desecrations of Jewish synagogues, schools and cemeteries.

These are cowardice acts of evil and hatred against the Jewish people. The Christian Churches of Canada must stand in solidarity with our Jewish neighbours in condemning such acts and, most importantly, in working tirelessly to prevent and eradicate antisemitism in our nation. After all, we are disciples of Jesus, who was born, lived and died a faithful Jew.

Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson is a chaplain at the Good Samaritan Society’s South Ridge Village and pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Medicine Hat, Alberta. His article appeared in the Medicine Hat News — By The Way: Spiritual reflections from local pastors.