Crowley: Social rot and how it can contribute to anti-Semitism
Beset by the stench of social rot, the American people are suffering from not only an overabundance of fear and distrust, but also an appalling dearth of compassion and clarity. Neighbors have become strangers, colleagues are now combatants, and fellow citizens look more like mortal enemies. It’s a grievous and altogether dangerous development, to be sure, particularly as we are surrounded and ceaselessly bombarded by news of mounting decay, ranging from economic stagflation and gross governmental corruption, to foreign policy embarrassments and woke depravity. Overwrought by it all, we’ve lost sight of what is truth, what is right, and what is fundamental, thus forgetting who and what we are as a people and a nation. Our roots are strong and good, but our confidence is corroding.
This national corrosion can take many forms, but there is one particularly pernicious yet oft-overlooked example worth noting—anti-Semitism. Over the course of the last several years, America’s Jews have been made to bear the heavy burden of prejudice and violence, with nary an outcry from their fellow countrymen. Indeed, Jewish expressions of fear and distress perpetually fall on deaf ears, despite the fact that such cries are well warranted. To wit, synagogues are targeted and left vulnerable, Jews are attacked in the streets, and college campuses gleefully breed anti-Jew hatred, all while openly anti-Semitic representatives in Congress are praised and lauded for their vitriol and duplicity. It is an utterly shameful and unacceptable situation, and if we’re to call ourselves a free and just people, we must act quickly to starve the disease and staunch its spread.
To be fair, anti-Semitic tropes are age-old and deeply entrenched, often hard to spot unless you’re looking for them. Even so, that does not excuse our complacency; we must stand with America’s Jews, for it is absolutely intolerable that they be made to feel unwelcome and unsafe in their own country. Of course, it doesn’t help that waters are further muddied by growing resentment of Israel, the much-maligned but incredibly moral Jewish state who shares America’s values. Anti-Semites love nothing better than to disparage and shame Israel for the great sin of defending itself (as they were forced to do just this last week, when Palestinian Islamic Jihadists indiscriminately fired more than one thousand rockets into Israel), a practice rapidly gaining ground in America. Undue criticism of this sort is a troubling portent, as anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism frequently converge to become one nasty beast.
A prime example can be found in the national Presbyterian Church’s (PCUSA) recent decision to denounce Israel in favor of the Palestinians. In an egregiously inaccurate and inflammatory document, wherein historical truth and accuracy clearly have no home, the PCUSA unjustifiably urged its members to partake in anti-Israel activism within their communities. As an historian, I am largely unsurprised by this development, but as a Christian, I am nonetheless sickened and dismayed. The PCUSA’s heinous resolution falsifies fact and perverts truth about Israel, but more worryingly is the opening it creates for more generalized anti-Semitism here at home. Thus, I urge all Christians, Presbyterian and otherwise, to awaken and resist this movement, as is our moral and spiritual duty.
This appeal extends to all Americans as well. Any nation or people who permits, whether actively or passively, the growth and spread of anti-Semitism within its borders is on a pathway to disaster. History itself offers countless examples of this simple truth. Social rot and national corrosion cause many symptoms, as we well know, but chaos and discord never end with hatred of the Jews. Rather, they begin there. If we continue to complacently permit our Jewish countrymen to be belittled and bruised, then in only a matter of time, we will find ourselves in the very same situation. Just as the Church must neither encourage nor condone the immoral rejection of Israel and the Jews, so too must the American people awaken to their responsibilities and rights. The Jews of America are just that—American—and they deserve our support and respect.
Courtney A. Crowley is an instructor of history at West Texas A&M University. The comments here represent her own opinions and not those of WTAMU.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Courtney Crowley social rot and hot it can contribute to anti-Semitism
