Thursday, August 16, 2007

A philosophy of abhorrence revived

According to the Jerusalem Post, "the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), which has almost five million members in the US, took a step toward a partial boycott of Israeli goods at its 2007 Churchwide Assembly in Chicago last week." This is hardly suprising, when one looks at the overall roots of Lutheranism.

In 1543, the Martin Luther, the churches overall founder wrote: “On The Jews and Their Lies”. This ludicrous work of Luther’s is a testament to his bigotry. Examples of the statements found in this work are:

A.) “What then shall we Christians do with this damned, rejected race of
Jews?”

B.) “First, their synagogues should be set on fire, and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of it. And this ought to be done for the honor of God and of Christianity in order that God may see that we are Christians”

C.) “Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and
destroyed. For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their
synagogues. For this reason they ought to be put under one roof or in a stable,
like gypsies.”

D.) “Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayer-books and Talmuds
in which such idolatry, lies, cursing, and blasphemy are taught.”

E.) “Fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death to
teach any more...”

Translated by Martin H. Bertram, On The Jews and Their
Lies, Luther's Works, Volume 47; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971. (From HERE)


The above is just an example of the detestation filled ‘philosophy’ he brought to this earth. Can we truly anticipate much better from the followers of his message?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good post, Lutheran was one huge bigot!

Daniel said...

The chickens have come home to roost. The Jewish dominated liberal media and jewish organizations have vilified the "Xtian Right" even though they are bigeer supporters of Israel than almost all non-Ortho Jews. Jewish libs though-ha ha- that they could coalition build with the liberal -but empty pew churches.
However just like leading the fight for civil rights made blacks into the largest anti semites in the US, those lib churches have turned against us.
But they still agree with Jewish libs on abortion! And isn't thatthe most imprtant issue amongst Jewish libs?

Mordechai said...

Excuse me? Are you in someway saying liberal Jews are responsible for this? You must be kidding.

Here are some disturbing parts of your comment I would love for you to answer:

(1) When were Lutherans ever major supporters of Israel?

(2) Do you know the true intentions of these right wing christians when they support Israel?

(3) How could you not place the blame of this act soley on the religious sect that wishes to boycott? Your using a basic tactic christian anti-semites have used throughout the ages.

(4) Would you have prefered blacks in this country to not get the rights they deserve as equal human beings?

(5)I'm afraid there is no way to measure if Orthodox support is stronger for Israel then non-Orthodox support. However, I can tell you in confidence that (a) most major charities supporting Israel are headed by non-religious Jews, (b) Most Haredim do not support the state of Israel, and some refuse to support its right to exist because of certain passages in the Gemara (an example: Ketubot, 111a), yet non-religious Jews have in many cases supported Israel with much passion. I think it is unfair to judge support from the different groups of Judaism.

(6) What does abortion have to do with this? Orthodox Judaism does not take a stand on abortion, so if you label yourself as 'pro-life', I would urge you to reconsider.

Daniel said...

1. from the american Ltheran convention in 1974:The State of Israel

The LCUSA "Guidelines" wisely suggest that "the State of Israel" be one of the topics for Jewish-Lutheran conversations. The tragic encounter of two peoples in the Middle East places a heavy responsibility upon Lutherans to be concerned about the legitimacy of the Jewish state, the rights of the Palestinians, and the problems of all refugees.

The history and circumstances of the Israeli-Arab conflict are very complicated. It is understandable that Lutherans should be deeply divided in their evaluation of the situation in the Middle East. In Jewish opinion, Israel is more than another nation. It is a symbol of resurrection following upon the near extinction of the Jewish people within living memory. There are also some Lutherans who find a religious significance in the State of Israel, seeing in recent events a fulfillment of biblical promises. Other Lutherans espouse not a "theology of the land", but a "theology of the poor", with special reference to the plight of the Palestinian refugees. Still other Lutherans endorse what might be called a "theology of human survival", believing that the validity of the State of Israel rests on juridical and moral grounds.

It seems clear that there is no consensus among Lutherans with respect to the relation between the "chosen people" and the territory comprising the present State of Israel. But there should be a consensus with respect to our obligation to appreciate, in a spirit of repentance for past misdeeds and silences, the factors which gave birth to the State of Israel and to give prayerful attention to the circumstances that bear on the search for Jewish and Arab security and dignity in the Middle East.
But I'll sgree a replacement theologist remains a replacement theologist.

2. Of course I know they'll hope to convert us when yushkie comes back. Although we will still be the Am Cohanim of xtians. Meanwhile the replacemet theologians want to convert or boycott us now. I'll take them as friends. They visit Israel more than reformers that cancelled official tours during the intifada. Also, if they were as powerful 65 years ago as they are now, many Jews would have survived. Thousands would have joined the rabbis march on DC, while good Jewish libs would still have been quiet.

3. See #1. But you would then agree all the coalition building and interfaith with them has been for naught.

4. Total non sequitor. But Farrakhan is correct when his ilk says that the NAACP had been Jewish dominated. Nevertheless if all the Shwermers and Goodmans-or their parents- had put as much effort in joining my grandparents in the Bergson Group maybe FDR would have acted. American Jews are great at producing civil rights marchers but bad at producing holocaust marchers. Moreover the struggle for Soviet Jewry was dominated by the children of Holocaust survivors , not by the children of those who were disgracefully indifferent.

5. Even chareidi non zionists visit , live and reproduce far greater than non-ortho. Unfortunately reform Jews are more likely to intermarry than even visit Israel, and NYC Israeli Day parade is an Ortho convention. Yes many on JCC boards are non-observant , but represent a dying demographic. Non observant Jews are more likely to have a gay child than an oleh. Is this good-no. Do I like it no. But its a trend line.

6."Orthodox Judaism does not take a stand on abortion, " are you serious. we are not aws strict as the Catholics - we don't equate moral equivalence, but there is halacha. What bothers me is that there are so many Jewish single issue pro-abortion voters that are far more concerned with abortion rights than Israel. There are Jewish womens organizzation which are just a NARAL front. These are the same type of people that during shoah were more interested in the New Deal than saving Jews. Or as Hillel Kook said" too many Jews were more interested in gettting into WASP country clubs than saving Jews. Oh and if Hillary gets elected and appoints several pro life justices cementing for all posterity RVW, I don't think the Jewish liberal abortion activists will breathe a sigh of relief and go back to being fervent zionists and frummies.

Anonymous said...

You must be kidding! Do you understand the support of AIPAC and the some of the largest funds for Israel in the world (all by non-orthodox jews) It is not a statement against Orthodoxy in general, it is a statement for the fact that it is worthless to say that Orthodox Jews somehow give more support.

Orthodox Judaism is divided between Modern Orthodox support, but rationalism (like the author in my opinion), religious zionist settler insanity, yeshivish neutrality, and ultra-orthodox anti-israeli stances.

Please go to a place like the main Satmar shul in williamsburg and see how much they like the israeli flag!

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