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HEART DISEASE AND ANTI-SEMITISM

by Randy Weiss, Ph.D.

Anti-Semitism is a sin! It is hatred birthed in ignorance. As no one is immune to pain, no one is immune to hatred. I have no doubt but that the sin of anti-Semitism is a sickness of the heart. Many have contracted the illness while in the company of those previously contaminated. Others have been infected when exposed to untreated ignorance. This terminal form of heart disease is known to be an orally communicable social disease, yet, it is not carried in the bloodstream. It is not a congenital disease because it is never present in children below the age of understanding, nevertheless, it is most often transmitted from generation to generation. Left untreated, it is terminal. Love is the only cure. It is hoped that this, and upcoming discussions about anti-Semitism will help to identify the problem, thereby encouraging infected individuals to seek the cure. Society has failed to protect the public health and does not prohibit the behavior that leads to the transmission of the disease. This is not by design, but, rather, by default. In a free society the freedom to love presupposes the freedom not to love. To society’s detriment, anti-Semites have misconstrued the former, only to abuse the latter. They have developed a practice and philosophy of hatred. Christianity, unlike society, is not free. Christianity, unlike society, presupposes that its adherents sacrifice the freedom to hate and willingly commit to love. To Christianity’s detriment, Christian anti-Semites have ignored that fundamental duty of the faith--the command to love. Christianity expresses itself in many ways. Some forms of Christian expression carry the germs of anti-Semitism. Movements within the ancient history of the Church from the Crusades to the Inquisition exhibit violent examples of church sponsored anti-Semitism. More troublesome, modern history has a litany of insidious examples to prove this horrid argument. Some will be investigated in future segments of this column. Please understand and rest assured, I am a Jewish believer in Jesus. I am a member of a traditional synagogue. Three of my sons have celebrated their Bar Mitzvah and the fourth is preparing for this blessed event. Nevertheless, as previously stated, I am a believer in Jesus. As such, I attend Church, worship God against a backdrop of Christian songs of praise, teach Sunday School, and function in the calling of an evangelist and teacher. I report this to insure that nobody misconstrues my attitude. I love the Church and am blessed to be a brother in the body of Christ. This column is presented to inform believers of an ancient problem that has carried the seeds of hatred into our generation. We must work to prohibit the spread of all forms of bigotry. Christianity, the religion of love, must be purged of racism and each deadly strain of viral hatred. Remember, in the final analysis, Christian anti-Semitism is an oxymoron. Let each of us remember that Jesus, our Jewish Savior, came to and for the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24)!

For further discussion on this subject, Dr. Weiss has a revealing new book available dealing with the history of Christian Anti-Semitism entitled, Does Jacob’s Trouble Wear a Cross? For more information, call 1-800-688-3422. For the TV broadcast schedule of CROSSTALK, visit his Internet site http://www.crosstalk.org Please let Randy hear from you. Your comments are invaluable.