We rarely note secular observances at my church. We do recognize mothers and fathers during Mothers and Fathers Day. (But we do NOT allow those days to hijack our services as so many churches do.) And that may be about it.
But during announcements yesterday while leading Morning Prayer, I could not allow Holocaust Remembrance Day to pass unnoted. For, as I told the congregation, this is personal with me. About half the kids I went to school with were Jewish. And I remember as a youth watching documentaries on the Holocaust and thinking the West has learned its lesson; there will never be a revival of anti-semitism in the West again.
I was wrong. There is a revival of anti-semitism today.
Although I avoided getting into politics in a church setting, and although I freely admit no political party is immune to anti-semitism, in the U. S. it is the Democrat Party that is enabling a revival of anti-semitism. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s appointment of the anti-semitic Congresswoman from Somalia, Ilhan Omar, to the House Foreign Affairs Committee where she will be privy to sensitive intelligence is particularly alarming and outrageous.
As I told the congregation, we Christians should pray as to how to combat anti-semitism in our midst. The best way I can think of is to call it out. The exposure of the anti-Jewish bigotry of the leaders of the Woman’s March took a while to be effective. Nonetheless that organization has now lost much of its power and credibility as several prominent Lib/Left women have disassociated themselves, to their credit.
I think similarly we should be unceasing in calling out those who embrace Louis Farrakhan and refuse to disavow him. I’m talking about you, James Clyburn.
There is more that must be done. But calling out anti-semitism among political and religious leaders is a good start.
Again, it is sad that we in the West have come to this yet again.
