http://www.jews4fairness.org/leadership.phpGood afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Don Feder and I’m the president of Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation.
Our Board of Advisors include rabbis, academics, authors, scholars, commentators, activists, Zionist leaders and - in one case - an entertainer. We span the spectrum from Orthodox to non-observant, but are united by our determination to answer attacks on our fellow citizens of the Christian faith.
Why should Jews come together to defend Christians?
It’s true that Christians - especially evangelicals - are Israel’s best friends outside the Jewish community (more supportive even than many in the community). But what we have in mind isn’t a quid pro quo. While we appreciate the commitment of Christian Zionists, that’s not what inspires us.
Of course, as Americans, we are deeply troubled by the injustice done to Christians in a country founded on the tenets of Christianity, by believing Christians. It has been correctly observed that, for the elite, anti-Christian animus is the last acceptable form of prejudice.
Every day brings new attacks on Christians. Last fall, four evangelists were arrested for quietly praying at a so-called gay pride celebration in Philadelphia. They were charged with five separate felonies. If convicted, each faced a total of 47 years in prison. The case was eventually dismissed. But the fact that prosecutors wanted to go forward with the charges has ominous implications for the future of both freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
Along the same lines, Christian opponents of same-sex marriage are regularly compared to Nazis.
On college campuses, Christian fellowships are routinely denied recognition for their refusal to accept, as leaders, non-Christians or those whose lifestyles transgress basic Christian beliefs. Thus, Christian students are given a choice - surrender your faith or lose all university support.
A year ago, we were in the midst of an impassioned debate over Mel Gibson’s "The Passion of Christ." Somehow, it was deemed offensive and potentially inflammatory for a Christian to make a movie celebrating his faith. But it was OK for Hollywood to give Jesus a fantasy sex life in 1980s film "The Last Temptation of Christ." Whether or not devout Christians are offended by the blasphemous "DaVinci Code" - now being made into a movie -- seems to concern few outside the Christian community.
In the 2000 campaign, when President Bush said Jesus was his favorite philosopher (in response to a reporter’s question) the avowal was treated by some commentators as tantamount to the establishment of a theocracy. It’s interesting the way the First Amendment’s establishment clause keeps expanding to exclude more and more simple expressions of faith. The Ninth Circuit Appeals Court even tried to take "one Nation, under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance. In its current term, the Supreme Court will decide if Americans will be allowed to display The Ten Commandments in public settings.
News of the election of Pope Benedict XVI was, in many ways, predictable. Coverage referred to the new pope as a "hard-line German theologian." It was said that he even "went beyond John Paul’s conservative theology," was known for his "doctrinal rigidity," and has views his opponents "consider harsh." It was darkly hinted that the new pope adhered to something called "ecclesiastical totalitarianism."
In other words, the 265th pontiff believes in the teachings of the Catholic Church. Stop the presses!
Lastly, regarding the filibuster of Bush judges, Senator Frist has it right: By blocking votes on pro-life nominees, Senate Democrats have established their own religious test for public office, in direct contravention of the First Amendment. In effect, they are saying that if you’re a Catholic, an evangelical or an Orthodox Jew who takes his religion seriously, you should automatically be disqualified from serving in the judiciary. But, then, shouldn’t these individuals also be barred from serving in Congress or holding any elective office? Indeed, shouldn’t they be excluded from all rights of citizenship, including voting? That would seem to be the logical extension of the left’s pro-abortion litmus test.
And this brings us to the heart of the matter: Why does the secular left hate conservative Christians? It’s less a matter of theology than morality. I doubt that anyone in the leadership of People for the American Way frets about Catholics because of the doctrine of trans-substantiation.
It’s because devout Catholics -- and evangelicals -- are opposed to abortion on demand, euthanasia, gay marriage and the panoply of social positions embraced by the National Democratic Party, academia, the judiciary and much of the media, that they have incurred the establishment’s wrath.
Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation was organized because we recognize that Christians are the last remaining obstacle to the moral deconstruction of America, because attacks on Christians are motivated by hatred for the values they espouse.
But the morality of Christianity is also the morality of Judaism - hence the expression Judeo-Christian ethic. By maintaining their loyalty to the eternal values revealed at Sinai, Christians have become pariahs in the eyes of the establishment, but heroes in our eyes.
Finally, we understand that if Christians falter, America will fail - with disastrous consequences for Jews and Christian alike.
Topic: JEWS FIGHTING FOR CHRISTIANS no more DEFAMATION (Read 493 times)