By Bill Leonard
In a diatribe entitled, The Jews and their Lies (1543), Protestant Reformer Martin Luther offered German Christians his shocking recommendations for dealing with what he called that “miserable and accursed people.” The list was long and violent, including a declaration “that one should toss out these lazy rogues by the seat of their pants,” and “then eject them forever from this country.” He urged Christians “to set fire to [Jewish] synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom.” Luther insisted that Jewish homes be burned, their “Talmuds” confiscated, and “their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb.”
His callous treatise became a proof text for later, brutal pogroms against Jews. It remains a tragic stain on the Reformer’s reputation.
The “land of the free and the home of the brave” is no stranger to anti-Semitic invectives. In 1862, the city council of Thomasville, Ga., banned all Jews from the town, charging them with “profiteering” during the Union blockade of the city. In nearby Savannah, a newspaper editorial denounced the ordinance as evidence of “the barbarism of the Inquisition and the persecution of the Dark Ages.” That did not stop North Carolina clergyman Arthur T. Abernethy from committing a double bigotry in asserting that “the Jew” was “the kinsman and descendant of the Negro.” (See The Jew and the Negro, 1910) For the Rev. Abernethy, the best way to get rid of Southern Jews was to link them with the South’s most despised race.
Early American Baptists were objects of similar reckless rhetoric. In his 1767 journal on The Carolina Backcountry, Anglican pastor Charles Woodmason described the “Absurdities” of the people called Baptists as so gross “as wou’d shock one of our Cherokee savages,” noting: “And was a Sensible Turk [Muslim] or Indian [Hindu] to view some of their Extravagancies it would quickly determine them against Christianity.” After observing the “Nudities” of their immersion practices, Woodmason concluded of the Baptists: “It must give Great Scandal and Offense to all Serious Minds thus to see the Solemn Ordinances of God become the Sport, Pastime and Derision of Men.” He hoped the sect would die on the vine.
In 2015, Franklin Graham, another North Carolina clergyman, commented that while he ”loves Muslims” and “works with Muslims,” “for some time I have been saying that Muslim immigration into the United States should be stopped until we can properly vet them or until the war with Islam is over. Donald J. Trump has been criticized by some for saying something similar.” Graham, who frequently speaks of the “persecution” of Christians in the United States, insisted that Islam is incompatible with American values, and that the government might find it necessary to close certain mosques to protect the populace from danger. “We might have to at some point. I don’t know,” he said.
Similar rhetoric came from certain prominent Baptist contexts. The Washington Post recently reported that Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., encouraged students to secure concealed weapons permits enabling them to carry guns on campus. Cheers echoed from the student-mandated-Friday-chapel-service when Falwell declared that if victims of Muslim shooters in San Bernardino, Calif., “had what I have in my back pocket now,” (a .25 caliber handgun), they might have survived.
Falwell added: “I’ve always thought that if more good people had concealed-carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in … killed them.” The university president concluded: “I just wanted to take this opportunity to encourage all of you to get your permit. We offer a free course. Let’s teach them a lesson if they ever show up here.” (Falwell later said he was referring only to militant Muslims.)
Yes, militant, apocalyptic, violent segments of Islam are wreaking havoc across the world, using their own religious rhetoric to justify brutal actions. Such radicalism inspired the California murderers to desert their 6-month-old child while killing or maiming their neighbors at a facility for special needs persons. Actions must be taken to protect citizens from such religion-inspired atrocities.
Yes, the global “witness” of Islam itself is continuously sullied dramatically by those who cry “God is great” while they slaughter innocent ones with AK-47s. But surely we Christians can tame our own radical rhetoric and refuse to sully our own witness by reinforcing the “language of crusade” that groups like ISIS utilize. Arming business or biology majors is no solution; nor is demonizing an entire religion as incompatible with “American values.” The reckless rhetoric of Luther, Abernethy, Woodmason, Falwell and Graham is a danger for all of us who “name the name of Christ” but often “miss the mark.”
This Advent, the message of the Prince of Peace is not a mere truism. It is a door to God’s New Day in the world. Let’s enter it with commitment, determination and curbed tongues.