Anti-Semitism--2017 Style

photo by Corrie Ten Boom / flickr

The great Baptist preacher Carlyle Marney used to say, "Boys if they ever hear Jesus was a Jew we're gonna be in bad trouble." I thought about these words this week when I watched the events taking place in Charlottesville. Strange and very sad. Alt-Right...Neo-Nazis...KKK...Racist skinheads...Neo-Confederates...Christian Identity...White Separatists. Some carried all sorts of flags. Confederate...several different German Nazi flags. They marched with torches which was a troubling reminder of the Hitler days. 

Supposedly they gathered around a Robert E. Lee statue which the city had promised to remove. Wonder what Robert E.Lee, lover of Virginia would have said about what was taking place in his state. I think we all know.

The Southern Poverty Law Center tells us that there are 917 hate groups currently operating in the United States. Scary indeed.

Word from the White House is weak and confusing. There is a vast silence from our elected officials in Washington. What would it take for those officials to stand and say: "Enough! This is not who we are."

The world must look at us in shock and horror. We must set the record straight. One of the most embarrassing comments of late came from Steven Miller, Senior Policy Advisor for the White House saying Emma Lazarus' words on the Statue of Liberty were not there from the beginning but were added later. As if these words really do not matter: "...the tired...the poor...the huddled masses yearning to be free...the wretched refuse...the homeless...the tempest-tost..."

This is a moment of truth for us as a country. We must ask again--what kind of a people make up America. And if we decide the words of Emma Lazarus are really true--if we believe that the words of our Pledge of Allegiance still hold: "liberty and justice for all..."--then we must raise our voices, use our influence--do whatever we can to make everyone know what kind of a people we are. 

Maybe Mr.Trump and his minions should leave the Golf Courses or the White House and wander over to the Holocaust Museum. I wonder if the President has ever been there. If he--they--did go how could they not possibly be moved by the mounds of glasses, clothing, shoes--suitcases left behind by some of those over 6 million that were killed simply because of who they are.

We Preachers need to remind our congregants that this Jesus we say we follow was a Jew and begin once again to unpack all that means for us and for this country. 

Dear God--please bless America!

photo by jinjian liang / flickr

--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com