I despise terrorism. It is clear that Hamas, and other groups like them, are evil. I also hate seeing what has been happening to the innocent Palestinian people and the innocent Israelis who have been victimized by violence, terrorism, and ultra-orthodoxy. We can hold all of these concerns in our heads at one time, and for most of us, the hope for peace and an end to the violence is at the forefront of our minds. The troubles in the Middle East, however, are bleeding into our country, and unless we address them directly, we will find ourselves with worse problems than we are already experiencing.
In the last few weeks, three young Palestinian Americans were attacked in Vermont. A teacher and school board member in northern Maryland shared anti-Semitic posts online. Pro-Palestinian protestors chanted “Goldie, Goldie, you can’t hide – we charge you with genocide” outside of Goldie’s deli in Philadelphia. This is nothing new; it has been happening for years, the most virulent recent case being the neo-Nazi, white supremacist march through Charlottesville, VA six years ago. Having attended a Kristallnacht remembrance service a couple of weeks ago, I still have the spoken and sung words swirling in my head. It feels like we are heading toward a new time of pogroms against Jews and Muslims, Israelis and Palestinians. I said it in 2015, and I will say it today; this is how Hitler gained control. He took advantage of a nation whose democracy was crumbling. He convinced churches to support him. He took over the educational systems and burned books. He stoked violence and demonized the people he hated. Not just Jews – Roma, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, among others.
It happens slowly. Our neighbors are taught to be afraid of those who are different from them. Our local governments ignore growing animosity and bigotry. Our teachers become afraid to talk about real history because a loud minority of people in the community – mostly ultra-conservative religious people – don’t want the truth told. Our national elected officials start to talk about bringing God back into the schools and into the government – their Christian Nationalist fake Jesus kind of god – and we take it. Those who are nervous and afraid go along with it – those who are for it get louder. This is where we are now; this is the prequel to the New Kristallnacht. Unless we speak up and tell the truth. Unless we get involved in our schools and communities. Unless we challenge the hateful rhetoric wrapped in the flag and around the cross.
To quote the 19th-century philosopher John Stuart Mill (yes, I made it non-sexist), “Let not anyone pacify their conscience by the delusion that one can do no harm if one takes no part and forms no opinion. Bad people need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good people should look on and do nothing. One is not a good person who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in their name, and with the means which one helps to supply, because that person will not trouble themselves to use their mind on the subject.” If we do nothing, we are to blame. We might as well light the fires and break the windows ourselves.
Prayer – Holy God, this is a troubling time, and we all understand what it means to feel afraid. Gird our loins – straighten our backs – give us courage to stand against evil. Amen.
Today’s picture is from 2015, when an MCC church – Church of Our Redeemer, Augusta, GA – was vandalized.