AMERICA: VICTIM OF RELIGIOUS IDENTITY THEFT

National Prayer Network


AMERICA: VICTIM OF RELIGIOUS IDENTITY THEFT
By Rev. Ted Pike

Several weeks ago, an ultraorthodox rabbi issued an ugly threat to Washington state�s Sea-Tac Airport: either display an 8-foot, electrically lit menorah alongside Christmas trees or face a federal lawsuit.

In a recent press release, the Anti-Defamation League of B�nai B�rith whitewashes such coercion. Ignoring the rabbi's threat to sue, it claims his motives were innocent and high-minded. The resulting "surge of anti-Semitism," ADL says, was the fault of inaccurate information. ADL says the rabbi�s organization, Chabad Lubavitch, only wants the menorah displayed equally with the trees. What's wrong with equal opportunity on religious holidays? ¹

This raises a timely and important question. Religious Jews constitute less than one percent of the American population. What legal rights do they, and other religious minorities, have to demand that their symbols be given equal public exposure with those of Christianity?

Research has clearly proven that America was founded as a Christian nation and largely remains so today. ² Approximately 77 percent of Americans consider themselves Christian. Yet ADL denies that America was founded on Christian principles; they have worked aggressively to redefine America as a pluralist society whose separation of church and state forbids public preference of one religion's symbols or observances.

Hypocritically, ADL doesn�t insist that Israel (the only nation to whom it is loyal) also be so multi-cultural and enlightened. ADL would be appalled if Christian (Messianic) Jews in Israel were granted the right to display crosses alongside menorahs at Tel-Aviv Airport. Sixty years ago, Arab Christians constituted 20 percent of Israel�s population. As a result of massive expulsion in 1948, followed by policies of discrimination and outright persecution, the Christian community withered to about 2 percent. (See, "Christians in Israel: An Endangered Species" and "The Simple Explanation for Mid-East Strife") That is roughly equivalent to the Jewish population in America.

It would be unthinkable for such a tiny minority in Israel to demand equal representation in public display of crosses or nativity scenes. Zionism unashamedly considers Israel�s national identity to be Jewish. Israel is like Spain, Kuwait, or India, dominated by Catholic, Moslem, or Hindu culture respectively. In all religiously oriented nations, the symbols of the dominant ancestral religion are given public and even political preference�except in America. ADL and Jewish media insist that America not exalt its Christian heritage. (See, "Is Dr. Kennedy a 'Christian Supremacist?'")

Why is America so different from Israel? How has a tiny two percent of the American population attained such power that they can demand equal display of their symbols? There�s an easy answer. Even Christians have been trained by Jewish media to believe: "Jews have suffered so bitterly at the hands of Christians for nearly 2000 years, that it�s our Biblical duty to grant them disproportionate privilege in our society." This privilege includes protection from all criticism. Because of evangelicals� apologetic indulgence, Jews have soared to dominate media, business, international banking, and even the agendas of the American administration, House, and Senate. In fact, it is undeniable that high-ranking "neo-con" Jews are primarily responsible for goading America into war in the Mid-East to make the region safe for Israel's further expansion. ³

As a result of such power, Jewish symbols sometimes don�t just enjoy equality with Christian symbols in public, but actual preference. In 1989, a majority of the Supreme Court ruled that an 18-foot Lubavitcher menorah displayed at a downtown Pittsburgh county courthouse did not violate church-state separation, while a nativity scene did. ⁴ The menorah was permitted, while the Christian symbol was removed.

Blind indulgence of Jews has never been Biblical or logical; today, it increasingly threatens both Christianity and our republic. While none can claim Christians now persecute Jews in America, there is a worldwide trend, especially through Jewish "anti-hate" laws, to persecute Christians. In more than 55 nations, ADL/B�nai B�rith hate laws militate against Christian values and silence their free expression. Ensconced in positions of impregnable power, evil Jewish �thought police� possess ominous potential for even greater persecution in the years ahead. (See, "Global Hate Crimes Gestapo Being Created" and "The Real Motive Behind the 'Department of Global Anti-Semitism'")

Judaism: One of Many Minority Religions

Should the Seattle airport abandon America's Christian identity in favor of ADL's "multiculturalism?" Religious Jews are just one of many minority religious sects in America, including Buddhists, Taoists, Scientologists, Native American spiritualists, and Satanists. Members of some of these groups, such as New-Age and Islam, greatly outnumber religious Jews. If Judaism can demand equal visibility with Christianity at Christmas, what keeps these other groups from also claiming "discrimination" if they are excluded? What keeps them from threatening to sue the Port of Seattle next year?

America must stand on a proven fact: despite the ravages of secularism, America still possesses a religious identity. It is Christian. And it is only because of our Christian heritage that Jews and other minorities enjoy the right to freely practice their own religion. Such minorities should be grateful for the Christian heritage to which they owe their freedom, rather than wishing to minimize that legacy.

If public institutions and businesses don�t insist on their right to display Christian symbols, they will actually open the floodgates to discrimination lawsuits. ⁵ In the end, such organizations, out of self-protection, will remove such symbols altogether�declaring all public places to be religion-free, secular zones. This is what initially happened at Sea-Tac last week. This is ADL�s ultimate objective�a society where the uniting force of a Christian national identity has been eroded and secularism alone is allowed.

In Canada, even Christmas trees are being removed from public places! This week, Judge Marion Cohen (Jewish) ordered the removal of a small artificial tree from a provincial courthouse, saying it might alienate non-Christians; as in America, Christians comprise more than 70 percent of the Canadian population, yet activist Jews are stripping even their most innocuous symbols from public life.

Back in Washington state, the Sea-Tac authorities say they�ll consult with the ultraorthodox rabbi and other religious groups about a broader presentation of diverse religious symbols next Christmas. Such tedious and expensive experiments, undertaken to please activist Jews, will inevitably be abandoned in favor of secularism.

How should Sea-Tac authorities and others respond when �God�s chosen people� again demand that America�s Christian identity be denied to please them�on penalty of federal court? Answer: they should respect the overwhelming majority of Americans, who insist that Christmas remain unashamedly Christian.

They should stand and fight.

Endnotes:

¹ ADL Response to the Port of Seattle Decision to Remove Christmas Trees, press release, Anti-Defamation League, Dec. 2006.
² Many Christian/conservative organizations, and especially Dr. D. James Kennedy�s Coral Ridge Ministries, have produced scores of books documenting statements by America�s founding fathers and Supreme Court justices affirming the fact that America is a Christian nation. See also http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine..._heritage.html.
³ See Michael Collins� Piper, The High Priests of War, 2004, Walt and Mearsheimer, The Israel Lobby, 2006.
⁴ County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter (1989).
⁵ No public institution or business should be forced by law to provide display of religious symbols. However, as a goodwill gesture, areas adjacent to major Christmas displays might be allocated for such religious expression. An equitable rule would be that a particular religion should be allowed display in proportion to their numbers in the American population. Thus, religious Jews along with Buddhists or Hindus would be granted about 2 percent of display space each, with Christians allowed 77 percent. On the other hand, such a project opens up the real possibility that homosexual religious groups, Satanists and witches, etc. would also demand space for their symbols, threatening discrimination lawsuits if they were not included. The above proposal, though high-minded, reminds us of the wisdom and relative legal safety of standing by the time-proven standard that Christmas is properly a time to emphasize Christian symbols and values, not every other kind.

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Rev. Ted Pike is director of the National Prayer Network, a Christian/conservative watchdog group.


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