By the Rev. Scott M. Kershner University Chaplain
Things are happening so fast in our cultural and political world; it’s easy to be overwhelmed.
But never has it been more important to know what you stand for.
I am profoundly troubled by the cultural ugliness that seems to be more and more on display, like racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and sexism. So many of our friends and neighbors feel vulnerable and under threat.
This is a point that is hard for people who are from the cultural majority to understand. Non-majority folks feel a vulnerability others of us will never know.
Did you know that there have been over 100 bomb threats to Jewish synagogues and community centers in 2017 alone?
Can you imagine if 100 churches had received bomb threats in the past two months? Can you imagine if you were a Christian and lived in a small minority within a larger culture and your church was the place where your identity and religion where nurtured? Imagine your small Christian community was the target of 100 bomb threats in two months. How would that make you feel?
If you can imagine your way into those questions, you begin to understand what Jewish people are feeling right now.
Anti-Semitism is a cancer, and as a Christian I feel particular responsibility to confront and renounce it, because it has been so shamefully entwined with Christianity for so long.
It is a betrayal of everything Christianity ought to stand for.
The more Christians confront anti- Semitism and stand in solidarity with our Jewish neighbors when they are targeted, the more we discover an authentic Christianity.
Dating back to ancient times, Jews have wrongly been accused of killing Christ. We must renounce this as both historically false—the Romans crucified people as tool of political domination— and theologically pernicious.
In addition, as a pastor in the Lutheran tradition, I cannot ignore the horrible things Martin Luther said about Jews at the end of his life. I believe Luther’s teaching about God’s grace and love are an enormous source of spiritual power. However, what he said about the Jews in 1543 in an essay called “Against the Jews and Their Lies” is despicable and a betrayal of the goodness and insight of his other work. These particular writings, however much I wish they didn’t exist at all, have had a terrible legacy and were quoted by Nazis.
The sobering truth is that this Christian Lutheran tradition, which I love, has this terrible aspect that must be confronted.
Here’s the thing: no tradition, religious, ethical or philosophical, is without its shadow side. To be a responsible member of any traditions is to take ownership of its mistakes and to fight for what is life-giving and good.
I stand with our Jewish friends and neighbors and renounce every aspect of the Christian tradition that keeps me from standing by their sides through thick and thin.
This basic human solidarity is part and parcel of what it means to be a faithful Christian.
Chaplain’s Corner reflects the views of an individual member of the religious field. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the entire university. The content of the Forum page is the responsibility of the editor in chief and the Forum editor.
