It seems that a Presbyterian pastor is straining under the
weight of his own putrid anti-Semitism. He was clearly and properly admonished
by Rabbi Abraham Cooper and Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein in a Denver
Post opinion piece. The two rabbis quoted first from a snarky Facebook
comment made by Rev. Larry Grimm:
"America is the Promised Land. We all
know this. Come to the land of opportunity. Quit feeling guilt about what you
are doing in Palestine, Jewish friends. Stop it. Come home to America!"
And then they quoted from an e-mail sent to Presbyterians For Middle East Peace:
"I favor the dismantling of
the Jewish nation. By definition this nation is racist. It is as racist as our
American roots were which sought to convert the indigenous population ... .
Before long, the land of the Holy One will not have any indigenous Christians.
Yes, I favor the elimination of the Jewish State."
And Grimm, unrepentant, and still snarky, his anti-Semitism intact,
responded here: Israel
must stop the slaughter in Gaza. But the interesting exchange in all of this was the concerned Executive Presbyter of Denver, Anne Bond, who seemingly tried to put out some fire in her opinion piece “Presbytery of Denver's position on Israel, Palestine.” The problem is that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) doesn’t have any solid ground to stand on concerning their relationship with Israel or the Jewish people.
The answers Bond gives are half-truths. If one adds just another line of truth to each the whole and real truth will be shown. I have a friend who has done just that. I am leaving Bonds quotes in quotes. My friend’s additions will not be in quotes. With her permission are Bonds statements completed by my friend:
· "This vote is one of many actions regarding Israel and Palestine over the past decade”
... because we hold Israel accountable above all other
nations. Even when a resolution is on the table that criticizes another nation,
we find a
way to stick Israel in there.
... while never acknowledging that it was the anti-BDS
contingent that steered us onto the right track there. Presbyterians for Middle East
Peace's assistance in that regard will still not earn them a place at the
table when it comes to naming official resource experts for future General
Assembly Middle East committees. No, we will continue to rely
on the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation for experts.
... because the B and the S of BDS were already enacted with
passage of 15-02 at the 220th General Assembly.
... Yes, let there be no confusion. When we point to Israel
more than all other nations combined and culminate with divestment from three
companies doing business with Israel, we have no choice but to make the extra
effort to keep our membership from thinking we’re going after Israel yet again
with divestment.
Even though we struck out the call for a negotiated
two states for two peoples solution (see Sec 2 of
04-04), which allows us to abide by the Palestinian Authorities’ version of
the two-state solution, we still technically affirmed the two-state solution.
As for the next GA? Meh, not so much.
I return to my posting. The inability of Presbyterian officials to say what this person or that person said is heinous is part of the problem. That is why the PC (U.S.A.) is peppered with anti-Semites such as Grimm. Instead the party line is always given without further comment and the party line, as I have stated, is full of half-truths.
2 comments:
Some of the stuff posted on the "Happy to be a Presbyterian" facebook page is pretty questionable as well ... one reason I never joined.
John Erthein
DeFuniak Springs, FL
Yes, they are part of the problem of anti-Semitism.
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