How can that
be? – Such will probably be most folks’ reaction to the title of this
essay. Aren’t they the States passing
laws to ban transgender mutilations and abortions, to crack down on crime, to
acknowledge God in some way in public schools, etc.? That is true, and for those good things they
should be praised. But unfortunately that
is not all they are doing.
They are
also granting special privileges to the Jewish people, privileges that they
would not consider giving to Christians, Hindus, Muslims, or any other
religious group. South Dakota is the
latest State to do this. Gov. Kristi
Noem issued the following statement
upon signing an antisemitism law:
Ensuring the Security of God’s Chosen
People
By: Governor Kristi Noem
March 8, 2024
When I was growing up, my dad would
always gather our family together and we would pray for Israel. It was instilled
in me from a very young age that the Jews were Gods [sic] chosen people, that
Israel was the Holy Land, and that we should always pray for them.
I brought those fundamental ideals
with me when I was in the State Legislature, when I served in Congress, and now
as Governor of South Dakota. Supporting the State of Israel and our Jewish
community has always been extremely important to me. It’s important to support
Israel for spiritual, historical, and national security reasons. I am
continuing to stand with the Jewish people by signing historic legislation to
protect them from antisemitism.
. .
. I was very proud to sign HB 1076, a very important bill to combat antisemitism. This bill defines
antisemitism and makes it easier to prove when discriminatory conduct is
motivated by antisemitism. It is an impactful piece of legislation that will
ensure the safety of Jewish people and strengthen South Dakota’s
anti-discrimination laws.
. .
. I hope that more states across
our great nation will follow this example that we are setting here in South
Dakota. It is more important now than ever for our nation’s leaders to stand up
and fight against antisemitism. We must always work to ensure the security of
God’s chosen people.
HB 1076 uses the
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which
includes these
points:
– Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or
stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective
— such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish
conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other
societal institutions.
– Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real
or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even
for acts committed by non-Jews.
– Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers)
or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National
Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the
Holocaust).
– Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of
inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.
– Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel,
or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their
own nations.
– Denying the Jewish people their right to
self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel
is a racist endeavor.
– Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior
not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
– Using the symbols and images associated with classic
antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to
characterize Israel or Israelis.
– Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to
that of the Nazis.
– Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the
state of Israel.
Many of those
lines seem incompatible with notions of free speech, religious freedom,
academic freedom, etc., that the peoples of the States have grown accustomed to. Nevertheless, laws favoring Jewish people
have now been passed in 38
States, the majority of them of the Red variety.
They are no
doubt well-intentioned, believing they are standing up for a persecuted group
of people, but as Gov. Noem shows, they are basing their view on a false
theology – dispensationalism – which proclaims the Jewish people, and not the
Orthodox Church, as God’s chosen people.
And this has
opened the door for the Red States to welcome Antichrist when he comes, for he
will likewise be a great benefactor of the Jewish people. An Orthodox archpriest, Fr. Boris Molchanoff,
notes, ‘According to the teaching of the holy Fathers, the Devil, raising up
Antichrist, will strive to vest his advent with all the signs of the coming of
the Son of God on earth . . . . As the
Lord was pleased to reveal Himself to all men as the Messiah in His triumphal
entry into Jerusalem and its temple, so also will the Antichrist reveal himself
as the false messiah of the Jews, the monarch of the whole world, in the
triumphal ceremony of his entrance into Jerusalem and his enthronement in the
temple which, by that time, will have been restored’ (Antichrist, St.
John of Kronstadt Press, Liberty, Tenn., p. 3).
St. Ephraim the Syrian (+4th century) says that he will
‘valu[e] the Jewish people in particular’ (p. 5).
Fr. Boris
notes further,
. . .
The rest is
at https://orthodoxreflections.com/red-states-are-lurching-toward-antichrist/.
--
Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us
sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!
Anathema to the Union!
