Kacie MarksAny branch of Christianity that calls for the hatred or oppression of a people group is neglecting the most basic and foundational call of the follower of Jesus- to love God and love people. As modern day Christians and friends of Israel, we are called to reject any kind of antisemitism, but especially Christian antisemitism. But in doing so, we cannot reject the very real and long history of antisemitism from professing Christians or deny its horrible effects. While Christians have the privilege of being ignorant to our history of antisemitism, Jews do not. When I traveled to Israel last August, I was shocked to hear Dr. Faydra Shapiro explain the brutal and harsh antisemitism coming form mainstream Christians of the 1800’s and 1900’s. We are not responsible for the personal wrongdoings of our religious tradition, but we are responsible for the effect that this history has on our modern situation. We are called as followers of Jesus to understand the mistrust and suspicion that many Jewish people may have towards Christians so we can build new relationships based on respect, love, and trust. As Paul said in Romans 11, the Jews are loved on the account of the Patriarchs.
