Rosh Hashanah and Religious Freedom

This evening I attended a Rosh Hashanah party at the Israeli Ambassador’s house.  There were good food and a good mix of people.  It was enjoyable to see fellow evangelical Gary Bauer there with his gracious wife. Senator Roy Blount of Missouri, a Republican was there.  So was Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, a Democrat.  I really enjoyed meeting 91 year old Max Kampelman, who was President Reagan’s top arms control negotiator.   President Obama’s Chief of Staff Jack Lew brought presidential greetings.

Ambassador Michael Oren, in his remarks, noted U.S. bipartisan friendship for Israel.  And he recalled that in his boyhood he never would have imagined that the U.S. would become Israel’s chief strategic partner, or that there would be peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, or that there would be good relations with the former Warsaw Pact countries plus China.  Last year was Israel’s biggest year for tourism ever.  Israel is now renowned for high tech, and its economy is robust.  Oren also cited surveys showing Israelis among the healthiest and happiest in the world, though he smilingly expressed surprise over the later, since Israelis like to complain.  Although he did not mention it, Israel is on the precipice of an energy revolution, with massive new discoveries of oil and gas.

It is indeed remarkable that such a small country has survived such adversities, including several hot wars, and an ongoing cold war by many of its neighbors who refuse to accept its right to exist for reasons of both nationalism and religious zeal.  Many Christian friends of Israel would call its success providential.  And many secularists might admit it verges on the miraculous.  Sadly, there are some in the churches who persist in demonizing Israel, through divestment campaigns, and comparisons of it to old Apartheid South Africa.

A recent column in the National Catholic Reporter does not demonize Israel.  But in describing global persecution of Christians, it cites at length the recent vandalism attack on a Trappist monastery in Israel by “extremist Jews unhappy with the recent dismantling of two settlements on nearby Palestinian land.”  It also cites several other vandalism attacks on Christian sites in recent years that included nasty graffiti.

The writer admits these incidents haven’t involved any deaths (nor does he cite any physical harm to persons).  And he admits that “Israel remains a fundamentally safe environment for Christians, certainly as compared to most places in its immediate neighborhood.”

But the writer laments the silence about these acts in the West:  “The travails of a handful of Trappist monks in Israel — or Dalit and tribal Christians in India, or Nigerian Christians menaced by the Boko Haram, or the 150,000 new Christian martyrs every year generally — simply have a hard time breaking through the media filter in the West, perhaps especially in the United States, where it’s now all 2012 elections all the time.” 

And the writer warns:  “If the perception is that the West will push back when Muslims harass Christians, but not when Jews do it — or, to take another perceived inconsistency, that the United States will react when Christians are menaced in Iran, but not in China — then the oppressors will rightly conclude that the real concern isn’t defending a vulnerable minority, but scoring political points.”

Unmentioned by the writer is that several Israeli government officials strongly denounced the vandalism against the monastery.  “This is a criminal act and those responsible must be severely punished,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, according to the Jerusalem Post. “Religious freedom… is fundamental in Israel.”  Defense Minister Ehud Barak said:  “This must be fought with an iron fist, and we must put an end to these severe phenomenons that stain the name of the State of Israel.” Ambassador Oren in the U.S. said:  “Israel’s relationship with its Christian community and its unequivocal commitment to the freedom of religion leaves no room for such deplorable acts. On behalf of the Government of Israel, I assure that no effort will be spared to identify and punish those responsible.”

Vandalism against churches is obviously terrible anywhere it occurs.  But it probably is a lot more common, even per capita, in the U.S., where the population is about 80 percent, than in Israel.   Earlier this year vandals attacked a Catholic church in Union City, California, spray painting it with Satanic symbols just in time for Lent.  A cross was toppled.  “Seize the night Satan” was inscribed in Latin.  Statues of Mary and Joseph were spray painted black. 

Sadly, such vandalism attacks in the U.S. that include Satanic graffiti are not unusual.  A dozen churches in North Carolina were attacked last November.  “God is a Lie” and “House of the devil” were painted at one of the churches with racial slurs and sexual images.  There was excrement on one altar.  There was even some anti-Semitic graffiti. A Lutheran church had “666” painted on the door. In South Carolina about the same time, three churches suffered similar attacks, including graffiti saying:  “I am Satan.”   A quick Google search will find dozens of nasty graffiti attacks, sometimes accompanied by tens of thousands of dollars worth of property damage, on churches across America every year.  Probably many more go unreported and are quietly cleaned up.  Sometimes the culprits are adolescents. Sometimes they are older.

We don’t expect the President of the United States or other national officials to routinely denounce these attacks, which would likely only amplify the attacks’ impact.   Nor do we typically portray America as  part of a global campaign against Christian churches.

If a church or holy site in Israel is vandalized, by all means report it and denounce it.   But it should not be elevated into the same status of concern we should have for thousands of Christians who are routinely targeted for murder around the world by radical Islamists. Or the concern we should have for many millions more, under Islamist or communist regimes, who live in constant fear of harassment, arrest, imprisonment or worse.