A few years back, I read an article by a former Bible School professor of mine, a messianic Jew. In the article, the man praised the accomplishments of the Jewish people in creating the State of Israel, which by itself wouldn't be so bad I suppose, but it was the subtle (or perhaps, not so subtle) undertone that troubled me. Everything in the article screamed out God made us superior to those Arabs. That's why Israelis have accomplished so many technological advances! While the article never used the words "master race" or "superior race", it might as well have, because that's precisely what the article was suggesting, except that the author went a step further and inserted God into the equation as to why the Jewish people are superior to others.
Okay....this is the point where I should probably keep my big mouth shut.
Must. Stop. Typing.
Must Stop. Typing.
I. Can't. Help. Myself.
Will. Be. Logged. In. Cyberspace. For. Eternity.
I may be an idiot for putting this out there, but............
Isn't that what the Germans believed in the 1930's, that they were a master race genetically superior to others?
While I would never equate Zionism with Nazism, should it really be off limits to raise moral concerns when (some) Zionist Jews and (all) Christian Zionists use terms like "special" and "chosen" to describe the Jewish people today, and then boast about the Jewish people's superior intellect and technological capabilities, plus inserting God and genetics into the mix as the reason for their superiority? How is that any different from other groups of people that thought virtually the same things about themselves? White settlers in America, white South Africans, Spanish conquistadors, pre-World War II Japanese--all of these groups of people thought the same thing about themselves and no serious historian or moral thinker today would judge that belief a good thing, and yet it seems like any time a person raises this issue as it relates to the Jewish people, they're immediately slapped with the charge of being anti-Semitic. Is it really anti-Semitic to entertain the thought that it might not be a good idea for any group of people to think so highly of themselves?
Rant over.
While I don't necessarily endorse the write-up at the end of the video below, I decided to post this because whoever made this video raises important issues about the moral implications of any group of people believing that they are genetically superior to others....and/or have a God-given mandate to rule over others deemed "inferior."
This article originally appeared on Middle East Experience
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