IS ABE FOXMAN A HATE CRIMINAL?
By Rev. Ted Pike
There is now widespread speculation that the three college students
arrested for firebombing eight Southern Baptist churches in Alabama
are Jewish. It's suspected that their alleged arsons were incited by
recent diatribes against the Southern Baptist Convention by Abe Foxman,
ADL's national director.
Were these firebombings more than arson? Were they bias-motivated
hate crimes?
I've found no concrete evidence that the three defendants are Jewish.
There is, however, much evidence that Foxman's many statements against
Christianity and Southern Baptists are inflammatory. They are strong
enough to incite unstable persons, Jewish or not, even to the point
of violence. In countries now under ADL-inspired hate laws, it is a
hate crime to publicly express contempt toward members of a federally
protected "identifiable group." In these countries, Foxman's
written contempt for Christianity could easily make him a hate criminal.
Christianity Bashing by Foxman
How does Foxman show contempt for an identifiable group (Christianity)?
Let's start with his Baptist bashing. Foxman says "to target
Jews for conversion is disgraceful, insulting, and dangerous." He
contends the Southern Baptist Convention is "part of a deceptive
movement ... whose real goal is to convert Jews to Christianity. These
efforts should be stopped once and for all ... the Southern Baptist
leadership continues to show its disrespect and disregard for the validity
of Judaism and the Jewish people." (www.adl.org)
In Foxman's latest book, No Place for Hate?
The New Anti-Semitism,
he says the lies of the New Testament are responsible for the death
and suffering of countless Jews throughout history, culminating in
the Holocaust of World War 2.
"Every annual reading or reenactment of the story of the death
of Jesus in Christian churches ... has been used to justify hatred
of Jews and violence against them, including from Christian pulpits.
Through the centuries, these denunciations have led to countless outbreaks
of violence against Jews, including murderous pogroms ... For almost
2,000 years, Christian leadership drove the spread of anti-Semitism
throughout Europe and beyond" (p. 48).
Foxman believes there is "a direct line from ancient Christian
teachings on Jews and Judaism to the death camps of Hitler" (p.
48). The Christian mission to evangelize Jews, Foxman says, is inherently
anti-Semitic (p. 138).
Could it be that Jewish youths, believing Foxman's words, would burn
down churches in righteous anger? It's easy to imagine, considering
how Foxman paints Christian churches as temples of hate.
For example, Foxman's book says for nearly 2,000 years the Catholic
church has been the "cradle of hatred ... the arch-enemy of the
Jews -- our most powerful and relentless oppressor and the world's
greatest force for the dissemination of anti-Semitic beliefs and the
instigator of violent acts of hatred" (p. 75). He says the Catholic
church has "a legacy of incredible shame and horror" (p.
74).
Is Foxman exposing an "identifiable group" to contempt
-- the ADL's definition of a "hate crime" in Canada and many
other countries? Judge for yourself.
Foxman's Hate Mongering
It probably can't be proven in Canada or Alabama that Foxman directly
incited church burnings. And we don't need to prove it! In his diatribes
against Christians, Foxman lives up to his own definition of a hate
criminal perfectly. Throughout Canada, a growing number of Holocaust
reductionists and Christians have been dragged through the courts and
severely fined for inciting far less contempt for other religions than
Foxman has against Christianity.
In Canada, Foxman's widely circulated book should, under ADL's Canadian
hate law, be considered "hate literature." His writings could
well "incite to violence" overzealous Jews. The Canadian
government could at least ban his books, exclude him from the country
(as they did to David Irving), and filter his internet outreach to
the country, as they are trying to censor right-wing websites today.
All this, of course, would only happen if hate crimes enforcement were
even-handed in Canada -- which it is not.
Real Hate Crimes Do Exist
Of course, ADL's definition of a hate crime is a farce. It is skewed
for one ultimate purpose: to entrap and persecute Christians and those
who criticize matters Jewish.
In reality, thoughts and sincere words are not crimes. It shouldn't
be a crime for Foxman to criticize the Southern Baptist Convention
or for me to criticize evil Jewish leaders.
There does exist, however, such a thing as a bona fide crime of hate.
When, from extreme hostility, one uses government to criminalize people
for expressing their opinions -- and exhausts, bankrupts, and finally
imprisons them -- that is a hate crime of the vilest sort.
Recent examples of such government-sponsored acts of terrorism against
innocent persons are:
• Deportation of Holocaust reductionists Germar Rudolph and
Ernst Zundel to Germany. They questioned the accuracy of the 6-million
figure of alleged Jewish dead. Theirs was a violation of ADL/B'nai
B'rith's German anti-hate laws.
• Imprisonment of David Irving for three years. He also questioned
the Holocaust figures and methods, violating ADL/B'nai B'rith's
Austrian anti-hate laws.
• The 2004 arrest and imprisonment of the "Philly 11" Christians
by ADL's national executive board member, Philadelphia DA Lynne
Abraham. Abraham incarcerated them for 21 hours, threatening each
person with 47 years in prison and a $90,000 fine. By peacefully
witnessing to homosexuals, she claimed, they had violated ADL's Pennsylvania
anti-hate law.
A Higher Court
What would be the verdict of educated and fair-minded persons? Are
Abe Foxman and his ADL hate criminals according to the truest definition
of the term?
The verdict of this court is unanimous.
"Guilty as charged."