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March 17, 2006
Finding our own place
Jews live in an increasingly Christian U.S.
LOOLWA KHAZZOOM
San Francisco
While visiting Southeast Asia for half a year, Ellen and David Newman
were deeply moved by the religious diversity surrounding them. "We
saw many practising Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims," David Newman
recalled. "It led us to an even broader notion of many paths."
Upon their return to the United States, the couple not only had
culture shock but also felt hit in the face by what seemed like
a sudden invasion of the Christian right into personal, medical
and educational matters – demonstrated by the highly publicized
Terry Schiavo case, the Pharmaceutical Bill of Rights (where pharmacists
were refusing to fill birth control and morning after pill prescriptions)
and the Kitzmiller vs. Dover case (the battle over a school board
trying to replace a standard biology book with an intelligent design
book based on Christian Science).
All told, Newman said, "It seemed like an America we didn't
recognize. We felt that, as Jews, we needed to be more informed
[about what was happening]." In response, Newman – president
of Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco – approached
the leaders of the Lifelong Learning Committee at his congregation,
suggesting the idea for what became a day-long symposium, Being
Jewish in Christian America, held on Sunday, March 5, at the synagogue.
The day included an historical overview of the rise of the evangelical
movement in America; a panel addressing the evangelical movement's
new overall agenda, shifting attitudes towards women's roles and
their impact on the Supreme Court; a presentation on the myths and
facts about science and intelligent design; an historical overview
of the founding fathers' intentions and motivations with regards
to religious freedom; workshops on the religious right's impact
on national ideology, government and politics, science education
and university life; an exploration of possible common ground between
the Jewish and evangelical communities; and a closing discussion
about Jewish attitudes towards "the other."
The idea, said David Perlstein – synagogue board member and
chair of the Lifelong Learning Committee – was to provide ample
background information on the religious right's influence in America.
"It's giving some perspective on things we're worried about
– church and state, what's going on with Christian fundamentalism,"
remarked conference attendee
Jeremy Benjamin, a professional fund-raiser for the local Jewish
federation. "Especially as Jews, we are feeling threatened.
As Jews, we always feel in a precarious situation. We want to make
sure this situation doesn't threaten the ability of Jews to live
well in America."
One panelist and workshop leader, Rev. Richard Cizik – vice-president
for government affairs at the National Association of Evangelicals
(NAE) – was especially popular with symposium attendees and
found himself mobbed after speaking and during lunch. Participants
seemed hungry for information about the religious right and, as
someone representing the NAE to Congress, the White House and Supreme
Court, Cizik was just the spokesperson they were looking for.
During a morning panel, Cizik asserted that there is a tremendous
amount of stereotyping and misunderstanding of evangelical Christians,
and said he wants to open people's eyes to the diversity of the
movement. "The agenda is no longer just prayer in public schools,"
he said. "We are promoting religiously based dialogue as a
cover through which religious people from different faiths can discuss
issues."
For example, he said, the movement is pushing for justice around
environmental issues and world hunger. For evangelicals, this mission
springs from the Scriptures' command to protect God's creation.
"Today, policymakers don't understand religious traditions;
don't understand that religion can be a solution," Cizik said.
"Through religiously based dialogue, we may even be able to
prevent Iran from becoming another Iraq." Later, he heartily
encouraged participants to, "Join us in our campaigns!"
Though Cizik's arguments were compelling on the surface, said Dan
Weiss, co-founder of the Lifelong Learning Committee, "[His]
statements don't ring true to me, because the fundamental position
and stance of everything they do is to convert everyone to their
beliefs. And this is their way of life. It is behind everything
they do. They are saying, 'There is a way we can legitimize ourselves
to the greater population, then win them over – leverage the
Christian agenda through this platform.'
"I've never heard an evangelical Christian say, 'Judaism is
just as valid a life as Christianity and I'm doing everything I
can to make sure you can always practise Judaism.' I see them say,
'Judaism is a beginner religion, but your way to God is through
Christ.'
"There are code words, like 'Old Testament' and 'New Testament.'
What does that mean? Their bottom line message is, 'You're wrong,
I'm right.' Not, 'We're both right, because there are many ways
to live, and together we can do wonderful things.' "
Challenged with why Jews should join hands with the evangelicals
– considering that Christianity was born out of the rejection
of Judaism and the vilification of Jews, and that the evangelical
movement has a penchant for "saving souls" while feeding
the hungry – Cizik responded that any Jews suspicious of evangelicals
should join an equivalent Jewish movement working on global issues.
"Can we allow human slavery, disease and trafficking victims?"
he asked. The idea, he continued, is to focus on common goals.
"Even if I believe non-believers are going to hell, does that
give me rationale not to work with other faiths on these issues?
An excuse?" he continued. "That would be the worst thing.
There were evangelicals who didn't get involved in the civil rights
movement because Jews were leading it. My father's generation sat
on their hands on one of the most pre-eminent issues of the 20th
century. Defining ourselves by what we're against, not for, is a
prescription for failure."
Still, what about missionaries who offer food and medical supplies
to vulnerable, indigenous communities, at the price of their mass
conversion to Christianity? Why bolster the evangelical efforts
within any given social justice movement? Cizik never gave a straight
answer.
"He evaded a number of key questions," noted Sherith Israel's
Assistant Rabbi Julie Saxe-Taller, "both in his public talk
and in individual conversations. Or rather, he reframed them –
questions which we as Jews are troubled by. He chose answers that
we have the most common ground on. He came here wanting us to feel
good about [evangelical Christians], not to argue with us.... He
knows our stereotype [of evangelical Christians] is pretty bad."
Though evangelicals may take the heat for turning America into a
Christian country, Dr. Paula Nesbitt – an Episcopalian priest,
author and visiting professor of sociology at the University of
California at Berkeley – revealed to conference participants
the more subtle forces that have made America Christian de facto,
if not by law. While the explicitness of Christianity has been removed
from many American ideologies and practices, she explained, the
religion is still an axis around which American life revolves: America
is the New Israel, under God's judgment, and Americans are the new
Chosen People, watchdogs of the world, responsible for taking care
of other societies – thus the rhetoric and moral conviction
of America's foreign policy. These ideologies have been invoked
by the past four presidents in their national addresses, Nesbitt
said. She read excerpts of addresses by Bill Clinton and those before
him to demonstrate her point.
Christian celebrations have been made "user friendly,"
Nesbitt continued, by being referred to as "holiday celebrations"
during the "holiday season" – seemingly inclusive
of other religions but in practice, having no relevance to them.
Nuclear submarines are given names like the Corpus Christi and the
Trinity. American money has "In God We Trust" written
on each bill.
All these elements, Nesbitt said, add up to a civil religion –
a blurring between church and state, Christianity and secularism
that slips by unnoticed – far more insidious than a clear threat
to religious difference. "Assuming unity reduces the integrity
of difference of view," Nesbitt elaborated. "That difference
becomes seen as deviant. You have to take on the whole instead of
part of the whole." In other words, rather than objecting to
Christian influence in America, one has to object to the fundamentals
of American national identity – a far more daunting and isolating
task.
But could the tide be changing? "Bush's addresses are moving
away from explicitly Christian speech," Nesbitt offered, reading
part of a presentation that had what she called "multi-religious
rhetoric." The change, she said, began after Sept. 11: "Post
9/11, there is a new civil religious understanding – with the
theme of diversity. The memorial service after 9/11 had diverse
religious leaders taking part, to speak to the pain of people. Themes
coming out of that are a loss of innocence [and a] recognition of
the inevitability of religious diversity."
Diversity in North America is "growing at an exponential rate,"
Nesbitt added. "Migration poses the question of how we will
accommodate this diversity." In addition, she concluded, "diversity
is growing more radical. People are less interested in being part
of the melting pot than [in] maintaining their identity through
religion."
For the closing presentation, Rabbi Larry Raphael – senior
rabbi at Sherith Israel – shared the historical backdrop of
the Jewish experience in America: Most arrived here, he said, to
escape religious persecution. The upshot of that background, plus
our 4,000- year legacy around the world, is that our attitude towards
"the other" is, "they are either trying to kill us
or convert us."
While the presentation from Nesbitt, Cizik and other speakers from
Christian organizations offered much to chew on, there was little
expression of the Jewish experience within Christian America. For
some, the symposium thus mirrored the hegemony it was addressing:
While there were plenty of opportunities for Jews to discuss Christian
issues, there was seemingly no framework for Christians to process
Jewish issues – making the conference just another trip down
a one-way street.
"When you tell me the topic is Being Jewish in a Christian
America, this is not what I came to hear!" a frustrated synagogue
member, Francine Bondell, blurted out during one workshop. "None
of you have addressed anti-Semitism or the issues like not getting
off work for Jewish holidays. The whole morning was very nice, but
has nothing to do with my life."
"We're getting a lot of background," Perlstein said, defending
the symposium format. "The most important thing is not to have
a session talking about all our gripes. We already know what they
are. We as Jews frequently don't understand that Christians have
many different beliefs.
"Before we can analyze our position in Christian America, we
have to understand what it is and isn't. We get incensed at Christian
ignorance of who we are, but we can't be ignorant ourselves about
Christianity. The founding fathers were Christian, so we need to
understand it."
Loolwa Khazzoom has written for Rolling Stone, the
Washington Post, Marie Claire and many other international publications.
She is working on her forthcoming book, Arabs, Jews and Hip
Hop: Middle East Politics in da House.
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