The piece has a video by Andrew Klavan, who is a Christian by conversion from Judiasm. He's making a much more reasonable point in the video than the pull quote suggests: not that saying "Christ is King" is anti-Semitic, but that anecdotally he's been welcomed by all the Christians he knows except the ones who tend to hang on that phrase. Maybe that's true. He says the priest who converted him warned him that Christians wouldn't really accept him, but that they broadly have done so anyway. That's what I'd expect: how can you be 'fishers of men' if you're always throwing them back?
Definitely I've come to realize that there's a whole lot more anti-Semitism than I ever believed since October 7th. I always thought the Jews were just making the mistake we all make in thinking that other people are thinking about us much more than they are; in fact, people are usually thinking about themselves and probably aren't thinking about you at all. That said, it's been clear since Hamas started its latest round of war that there are a lot of people thinking about, and hating, Jews.
On the other hand, I think our society needs to recommit itself on freedom of religion as well as freedom of speech. I believe several things that would probably be insulting to people of other faiths: for example, I believe that Muhammad was a false prophet and just made the whole thing up in order to advance his personal interest; I believe the same thing about Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. I am likewise pretty sure that Wicca was invented out of whole cloth and its founding stories to the contrary are made up. I think Southern Baptists are outright wrong in their theologically indefensible opposition to wine.
However, I don't oppose you being a Mormon or a Muslim or a Baptist or a Wiccan, and as such I support your right to make whatever declarations go along with that faith. I support you in your practicing the faith that you believe in, and if there are any Muslims reading today I wish you a happy Ramadan. It's not the purpose of my beliefs to insult yours; I just happen to have come to the conclusions I have about these things. I'm free to think what I want and believe what I want and say what I want, and I think it's important as a free man and a philosopher to do so honestly.
So if you believe that Christ is King, you ought to get to say so. Other people can think whatever they want.
At the very bottom of that article is notice of a correction:
ReplyDelete"CORRECTION, March 26, 2024: An earlier version of this article unintentionally mischaracterized two of Klavan’s comments. Those errors have been corrected and the article updated. The Western Journal apologizes to Mr. Klavan and our readers for the error."
Although they’ve left the misleading headline “Watch: Daily Wire Host Claims that Saying 'Christ Is King' is Anti-Semitic, Gets Hit with Major Backlash” up, they do note, as Klavan says, that:
... “Christ is King” simply can’t be credibly used to suggest an unbiblical narrative that God has deserted the Jews.
At the very best that’s a non-sequitur. At the worst, it’s intentional misuse of God’s word, and we know what the penalty for that sort of blasphemy was in the Old Testament.
I tracked down the Andrew Klavan episode on YouTube that the clip came from. In it, it’s clear that he is NOT claiming that saying “Christ is King” is antisemitic. Not at all. He repeats that phrase as truth a number of times, and the name of the episode is "Because Christ Really Is King." His point is that some Christians use the phrase to attack Jews, making it a claim that God has abandoned them, and abusing Scripture for their own ends.
In Klavan's show, the context for this was the Daily Wire parting ways with Candace Owens over some things she's said recently. Here's the episode cued to the segment where he talks about the "Christ the King" issue. He’s chatty, so it takes him a bit to get to the point.
https://youtu.be/dyW3z2F7Y5c?si=WN5DpgahWCWAzPP5&t=1291
I don't follow Klavan or know much about him. I'm not saying he's right or wrong about the broader topic he addresses. But he's clearly NOT claiming that saying "Christ is King" is antisemitic.
His statement that '“Christ is King” simply can’t be credibly used to suggest an unbiblical narrative that God has deserted the Jews' is as mainstream as evangelical Christianity gets. The Jews are God's chosen people. We gentiles are grafted into those Jewish vines.
ReplyDeleteGrim, I grew up Southern Baptist and never understood their issue with wine. Having said that, they did teach me to read the word of God often and that caused me to lean way into the charismatic side of Christianity. Each flavor of Christianity seems to have their strengths and weaknesses so maybe we will eventually remember that we are all one body with Christ as the head. If we could start talking to each other and comparing notes, we might become a force to be reckoned with.
I grew up with Southern Baptists, whom I love. It’s just a thing that bothers me.
DeleteLiterally the first miracle Jesus performed in the Gospels is changing water into wine at the wedding in Cana. He does so at his mother’s request. Now St. Mary gets built up more in some traditions than others, especially in Catholic practices, but in general she’s considered extremely upright and moral. If she wants more wine, how can you say that wine is intrinsically immoral?
I understand that pragmatically the South was very poor after the Civil War, for generations, and that alcohol can be devastating for poorer communities. So I grant pragmatic reasons to preach against drinking, especially in the old days when things remained hard. Theologically, though, it’s just not defensible.
It's a dangerous thing, proclaiming that God has abandoned someone, or some group. It's bad enough that I have been guilty of abandoning individuals or groups, when my instructions to forgive and love are as clear as day. Best I can do so far is work on not nurturing resentment or a desire for the ugly pleasures of enjoying my enemies' comeuppance, even if I conclude I have to avoid some people or even fight them with every tool I possess. Better I should worry about whether I'm giving God reason to abandon me than that I should fantasize about how horribly he's going to treat someone I'm guilty of reviling without a trace of charity or humility.
ReplyDeleteAs for the latent or blatant anti-Semitism around us, it's puzzled me all my life. I didn't even realize it existed for many years, and I find it baffling to this day. Of all the errors I can and do fall into, possibly the last thing I'd do is have a problem with a converted Jew. What would the problem be? Would I be imagining that he inherited some kind of guilt for Christ's persecution that I am not equally heir to? Is he supposed to be unclean in a way I'm not? What is it about?
On the other hand, it's a tricky business, remembering our basic duties to people of all faiths without falling back on a lazy assumption that all faiths are equal. Maybe we should remember that we all essentially fall into two groups: those who profess Christianity, but mostly fall far short of what it should mean in our lives and souls, and those who don't profess Christianity, who also are fallen but suffer under the additional disadvantage of missing an essential truth, like people relying on subpar medicine to cure a real disease. Better no medicine, perhaps, than a faulty one. But it's not for me to impose (or even witness and savor) the misfortune that befalls people who don't get right with God, whether they blow it while ostensibly on the Christian path or on any other path. I'm not given to know what will be done for them or will happen to them. It's daunting enough to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling.
Texan99, anti-Semitism is a spiritual issue, there is nothing else to explain it.
ReplyDeleteFrom a biblical point of view, Romans 11:11-24 explains that the Jews are more easily grafted into Christ than gentiles are.
The command to "Love your enemies" takes a lot of maturity. One that I'm still trying to reach.
A couple of days after my post, Zmirak mentioned that Klavan was aiming his remarks at a notorious Jew-hater "conservative" youth, Nick Fuentes. See: https://stream.org/christ-is-king/
ReplyDeleteI did not look at the Western Journal essay from which I drew that quote again, thus missing their explanation/apology.
Let us recall that while error has NO rights in religion (or in civil society) we must abhor the sin, not the sinner.
The AntiSemitism I've seen seems to come from 1) misunderstanding Scripture, or 2) resentment based on "the Jews are all rich and secretly control the world" foolishness, or 3)references to the Koran and hadith, or 4) the desire to find an easy target to blame for someone's own folly/failings/sheer bad luck. Or a blend of them. Since the blood libel goes back to Classical Greece, perhaps, certainly since the first century AD, we can't blame the Internet for this conspiracy theory, alas.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand AntiSemitism, although I can work through the arguments in a sort of academic way, much as I do with Blood and Soil Nationalism. Part of my ancestry is western European Jewish, so I've been interested in Jewish history for quite a while.
LittleRed1
I have never heard that the phrase "Christ is King" is associated with antisemitism. However, small groups of people can attach themselves to phrases for odd reasons and it is possible that some antisemites somewhere latched on to that one as if it expressed some really important thing that Christians need to keep in mind when thinking about Jews.
ReplyDeleteIt can be a fine line, judging whether to just ignore them as nutjobs or try to strangle such things in the cradle. My sympathies are generally with the former strategy rather than get all breathless like the Southern Poverty Law Center over a few jibroneys mouthing off on the internet.
The Orthosphere has a relevant post today.
ReplyDeletehttps://orthosphere.wordpress.com/2024/03/27/who-is-king/
Dad29, the correction was easy to miss, too, so even if you had looked again you might not have noticed it. They put it down below the article, and with the format of frequent ads between paragraphs, I missed it the first time I read the article. It was only when I went back for a second look that I noticed something below the end of the article and realized what it was.
ReplyDeleteAs for antisemitism, as LR1 says, it's ancient. I've read that it was common in medieval Europe. In fiction, you may have seen it portrayed in Ivanhoe, with the way the characters Isaac of York and Rebecca are treated by some of the other characters.
I've generally assumed it's just been passed down over the generations in Europe.
As a Southern Baptist (baptized Pentecostal ie Holy Roller so, yeah...lol) I have always found it weird that a Christian would attack a Jew. It's not that I don't understand the premise of the attack (high ranking Jews in-league with pagan Roman conquerors-overlords) but Christ was placed on this Earth by God knowing what the final outcome would be.
ReplyDeleteHe was a Jew before there was ever such a thing as Christianity.
I look at the event of His death in earthly tones, as a pure political power struggle. Completely separate from the resurrection of the soul.
nmewn
The Orthosphere's author does not mention "free will" in his jab at Catholics and Christians in general. Weakens his "Satan is King" argument, which was very weak to begin with; Christ is King of the Universe, not only of earth, and how He rules is up to Him.
ReplyDeleteAnd his "wind" thing is laugh-out-loud silly. The Holy Ghost showed up on Pentecost to the sound of a great wind. Would that author compare that wind to the destruction of Job's house, too?
Egads.