Fort Leavenworth anti-Semitism?
In the “don’t believe the hype department” from the Jerusalem Post, which titled the article “US army faces anti-Semitism allegations”.
The link to the article is here.
In a nutshell, Christian Bible-study lessons on the post chaplain’s portion of the Fort Leavenworth website included materials that “blamed Jews for acts of terrorism, including the crucifixion of Jesus and the persecution of other early Christian leaders, said Michael Weinstein.”
Fort Leavenworth has already pulled down the questionable content, and will issue a statement today. It needs to be said, however, that the action of a Fort Leavenworth chaplain does not, as the headline implies, that the entirety of the Army is at fault, nor is there a prevailing climate of anti-Semitism.
My concern over this issue comes from personal experiences in my travels as a Jewish Lay leader and a variety of encounters with Army Chaplains. In an ALBEIT FEW of those encounters, comments were made either directly to me or amongst each other to the effect that could be construed as anti-semitic. Certainly the fact that the main post chaplain’s office at Fort Leonard Wood (at that time) had no Jewish materials posted in the hallways: only Christian pamphlets, New Testaments and giant wooden crosses and posters of Jesus. This didn’t help their case. Despite the many publicized efforts being made about building bridges between Christians and Jews, I’m concerned that there are still pockets of Christian communities which continue to place the blame of the death of Jesus soley on the Jews. I can’t see that this view will ever go away as long as Christians continue to study and believe with 100% certainty in all of their gospels. If you don’t believe me…take time to listen to a few segments of any local Christian radio station as they review the teachings in Judges, Hebrews, or any of their other favorite readings which “point the finger” at the poor, faithless, lost for all eternity Jews. It’s out there in the contemporary religious texts and teachings…and, I’m afraid, it’s not going away. It’s a spiritual disease nurtured by the current state of our world society: who is better, bigger, more correct. http://www.thejewishsoldier.com