We must call out deicide, demand that Christians stand with Jews - opinion

It is important to stress that antisemitism is a disease that has affected so many different societies throughout the millennia. However, Christian antisemitism is one of the oldest manifestations, even if it is the most contrary to the Bible.

The Christian Scriptures refer to Jews as the “root” and Gentiles as the “branches,” so attacking the root should make no sense as it also affects Christians who obey the word of God.

That is why Christians should welcome with open arms the passage of the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which enjoyed large bipartisan support in Congress.

Unfortunately, there were a couple of Republican lawmakers, specifically Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep. Matt Gaetz, who voted against the bill because it would require the US Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) Working Definition, in which one of the examples appended states that “claims of Jews killing Jesus” are “classic antisemitism.”

Unfortunately, these congressmen have a history of flirting with antisemitism so it is hardly surprising that they would vote against a bill that could potentially demonstrate that Jews have been discriminated against under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Appropriating Christian scriptures

What is outrageous is that they have appropriated Christian Scriptures to defend their unjustifiable beliefs.

The whole question of using these antisemitic deicide tropes and blood libels against the Jewish people should have been consigned to history. That they are alive and well at the highest levels and among decision-makers should shock us all and amply demonstrate why the bill needs to be passed into law.

Nevertheless, alongside supporting the law, there is clearly a lot of education to do.

The deicide charge essentially argues not only that “the Jews” killed Jesus, but also that all Jews should be held responsible in perpetuity. “The Jews” did not crucify Jesus, the Romans did. The Gospels state that Herod turned Jesus over not to the Jewish leaders, who had no authority to crucify anyone, but to the Roman leader Pilate. The vast majority of Jesus’ followers were Jewish, and so was Jesus himself.

Second, the deicide charge is especially pernicious because it attacks the very essence of the Jewish people. It accuses an entire people of possessing a fatal defect, or an inherent trait of evil that cannot be redeemed no matter how far an individual is removed from the events in the Christian Scriptures. This is racism, and Christians should not allow our faith to be weaponized for such a cause.

Moreover, since the bloody massacre of October 7, Jews are being attacked from all sides in an unprecedented manner, online, on university campuses, and on our streets, and we as Christians have to stand by their side and not join in the attacks.

We should stand with both the Jewish people and the Jewish state, especially in the week when we commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day and remember the annihilation of six million Jews, and that many stood by and allowed it to happen.

I know that currently many Jews feel alone and isolated around the world, and it is precisely at this time that we must stand up as Christians. Jews have to know that they can count on us.

We have seen a resurgence of ugly forms of antisemitism, from radical Islamists, from the far Left and the far Right. We have seen conspiracy theories return that have no place in the modern age.

Regrettably, this includes the age-old lie of deicide. 

Christians of all denominations have waged a battle over the last couple of generations since the Holocaust to ensure that this is expunged from our theology.

We thought we had seen the last of it, or at least outside of the extreme fringes of society.

That members of Congress, American elected officials, are using this terminology and weaponizing Christian faith to attack our Jewish brothers and sisters is unconscionable and untenable.

We must call it out, for the security and safety of Jews, but also for the ethical and theological demand that Christians stand with the Jewish people.

There is a moment of reckoning in American society and we have to choose to stand on the side of good and against hate and evil.

We are delighted that the overwhelming majority of congresspeople voted in favor of the antisemitism Awareness Act. Unfortunately, there remained far too many who did not support the bill for various reasons.

To use Christian Scriptures to vote against this worthy and important bill is a dangerous precedent and the majority of Christians who stand with the Jewish people should send a clear message to Reps. Greene and Gaetz that this is intolerable and un-Christian.

The writer is CEO of Passages, a Christian organization dedicated to taking Christian students to Israel and mobilizing young people to support the Jewish state on campuses and in communities across the US, and to stand up against antisemitism.