See the conclusion of the article above in my footnotes1 and for all the latest details see, Mississippi grand jury issues arson indictment against suspect in synagogue fire (Mississippi Today)
Last weekend, a man named Stephen Spencer Pittman allegedly (and admittedly) set fire to the only synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi,2 a synagogue that was once bombed by the KKK because of the congregation’s support for the civil rights movement.
And he did this reprehensible act of domestic terrorism in the name of Jesus.
You might have missed this news. Even Jesus might have missed it, given how often he is acknowledged by lottery winners, beauty contest participants and people who hit their thumb with a hammer. I love the football interviews. Last night, Will Anderson, a Houston Texans defensive end humbly thanked Jesus for gifting him the ability to pummel Aaron Rodgers for three hours, presumably sending the quarterback into retirement, if not directly to assisted living.
I don’t deny the power of Anderson’s faith - maybe I’m even a little bit envious of it. But we have to take the good with the bad. Anderson is one thing, but Stephen Spencer Pittman, a guy who hates Jews so much that he destroyed their most sacred possessions, their Torah scrolls, laughed about it afterwards, and did it all in Jesus’ name - that’s something quite different, and a bad look for Jesus and Christianity.
According to the Forward, Pittman told authorities that he attacked the synagogue because it was Jewish and he described as a “synagogue of Satan,” according to an FBI affidavit. There is video proof of an arsonist spilling gasoline in the foyer and then starting the fire.
The Forward also reports that Pittman recently launched a website promoting “scripture-backed fitness” and shared antisemitic content on Instagram the day of the arson attack. The Forward article continues:
Social media accounts appearing to belong to a Spencer Pittman in Madison, Miss., a city about 15 miles north of Jackson, and a website registered to Pittman show a deep interest in Christian evangelism and physical fitness. He regularly posted quotes from the New Testament and images of himself exercising or playing sports….
Two days ago he reposted an animated video of a woman seeing a Jewish caricature holding moneybags and exclaiming, “A Jew in our backyard!” before pushing the figure into a swimming pool and adding, “You’re getting baptized right now.” The account he reposted has primarily shared that meme over and over. It was unclear whether he posted the video before or after the arson attack, which occurred Jan. 10 at around 3 a.m.
And there’s this from WLBT 3 in Jackson, reporting on Pittman’s court appearance: Magistrate Judge Andrew Harris advising Pittman of his rights. When asked if he understood, the 19-year-old responded:
“Yes sir. Jesus Christ is Lord.”
His response to the allegation that he destroyed a house of God? Praise Jesus!
So this was a long build up to my question.
What would Jesus say if he knew that someone just torched a place of worship in his name?
I would think this would hit home for Jesus, who spent so many Sabbaths frequenting synagogues in Galilee, who, had he been visiting Jackson last weekend, could well have shown up at services there.
And the corollary to that question:
Will those who represent the words of Jesus speak out with clarity against this hate? And will they speak out against all hate?
This is not a new question. Any number of atrocities have been carried out in the name of Jesus, including the Inquisitions (Spanish, Portuguese and Roman), Crusades, witch trials, KKK lynchings, slavery and most recently, child abuse. All these abominations done in Jesus’ name demand accountability from Christian leadership, even if those acts have no connection to the true message of Jesus.
Pentecostal theologian George Mitrakos writes:
Christianity is defined by the doctrines and teachings of the New Testament, not the behaviors of people who call themselves “Christians” 1000 years later. And we must remember that not everyone who claims to be a Christian is actually a Christian.
He then quotes this New Testament verse:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” – Matthew 7:21-23
So Stephen Spencer Pittman does not represent true Christianity. Neither did Torquemada, or the many leaders of the KKK who were also Christian ministers. But still, it bothers me. How is possible that such distortions of Christianity were allowed to be perpetrated without universal condemnation? Of course, many Christians do and did condemn such acts, just as many Muslims have condemned the excesses of radical Islam and many Jews have condemned acts of Jewish supremacism.
And how can so many Christian faith leaders, especially among white evangelicals, according to Pew, continue to stand out in their support for President Trump? Despite his decidedly unJesus-like behavior, the racism, misogyny, narcissism, greed, dishonesty, and fascism? (I also have lots of issues with Jewish leaders who give a pass to Trump’s cruelty and autocratic goals, but you already know that).
Fortunately, there are cracks showing in that Christian support. Pope Leo has been confronting Trump relentlessly. In December, Christianity Today’s editor-at-large Russell Moore slammed Trump’s “Disgusting, Immoral Behavior” after seeing his unconscionable response to the death of Rob Reiner.3
That’s what Jesus would have done.
So last weekend, a synagogue in Mississippi lay burning, in Jesus’ name.
Christian leaders, do you feel responsible when someone commits a hate crime in the name of your God?
I’m not the only Jew who has been asked time and time again to reflect on hateful acts perpetrated or assisted by Jews, by people like Stephen Miller, Jeffrey Epstein, Bezalel Smotrich4, Harvey Weinstein, even Les Wexner, the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret who had close ties to Epstein.
I feel that shame deeply, in part because being a Jew also means having one’s destiny intertwined with that of the Jewish people and therefore assuming some responsibility for - or at least not being able to completely shake - the bad behaviors of other Jews.
When Bernard Madoff’s scandal unfolded, I proposed that the Jewish community excommunicate him. It came to nothing (except that I was interviewed on Fox and won a Simon Rockower award from the American Jewish Press Association). But the statement sufficed at least to exculpate Judaism - and God - from this crime.
I wish we could excommunicate Miller.
Could anyone who commits a hate crime in Jesus’ name be excommunicated too? I assume Jesus would forgive them, but does everyone else have to?
Madoff, Miller, Smotrich, Weinstein and Epstein are Jews who have done things that I find reprehensible; they have committed a Hillul Ha-shem and I unequivocally condemn them.
Desecrating God’s Name
So what is this Hebrew expression that I just used?
Judaism teaches that we are all representatives of our faith group - which is why we even have a name for those who give us a bad name by perverting the divine name, or more accurately, we have a name for those despicable deeds themselves: we call such actions a “Hillul Ha-shem,” a “Desecration of the Name.” It comes from a verse in Leviticus, “And you shall not profane My holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the Lord who hallows you.”
Examples of such “hilluls” in Jewish sources include stealing, desecrating the Shabbat and gossip.5
The Hebrew root for “hillul“ implies more than a moral desecration of that sacred Name; the imagery is quite concrete and physical. It connotes a piercing or hollowing out. Taking this imagery to its logical conclusion, these destructive actions create a cavity, an abscess that infects everything else around it. The “Hillul Ha-shem,“ rather than being a sacred act, is in fact a hollow caricature of the sacred. The perpetrator dresses the part of piety, but it turns out to be a grotesque disguise. In other words, it’s a cartoon, this caricature, one that renders profane the sacred surroundings and drives a spike of nihilism into the heart of divinity. It drives a hole in the midst of the holy.
These purveyors of death, not journalists and satirists, create the most objectionable cartoons of God. The unfathomable, unknowable God is rendered two-dimensional by their outrageous breach, and through their nihilism, God’s name becomes the greatest victim. It is perhaps the most egregious example of adultery this side of the Golden Calf.
So those who perpetrate terror in the name of God are actually desecrating that name and defaming their faith. But they remain, to the outside world, representatives of that faith simply by the fact of their identifying with it. Bernie Madoff identified as a Jew. His views were as far from mainstream Jewish values as you can get - his life was Exhibit A in the museum of “Hillul Ha-shem.” Stephen Miller, Betzalel Smotrich, and Jeffrey Epstein are “Exhibit B.”
For Christians, Donald Trump is Exhibit A, B and C. He dares to tell the NY Times that “My only constraint is my own morality,” as if he has any moral compass at all.
And by the way, where is the White House statement condemning this REAL act of domestic terrorism, done by a Christian nationalist antisemite? Lots of statements have been released, including one from the Democratic leadership of the House.
The best I’ve seen is this, in an AP article:
“Attorney General Pam Bondi said she has instructed prosecutors to seek “severe penalties,” according to a statement provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi.”
Along with this from Mississippi Today:
State leaders have condemned the attack, and the news also reverberated internationally. Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, wrote on X that she was “personally involved and my team is in touch with the US Attorney’s office locally.” Other officials who publicly condemned the attack include the Democratic leaders in Congress, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
On Monday, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi called on the FBI to investigate the incident as a federal hate crime.
In a news release Monday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi called the attack a “disgusting act of anti-Semitic violence,” but did not say whether federal prosecutors would seek to charge Pittman with a hate crime.
“I have directed my prosecutors to seek severe penalties for this heinous act and remain deeply committed to protecting Jewish Americans from hatred,” Bondi said.
Bondi refused to call this an act of domestic terrorism. I might not have either - yet - but neither would I have used that term for the murder victim in Minnesota.
Nothing from Trump. If there is something I missed, I’d be happy to share it in the comments. But as of Tuesday afternoon, crickets. Did his moral compass constrain him from condemning a domestic terrorist who doesn’t fit his hate profile?
Meanwhile, they are slandering a dead Minnesota mom as a domestic terrorist and are going after her grieving widow.
All in the name of Jesus.
Conclusion of the Jerusalem Post article:
His posting on X
STATEMENT FROM AMERICAN JEWISH LEADERS: SMOTRICH SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN A PLATFORM IN OUR COMMUNITY
As American Jews committed to Israel’s future as a secure, Jewish, and democratic state; to a robust U.S.-Israel relationship; and to Jewish peoplehood that fully encompasses Israeli and Diaspora Jewish communities, we are opposed to Bezalel Smotrich visiting the United States later this month in his capacity as Israel’s finance minister, and we call on all pro-Israel Americans to understand that welcoming Smotrich here will harm, rather than help, support for Israel.
Smotrich has long expressed views that are abhorrent to the vast majority of American Jews, from anti-Arab racism, to virulent homophobia, to a full-throated embrace of Jewish supremacy. To this list, we can now add his endorsement of violence against innocents based on their ethnic heritage.
See Chillul Hashem: The prohibition against desecrating God’s Name (Orthodox Union)
No comments:
Post a Comment