Thursday, February 7, 2008
On a New York Times Article
Recently, there was a New York Times article published that had to do with a Vatican Cardinal defending a prayer that asked for a conversion for the hearts of Jews. Jewish Organizations like the American Jewish Committee and Anti-Defamation League were not happy at all about this because there is an underlying message that states that Jews should recognize Jesus Christ as the savior of all men, including the Jews. In this article, the dialogue gives us insight into the identity into the parties involved. Cardinal Walter Kasper defends the prayer on the grounds of he does not feel that any group of people, including the Jews, have any right to tell Catholics (in this case) what is OK to pray for, even if someone might find something offensive in it. It seems too that the Jewish Organizations who protested the prayer felt that their right to believe what they desired was being encroached upon by interpreting a prayer to mean that the Jews must consider Jesus Christ as their Savior. One of the Jewish groups that protested is the Anti-Defamation League, which was established to "secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens." Because one of the main purposes of this group is to act out against discrimination and injustice toward Jews and human beings as a whole, they feel that they are being treated unjustly or in a discriminating way. I, however, do side with the side of the Cardinal for several reasons. First, I do not feel that anybody, secular or religious, has the right to tell any group of people what is OK and not OK to pray for. Secondly, if the ADL was being consistent in their stated philosophy, they would speak out against the rest of the same Good Friday petitions that pray for the conversion of the hearts of non-practicing Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Buddhists, agnostic, and atheists as well as the Jewish to the Truth.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
"There is no pope."
(Gertrude Stein)
Nice response, Shane. Let me complicate the matter a little: I don't think the ADL has a problem letting people think for themselves when there's no potential for harm. At the same time, the ADL appears to search for the crossing of lines that create a basis for hatred or violence (or the justification thereof). The issue here can be perceived as a long-held historical one, where an extremely numerous Catholic population has used these same kinds of underlying beliefs to castigate and even commit violent acts against Jews (and other non-Catholics, admittedly). Think of the blood-libels; the Inquisition; the myth of the Wandering Jew; and the perceived-by-many blind eye of the Catholic Church during the Holocaust. While this prayer barely approaches any of these incidents, it is indicative of the decades of work Jews and Catholics have devoted to creating a society in which the two can live side by side without feeling the other is secretly harboring destructive beliefs; and it possibly indicates the fragility with which these advances are seen, and the slippery slope to which even a little perceived backsliding can lead.
First off, I would really like to read the specific prayers these Catholics are reciting for Jews, Muslims, non-practicing Catholics, etc, as I wonder if the liturgy condemns these non-Catholics for not accepting Jesus Christ in the same way they do, or if the words express hope that the belief systems of these persons will be altered. If the prayers show distaste for non-Catholics, I do not see a problem with that as long as their belief stays within the realm of a religious context. As soon as it leaps into the political scene, however, problems really begin to arise.
On another note, this article got me thinking about why even the most religious Jews do not pray for the conversion of non-Jews. We looked into some basic practices of the Chabad movement and saw that they strive to bring self-identifying Jews to practice the religion more rigidly, and while I believe the foundation of their "movement" is based on the notion of outreach, they do not extend beyond the Jewish community.
I have always considered the different approaches of proselytizing as an essential difference between Judaism and Christianity, but I wonder where this split came from. I believe an overwhelming majority of Jews love their religion just as must as Christians love Christianity. Therefore, why is it that Christians appear to be working harder to convince the masses that "their way" is the "right way?"
Remember, Becca, that many religions hold a "unification theory": i.e., that once the world is united (or united enough) in x religion, the world as we know it will end. Jews have it too. Just look at the "Aleinu" prayer. There's also plenty of aggression in liturgy against non-Jews--look at the Passover Seder's "Pour Out Thy Wrath" prayer, for example.
Then there's the issue of being a minority in most places: there are many stories of Jews taking aggressive lines against non-Jews out of the liturgy for fear that the non-Jewish majority would use those lines as the basis for anti-Jewish action. (Something that's happened many times in Jewish history.) Does one's social status have anything to do with what one can say, religiously?
Post a Comment