Racism is deplorable

Editorial

We receive countless e-mails at the Jewish Independent and, not surprisingly, most have to do with community-related happenings or concerns. Increasingly, however, more hateful material is being circulated. Having just marked Yom Kippur, it is perhaps an appropriate time to ask ourselves how we can possibly justify such racism, which, if it were directed at Jews, would be considered abhorrent by the very same people circulating these e-mails.

One of the recent missives seems to have originated from the blog israpundit.com. It was dated Sept. 10 – the second day of Rosh Hashanah – and titled, “Anyone who promotes Islam should be prosecuted for incitement to genocide.” It went on to selectively list 14 one-liners from the Koran about “the infidels,” mostly about the need to kill, terrorize or fight them, with some less-threatening statements mixed in, such as “Any religion other than Islam is not acceptable (3:85)” and “The infidels are unclean; do not let them into a mosque (9:28).” (These are direct quotes from the e-mail, not the Koran.)

The missive continues with sections of the Criminal Code that deal with genocide, but the senders obviously haven’t read them. If they did, the irony was lost on them. Here, in this e-mail that singles out Muslims for fear and revulsion were Canada’s legal injunctions against promoting genocide and hatred against an identifiable group.

It is unlikely that most of the senders have read the Koran but, more shocking, however, is that they obviously haven’t read many Jewish religious texts either. If they had, they would have found as many disturbing passages which, when taken out of context and unexamined, would indicate that Jews are equally as genocidal. The most obvious example is the conquest of the land of Israel, as described in the Book of Joshua, the sixth book in the Tanach, which comprises the Five Books of Moses (Torah), Prophets (Nevi’im) and Writings (Ketuvim).

Moses has died and Joshua is now leading the Israelites. With God’s command/blessing, he and his army begin with a siege on Jericho, which results in pretty much everyone and everything in the city being destroyed. Then, when Joshua’s men fail to conquer the city of Ai because one of them failed to heed his commander, that man is discovered and stoned to death. Joshua and his army then successfully take Ai, killing all its inhabitants and hanging the king. When five other kings unite to fight against Joshua, they, too, are defeated and all their people slaughtered; then they, too, are hunted down and killed. Joshua and his army went on to defeat other kingdoms in the region, smiting all of the Israelites’ enemies.

The Torah is very hard on those who would blaspheme God – Leviticus 24:10-16 includes punishments ranging from stoning to death for that infraction – or do anything considered sexually immoral, such as adultery, bestiality and homosexuality (all apparently equally immoral): “For whosoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people.” (Leviticus 28:29) And death as a punishment is not confined to Leviticus: for example, working on Shabbat merits death (Exodus 35:2); anyone who sacrifices to other gods “shall be utterly destroyed” (Exodus 22:19), as will any false prophets be put to death (Deuteronomy 13:6).

The list is long, as it is, no doubt, for almost every religion; certainly, there has been much blood shed and many lives destroyed in the name of Christianity. But one could also compile a lengthy list of instances where loving kindness, forgiveness and other entirely positive aspects are commanded or exhibited in various religious texts. The whole must not be overlooked. When we ignorantly – or worse, purposefully – cherry pick verses or lessons, we are not making the world a better and safer place for any of us. We consider ourselves and/or our religion as superior at our peril.

Many members of the Jewish community have just recited Al Chet multiple times during Yom Kippur services. We have confessed to sins committed intentionally or unintentionally, several having to do with a variation on foul speech, as well as haughtiness, plotting against others and rushing to evil, to name a few. Many will also have the words of the Vidui still fresh in their minds: we abuse, betray, destroy, gossip, insult, mock, oppress, etc., etc. Religiously inclined or not, it would serve us all well to remember that we human beings are an imperfect lot and that, as the saying goes, people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

Since antisemitism is racism against Jews, it’s obvious to most of us why we should fight against it, but there are many other forms of prejudice that should concern us as well. We have felt the horrific repercussions of vilification throughout our collective history. For that reason alone – not to mention our religious traditions, including hospitality to the “stranger” among us, our secular moral compasses, our shared humanity or that it’s illegal in Canada – we should not be actively promoting hatred toward anyone or any group, even out of fear.

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