Rallies accusing Israel of practicing apartheid may be old hat, but the involvement of Episcopal church leaders gave last weekend’s conference in Boston more stature than such gatherings might ordinarily enjoy. The Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts, Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, was a featured speaker at the “Israel-Apartheid” conference, and the Episcopal Divinity School, which trains the church’s future leaders, co-sponsored the event.
Some may see this antipathy to the Jewish state and apparent indifference to the suffering Israel has endured as analogous to the Holocaust years, when most Episcopal church leaders were largely indifferent to the suffering of the Jews in Hitler’s Europe. But it is important to remember that then, as now, there were also prominent Episcopalians who stood up for the Jews.
Vices and virtues of 1930a and ’40s Anglicans and Episcoalians notwithstanding, it’s becoming clear that Episcopalians have a “Jewish problem” these days. TEC takes its cultural clues from the political Left, and the Left has been rapidly becoming more anti-semitic. While this simmered only a decade ago, it has boiled over since Ariel Sharon was elected PM. The rise of militant Islam has also given the Left new hope as an anti-capitalist, anti-American avatar, thus forming an anti-Israel, anti-semitic alliance.
Yes, Anglicans have this problem, but it’s not a religious issue.
Shame, shame shame on you Bishop Shaw.
You should bend your knees and beg forgiveness.
Jeffersonian – On this I agree with you!