Senate Needs to Stop Antisemitism Awareness Act

 

The Antisemitism Awareness Act, passed by the House and pending in the Senate, would withhold funding from Universities that permit or facilitate on their campuses antisemitic activities as defined in the bill. Michelle Goldberg is greatly concerned that the bill, if enacted into law, would empower the federal government to stifle free speech. Certainly, in a society that prizes and has enshrined in its constitution protections for free expression of ideas and beliefs, the right to engage in hateful, offensive and even potentially harmful speech must be respected. However, there is no right to insist that the government fund entities that permit such conduct. The focus here should be on how the bill defines antisemitism. The definition currently utilized does seem overly broad in that it appears to equate criticism of Israel’s government and policies with antisemitism, criticism that squarely falls within the ambit of protected speech. If the definition was narrowed to encompass activities that amounted to discrimination, violence and threats of violence, activities that would be universally condemned, the proposed law should pass constitutional muster and gain greater acceptance.

Antisemitism

 The calumny, that the Jews (thought of as a racial entity from the beginning of time to the present) killed Jesus Christ, is again a topic of controversy. Though that incendiary concept has been proven historically false and, in recent times, has been rejected by the Christian Church and the Papacy, it has persisted through the centuries and has resurfaced now during the debate over the pending legislation condemning antisemitism and outlawing its teachings in American schools.

Assuming, arguendo , that more than 2,000 years ago the people who crucified the man who later became known as Christ, can be identified as Jews, the question presented is why that act has been so viciously condemned and why the descendants of those people have been vilified, rejected and slaughtered because of it.
Putting aside the obvious truth, that it is wrong to punish a person, let alone an entire group, for the “sins “ of a few long ago forebears, an examination of the beliefs surrounding the crucifixion call into question why that act and its perpetrators are blameworthy.
If one accepts the Christian belief that Christ appeared on Earth for the purpose of dying to expiate the sins of Mankind, than those who enabled him to fulfill his mission were instruments of God acting in accordance with a predetermined plan. Indeed, Christ himself is reported to have foretold the happening and asked for the forgiveness of its enactors.
Furthermore , Christians believe that Christ is the Lord and a god cannot die. That he did not truly die is evidenced by his reappearance just days after the event. Thus, one must conclude that Jews did not kill Christ; no one did.