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| Brad Blog July 16, 2007 |
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| Monday, 16 July 2007 | |
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Brad Reacts to the New York Times, “Call to Punish Polish Priest for Anti-Semitic Remarks.”
Sadly, that Polish priest and influential media powerhouse, Rev. Tadeusz Rydzyk hates Jews, is not news. His long track record of anti-Semitic thought is well known to audiences across Poland and beyond. Coming from a culture of confession, Rev. Rydzyk should appreciate the sacredness of all speech. The fact that he claims his most recent rantings were recorded without his knowledge is entirely irrelevant. Moreover, the claims that the tapes on which he was captured decrying both money hungry Jews and the wife of Polish President, Lech Kaczynski, were tampered with is further evidence of his sense that anything connected with Jews is subject to the kind of conniving which is central to the beliefs of all those who hate Jews and assume a kind of mythic evil power of Jews’ ability to manipulate the world and those in it.
All of this points to the need for a serious and speedy response by both the Catholic Church and the Polish government. In fact, the reaction of these institutions to Rev. Rydzyk is more important in the long run than the hatred and conspiracy theories of this one priest. There have always been, and will always be, people who peddle religious hatred. It is the duty of those under whose authority they labor, to stop them. Correction must come from within the community which manifests the problem for the solution to be meaningful and long lasting. Jewish reactions, including this one, may shame Polish or Catholic leaders into acting, but acting out of shame or embarrassment is far less potent that doing so out of the deep conviction that Rydzyk’s hatemongering violates the best traditions of their own communities. Therefore, as a Jew, I am far more concerned about Rabbis Marvin Hier’s reaction to this entire affair. Like Rydzyk, Rabbi Hier is a religious leader with enormous influence through his regular media appearances, and is known to speak out regularly in the name of both the Jewish people. The founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and a tireless advocate of tolerance and decency for all people regardless of race, religion or ethnicity, he has perpetuated the hatemongering by calling Rev. Rydzyk “a sort of Goebels with a collar.” If Rydzyk is Goebels, then who is Hitler? Does Rabbi Hier really believe that the goal of the Catholic Church is to rid the world of Jews? Over one million Poles were murdered by the Nazis along with three million Jews. The analogy is uncalled for and the rabbi owes an apology for having made it for many of the same reason that he demanded one from Rydzyk. Ironically, the two men are alike in other ways as well, though I doubt either of them recognizes it. Each uses the symbol of evil most likely to draw out the ugliest responses in their intended audiences. To the extent that Polish anti-Semitism persists alongside growing Polish fascination with Jewish history and culture, and it does, Rev. Rydzyk seizes on the almost mythic fear of “the Jew” to inflame audience and inspire an angry faith that is just waiting to lash out at its enemies, both real and imagined. Likewise, Rabbi Hier uses the specter of Nazism and all of the fear and rage to inappropriately inflame audiences with a call to action that makes no distinctions between any bad acts or actors. He creates a moral equivalence which is both dangerous and unfair. The use of purposefully inflammatory rhetoric designed to grab headlines, rather than address a real issue within the Catholic and Jewish communities is a failure on Hier’s part, as is the use of such rhetoric by Rev. Rydzyk. It is up to the members of each community to monitor all community leaders and guarantee that we have fewer of these incidents in which firing the passions of the faithful is accomplished by fueling their fears and feeding their suspicions. We’ve all had enough of that, or haven’t we? How we respond at moments like this, will tell. |
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