"Churches and Societies in the Baltic Area on New Threats
of anti-Semitism"
A mini-consultation in Warsaw 16-19
October 1999
Theobalt, a network of churches
in the Baltic region for common reflection and the sharing of experiences
regarding their roles in their societies, meets every third or
fourth year.
In between gatherings of the full participation of the churches
in the nine countries around the Baltic Sea, initiatives can be
taken to call smaller consultations or meetings on specific issues
of concern to one or several chutes within the region.
In October 1999, 16 - 19,
a limited number of Church representatives and experts from the
region were asked to come to Warsaw for a first and tentative discussion
on new signs of anti-Semitism in the societies of which the Theobalt
churches are parts. The Diocese of Visby on Gotland - the
island in the middle of the Baltic sea - from where the Theobalt
network is hold together and the Office on Interreligious Relations
within the World Council of Churches were responsible for the planning
and the set-up.
Experiences from within the Baltic context
As the participants more
or less, and in one way or the other, had insights into the problem
that was to be faced through personal experiences or through the
experience of their churches and their societies, there was from
the beginning a rich input.
During a first session, such experiences were shared.
It soon became clear that the "New Threats of anti-Semitism"
were of two kinds.
The first kind has to
do with common decency in a society in so far as anti-Semitism
is part of a pattern where scapegoats for societal or personal
failures are sought in a simplistic way. A hatred of that which
is different is cultivated.
As there is a long tradition, not least within the Christian societies,
to blame the Jews for what is wrong, financially, morally etc.,
this attitude easily comes to the surface, particularly in times
when the society is in turmoil. Jews, then, are seen as leading
within the financial circles. Jews are responsible for moral depravation
through films, music, theatre etc.. Jews are looked upon as a
poison within the society.
But those who see through these simplified stereotypes understand
that it is in fact rather this kind of anti-Semitism that is a
poison to the societies, a kind of evil growth that produces evil
fruits in a wide range of phenomena:
neo-Nazi ideas, xenophobia, violence such as the desecration of
Jewish burial yards and threats to and even murder of people who
publicly speak or work against the spread of anti-Semitic propaganda.
The other kind of anti-Semitism
is of a more subtle kind and therefore more difficult to come
to terms with. It is the anti-Semitism that has its origin in
the anti-Judaism that has its roots in the Christian faith tradition.
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The tension between a traditional Jewish faith stand - based on
Moses Sinai and the Law - and the Christian - built on a new covenant
in the name and blood of Jesus, the Christ and on the imitario
Christi - certainly is there already within the New Testament
writings. But in that case not related to race or nation or anything
else that separates a Jew as a human being and an image of God
from others.
However as the Christian
tradition has developed over the centuries. There are expressions
and phrases in prayers, hymns and liturgical passages as well as
in popular piety that has changed from this in-built tension between
Jewish and Christian faith claims into a general anti-Jewishness
which then again easily links to anti-Semitism.
When churches are faced with questions regarding their liturgical
praxes or theological thought-patterns there are two ways of reacting.
Either there is a defensive attitude, saying that this is part of
the revealed truth and therefore not to be given up.
Or, there is an awareness of the dangers to the faith and to the
sobriety of the society in some of these traditional expressions
and consequently willingness to exchange them for more sound, biblical
and healing wordings.
Historical research and proven facts
During a session with
a historical perspective on anti-Semitism in Christian dominated
areas in Eastern and Western Europe, it became ever clearer that
although they are intertwined, it is necessary to make a distinction
between anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism.
The antagonism between Christian and Jewish truth claims is one
thing, which can lead to and regrettably often leads to an anti-Jewish
attitude and vice versa an anti-Christian attitude.
But it seems that it is when nationalist, ethnic and other
societal concerns are mixed with a need for someone to blame,
a scapegoat, that things easily develop into anti-Semitism
in the sense that it is the Jew as a Jew who is a threat to the
societyand to societal orders.
Also, it seems a historical
survey makes it important to differ between anti-Semitism from
above and anti-Semitism from below.
Before the disastrous events in Europe in the 20th century, particularly
so in its central and eastern parts during the Nazi époque and
the phenomenon of Holocaust, there often was an anti-Semitism
from above. Governments, politicians and public persons could
use the Jews as scapegoats to be blamed for things that had gone
wrong in terms of finance, morale or societal orders.
Now, after the Holocaust – governments, churches, political parties
have made it a point to speak up against anti- Semitism in all
its forms as evil and a threat to the society. Officially there
is no defence for anti-Semitism or anti-Semitic tendencies.
What seems to be a breeding
ground for new forms of anti-Semitic propaganda and actions is
an anti-Semitism from below, from the streets in the form of wall
scribbling, various types of popular publications and newspapers.
Surveys of the present situation in the countries around the Baltic
Sea gives the picture of a kind of creeping anti-Semitism in underground
circles, nurturing the idea that there is a "plot" against
the old good society. In such a mysterious plot there are said
to be several suspect components, The European Union, NATO, the
Western world in general etc. and among them often "the Jews".
In some of the countries
on the eastern side of the Baltic there is a specific problem
in that people does not know the Holocaust phenomenon as a historical
event and fact in general. It has not been part of the curricula
of the schools in the universities and not even in the theological
institutions in spite of the fact that the history of the people
of Israel is studied.
The truth is not revealed to those who ought to know.
Therefore the link between anti-Semitism and the death camps is
not known nor the link to xenophobia in other directions than
the Jews.
A specific problem in societies
where there was, or is, a substantial Jewish population is that
it might be pointed out that there were, or are, many Jews in the
top communist leadership, among the top bankers, leading artists,
film producers etc.
In such a perspective anti-Semitism often seems to have its ground
in sheer envy. Again, this is no reason for giving a bad name to
Jews in general as if there was something wrong with their very
nature.
Church documents
A session on the public
church documents on anti-Semitism showed that many churches had
tried to come to terms with their history in this respect and
the history of their societies.
The first assembly of the World Council of Churches in Amsterdam
declared that anti-Semitism is a sin against God and man. The
motifs for that statement might have been mixed, but it
stands as a starting point for hard work within many member churches
on the relations to the Jewish people.
The Roman Catholic Church, after having wrestled with its
heritage, found a way to see things in a different light during
the Second Vatican Council. The document Nostrae Aetate has
been followed by several official writings to clarify the church
teaching which has led to public actions to stress that there
is a specific relation between Christians and Jews in the search
for truth, but that it should not be expressed in enmity
but friendship.
The Patriarch Alexis of
Moscow in a speech in New York took a clear stand against antiSemitism,
which gave a signal in the Orthodox context on the importance
of the issue.
The ecumenical bodies, The World Council of Churches and
the Lutheran World Federation have worked out substantial
documents to be studied in the member churches.
Thus there are documents and statements, in which past mistakes
and dangerous interpretations regarding the relationship between
Christian and Jewish faith claims are pointed out and the
way ahead to avoid stereotypes. General anti-Jewishness
and anti-Semitism in particular is lined out.
Several churches have applied such theological and
historical insights to their own context in public documents.
Others are still working or a clarification of their stand while
some churches have not said anything in clear wording.
For the sake of clarifying
the Christian position, there was a strong wish among the participants
that the churches of the Baltic region - in view of new threats
of anti-Semitism - should be of service to their societies by stating
publicly their stand in principle on anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic
propaganda.
As long as it seems unclear what the official line of a country
is, the reputation of that country is at stake and the country as
such and its citizens easily get a bad name.
The churches, particularly
so if they do it together in a given context, can take a lead
and thereby not only reject open anti-Semitism but also the
evils that follow in the wake of anti-Semitism such as caricatures
of disliked neighbours, xenophobia in general, acts of violence
towards minorities and an anthropology which sees "the image
of God" only in people of one's own ethnic group, race, nation
etc. and not in "others".
Suggestions for the future
As for concrete suggestions the Warsaw meeting saw the following
tasks and possibilities:
1. To emphasize the area of education so that a new
generation in the societies is informed about what is at
stake when anti-Semitism creeps up from underground attitudes or
comes in from the outside and to provide knowledge about what has
happened within the European context when it comes to anti-Semitism,
and particularly the Holocaust which took place over a wide area
within the Baltic region.
2. To link persons and groups within the region who are counteracting
such ideologies and thought patterns which lead to and stimulate
anti-Semitic acts and propaganda and to encourage personaI testimonies
from inside the region and the milieu in case, in order to
avoid that its seems to be an imposition and interference from outside,
from abroad.
3. To search for ways to make scientifically researched books
and substantial articlesavailable in local languages and to support
historians and theologians who can write on relevant themes from
within their contexts.
4. To encourage an inter-Christian wrestling with the anti-Semitic
problem as it turns up within official or semi-official circles
or simply in the margins of the Christian faith tradition and to
explore certain themes that might provide an opening, for
example the theme of suffering in Jewish, Christian and general
humanistic thinking.
5. To support and when possible participate in the reflection
and study process on the issue of Jewish-Christian relations - historical
and actual - that has begun in Latvia and to encourage an attempt
to gather those who are involved in church education in St. Petersburg
for an ecumenical reflection process of the same kind.
6. To contact those who are responsible for homepages on the
Internet on Christian-Jewish relations to see to it that there are
references through links from anti-Semitic entries on the
net to sound and scientifically researched material in their own
homepages.
7. To explore the possibility to connect centres, places and
key persons within the Baltic area for a joint study, preferable
inter-confessional, on old and new forms of anti-Semitism and their
effect on the political and spiritual climate and on the basic value
systems of the societies around the Baltic Sea.
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