Abe Foxman Takes On The Christian Right

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is the most prominent and influential Jewish organization in the United States. The group usually keeps itself busy by acting as an unofficial mouthpiece for the state of Israel in the U.S. and throwing a spotlight on anti-Semitism both in this country and abroad. Recently the ADL’s chairman, Abe Foxman, has raised quite a lot of hackles by declaring that one of the greatest threats currently faced by the Jewish community is the theocratic ambitions of the American Christian right. His speech was actually quite effective in pointing out just how scary some of these people are, and illustrating that all Americans should be concerned with the growing power of these religious fanatics. Predictably, the theocrats responded rather negatively to Foxman’s speech, noting that evangelical protestants have been some of Israel’s most vocal supporters in the U.S. (This is of course true, but not out of any love for the Jews. The evangelicals believe that the existence of the state of Israel is a necessary precondition to fulfill the Book of Revelation’s projected sequence of events that will lead to the second coming of Christ.) Conservative Jews were just as critical, accusing Foxman of fear mongering in an effort to increase donations to the ADL, as well as ignoring the greater threat posed by Islamic radicals. Foxman recently penned a reply in which he pretty well demolished these criticisms. It is refreshing to see such a prominent American stating the plain truth regarding the threat posed by the Christian right to our pluralist society. One can only hope that other American media personalities will also begin to draw public attention to this issue.