Thursday, March 14, 2019

Woke and Semi-Woke Churchers Rather Quiet About Omar’s Anti-Semitism

If there ever was a teachable moment about anti-semitism, last week’s  controversy and sham vote about Rep. Ilhan Omar’s anti-semitism was surely one of them. So I have been wondering if the usual social justice church crowd would take the opportunity to speak out and teach or whether they would shy away because a Somali immigrant Leftist Democrat Congresswoman spouting off anti-Jewish tropes and the said Congresswoman not being called out on that by the Democrat-controlled House does not exactly go with The Narrative, don’tcha know.
Well, after this controversy has been going on for a week, it is fair to say that the dominant response from the woke and semi-woke church crowd has been . . . quiet.  And that is charitable.  I have not heard a peep.  And God knows I’ve been listening and looking.

Here is a good place for a disclaimer. I obviously am not omnipresent nor omniscient.  So if I have missed something of import, please feel free to comment.  Also, it is possible that some are being very careful about what they say and are about to post something.  I wish they would exercise such care about many issues, but I can relate to that; heck, I have delayed making this post. It is possible someone mentioned below speaks up after this post. And with that, here goes with a sample.
At Russell Moore’s site, I see nothing about anti-semitism.  Now I grant he does not post with the frequency of say…
Al Mohler.  Yes, yes, he is hardly a flaming woke church guy.  But it is fair to say he is sympathetic.  And he does post very frequently on the events of the day.  But scrolling the topics of his daily briefing, I see nothing on anti-semitism the past two weeks.  And that although he tends to be quick about commenting on the events of the day.  For example, this morning he comments on the latest academic cheating scandal.  But I see nothing on Omar and anti-semitism. Why?
The Southern Baptist Convention’s and Russell Moore’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission?  Nothing recent.
The Gospel Coalition’s site?  Nothing recent.
National Association of Evangelicals? Nothing recent, but their site is not frequently updated.
Here in the Anglican Church in North America, we have the Anglican Multi-ethnic Network (AMEN), which is very sensitive to racial and immigration issues.  Are they sensitive to Leftist anti-semitism?  You would not know from their site. But they are not frequent posters, so maybe they will pleasantly surprise me some day. 
I hesitate to lump Sojourners in with the above.  Those Leftists are hardly Christian at all anymore.  But they are oh-so-concerned about everything woke under the sun and do they post their concern and wokeness!  Are they concerned about Omar’s anti-semitism?  No. 
This is obviously not comprehensive. (Again, feel free to add in the comments.) But I think all of the above people and groups would say that how we handle social and cultural issues should enhance our witness to the Gospel, not detract or distract from it.  And on that much, yes, I agree.
So what kind of witness is this recent quiet about anti-semitism?

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