Chesler Chronicles

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November 15th, 2007 3:39 pm

Is Bible Teacher Jimmy Carter an Old-Fashioned Jew-Hater? But How Can a True Christian…

Is Jimmy Carter an anti-Semite? Even some of his critics concede that his biased views about Israel might not necessarily rise to the level of Jew-hatred. Surely, one can be critical of the Jewish state without necessarily being a Jew-hater, right?

Well–not exactly. Seven years ago I began writing about the ways in which anti-Zionism is indeed today’s “new anti-Semitism” and about how left-liberal progressives in the west were increasingly, perhaps unwittingly, allied with Islamist propagandists and terrorists in their joint betrayal of both the truth and the Jews.

The savage denunciation of the Jewish state has become an almost psychotic world-wide phenomenon. In fact, this coming weekend, the Hudson Institute is hosting a conference about the demonization of Israel at the United Nations. SEE HERE.

Now, back to our former President Jimmy.

In the late 1990s and into the twenty-first century, President Jimmy taught a series of Bible classes titled Sunday Mornings in Plains. Simon and Schuster has published a three volume set of compact discs that are available for sale online. A student at Columbia, Michael Miller, listened to these CDs and partially transcribed them with commentary galore.

Miller told me that he was so alarmed by what he heard that he tried to interest many major Jewish organizational leaders and journalists. For whatever reason, no one got back to him. Miller tells me that he focused on material that critics of Carter’s work have not yet discussed. Miller also points out that Carter has backtracked on some of what he has written: (I didn’t exactly mean that, perhaps that was a poor choice for a title, etc.). Here, while Carter may have said these things spontaneously, in a Bible class, he has nevertheless allowed a publisher to release the CDs for widespread use. He stands by what he has said.

I must admit, getting into the selected transcription and commentary was a daunting task. I nevertheless persevered. HERE is a brief excerpt from the transcription with Miller’s commentary.

I still believe–and have written as much many times–that now is the time for Jews and Christians to forge a radically new alliance. (I am not at all opposed to similar alliances with moderate Muslims). So, what I am about to say does not represent a change-of-policy on the subject.

Nevertheless, Carter sure sounds like one heck of a Jew-hater. Invidiously, almost hypnotically, he uses ancient Jesus-era history in order to demonize current day Jewish Israel and Israelis. He also uses this painful and tragic history as the basis for scapegoating contemporary Jewish Israelis for the the Islamic persecution of Christians in the Arab Middle East. Carter repeatedly whips up hatred towards modern-day Israeli Jews by telling lies, half-truths, and ancient, out-of-context truths. For example, he insists that (all) Jews view (all) Christians as “dogs” and despise and persecute (all) Christians because they are “unclean, uncircumcised.”

Anyone familiar with Middle Eastern realities will understand that it is Muslim fanatics who view Christians as unclean infidels and it is Muslims who persecute, exile, lynch, and be-head Christians. Palestinian Islamists have desecrated churches and murdered Christians. The very Israeli Jewish government whom Carter is railing against in his Bible classes has protected the holy sites of all religions. And, it is ethnic Arab Muslims who have been murdering black African Christians and Muslims in Darfur. Jewish Israelis have not mass-murdered Palestinian civilians or even those Palestinians who have been waging a fierce terrorist and propaganda war against them.

President Jimmy also presents the allegedly great power of Roman-occupied Jews in Jesus’ time as the emblem for the contemporary cabal of power wielded by Jewish and Israeli Zionists today. In his teachings, the stench of Messiah-murder clings to every possible Jewish deed.

Based on the transcription of these Bible classes, it seems that Carter’s Jew-hatred is classical Jew-hatred. It is theologically based. And its purpose is to stir up hatred for contemporary Israelis, not merely to teach an historical or religious lesson.

Yes, it is true: Jews did not and do not accept that Jesus is the Messiah or even the son of God. But so what? This should not be the source of resentment and enmity between Jews and Christians. Has Carter learned absolutely nothing from the Holocaust? Ah, maybe he has learned everything he needs to know: That the Jews were vulnerable, that their slaughter (in the Holy Land) might occasion no outcry until it is too late.

In my view, Carter might not be saying what he is saying in Palestine, Peace Not Apartheid because the Saudis have paid him off big-time (although the pay-off may certainly play a role). Carter may be the kind of old-fashioned Christian who believes that Jew-hatred is a sacramental article of faith. Most Christians, beginning with the Pope, have re-visited this issue. Perhaps Carter has yet to do so.

Of course, in America, anyone (Jimmy Carter, Ann Coulter, Ward Churchill) has the absolute right to express their political and religious views. And yet, Jew-hating views such as Carter’s have historically led to the persecution and mass murder of Jews.

And this man was once the President of the United States?

Maybe the crime of the Jew is that of having been there first, of being both the Mother and Father of religious monotheism. Maybe our descendents, whether they are rebellious followers or detractors, need to get out from under our looming parental shadow. But a true Christian is not supposed to hate. In fact, he is supposed to forgive even those who torment him. To demonize and scapegoat an essentially innocent people is so un-Christian that we might not only ask whether Jimmy Carter is a Jew-hater but whether he is really a good Christian.

What do you think?

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9 Comments

1. Lou Santacroce:

As a Christian and an American who came of age in the 70’s, I am heartbroken by Jimmy Carter’s pronouncements in his recent book and, now, in these current revelations. I was born during the Eisenhower administration and lived in complete oblivion of all things political until, at the age of eight, I was brutally awakened by the Kennedy assassination. Five years of Johnson and eight combined years of Nixon and Ford brought me to my 21st birthday and a president — Carter — who made me feel, for the first time in my life, that there was someone in the White House who actually cared about people like me, and about the world. I remember the night, four years later, when he was defeated for re-election, and how Walter Cronkite sputtered “In 20 years the American people will realize just how good a president Jimmy Carter was.” This prophesy now seems to have come true in a way that Uncle Walter could never have imagined. The man whom we’d hoped would lead the world to peace has broken the hearts of us all.

Nov 15, 2007 - 5:43 pm 2. George Jochnowitz:

Christians today, to a great extent, are friends of Israel and of the Jewish people. One has to be grateful for this. But old habits die hard, and Carter is evidence of this. Matthew 27:25 (”His blood be on us, and on our children”) will always remain in the New Testament.

James Carroll has written a book, CONSTANTINE’S SWORD, which both recognizes the seriousness of the problem and is optimistic about the future. I have reviewed it
http://www.jochnowitz.net/Essays/Constantine.html

Nov 15, 2007 - 7:49 pm 3. Michael Miller:

Carter admits to being prejudiced: “I have an inclination to select bad news about people that I don’t like much, to extract from the evening news broadcast. If Roslyn’s not there, when she comes, I’ll tell her—what?—the bad things about somebody that we don’t particularly like,” adding, “I’m inclined toward this element of sinfulness, reluctant to forgive, inclined toward criticism of others.” He also admits that he doesn’t care about the truth when he indulges in this vice: “The natural inclination is for us to get tidbits which may or may not be true—that is damaging to someone with whom we disagree—and to try to exalt ourselves by damaging the reputation of the other person.” Simon & Schuster only published 13 of 400 classes they recorded. Wait till the rest of them are released!

Nov 15, 2007 - 11:43 pm 4. Steve:

G-d is unchanging. He is the same “yesterday, today and tomorrow”.
When He makes a covenant, rest assured that it is in place forever.
We have to look no further than Genesis 12:2-3 to find G-d’s opinion of Israel and the Jewish people.
“And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing;
And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Deuteronomy 7:6-8 further shows G-d’s love for His chosen people:
“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

As a Christian Zionist, I take the covenants of G-d very seriously. I feel that all Christians have a duty to support our Jewish bothers and sisters and G-d’s chosen people the Jews.
For some time, former President Carter has show an obvious bias toward Israel. Comparing her to an “apartheid”. How far from the truth this truly is.

This quote from Joseph Farah, editor of World Net Daily shows the truth of who actually “owns” the Holy Land:
The truth is that Palestine is no more real than Never-Never Land. The first time the name was used was in 70 A.D. when the Romans committed genocide against the Jews, smashed the Temple and declared the land of Israel would be no more. From then on, the Romans promised, it would be known as Palestine. The name was derived from the Philistines, a Goliathian people conquered by the Jews centuries earlier. It was a way for the Romans to add insult to injury. They also tried to change the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina, but that had even less staying power.

Palestine has never existed — before or since — as an autonomous entity. It was ruled alternately by Rome, by Islamic and Christian crusaders, by the Ottoman Empire and, briefly, by the British after World War I. The British agreed to restore at least part of the land to the Jewish people as their homeland.

There is no language known as Palestinian. There is no distinct Palestinian culture. There has never been a land known as Palestine governed by Palestinians. Palestinians are Arabs, indistinguishable from Jordanians (another recent invention), Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc.
Keep in mind that the Arabs control 99.9 percent of the Middle East lands. Israel represents one-tenth of 1 percent of the landmass.

But that’s too much for the Arabs. They want it all. And that is ultimately what the fighting in Israel is about today. Greed. Pride. Envy. Covetousness. No matter how many land concessions the Israelis make, it will never be enough.

What about Islam’s holy sites? There are none in Jerusalem.

Shocked? You should be. I don’t expect you will ever hear this brutal truth from anyone else in the international media. It’s just not politically correct.

I know what you’re going to say: “The Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem represent Islam’s third most holy sites.”

Not true. In fact, the Koran says nothing about Jerusalem. It mentions Mecca hundreds of times. It mentions Medina countless times. It never mentions Jerusalem. With good reason. There is no historical evidence to suggest Mohammed ever visited Jerusalem.

So how did Jerusalem become the third holiest site of Islam? Muslims today cite a vague passage in the Koran, the seventeenth Sura, entitled “The Night Journey.” It relates that in a dream or a vision Mohammed was carried by night “from the sacred temple to the temple that is most remote, whose precinct we have blessed, that we might show him our signs. …” In the seventh century, some Muslims identified the two temples mentioned in this verse as being in Mecca and Jerusalem. And that’s as close as Islam’s connection with Jerusalem gets — myth, fantasy, wishful thinking. Meanwhile, Jews can trace their roots in Jerusalem back to the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

So what’s the solution to the Middle East mayhem? Well, frankly, I don’t think there is a man-made solution to the violence. But, if there is one, it needs to begin with truth. Pretending will only lead to more chaos. Treating a 5,000-year-old birthright backed by overwhelming historical and archaeological evidence equally with illegitimate claims, wishes and wants gives diplomacy and peacekeeping a bad name.

Mr. Carter would be wise to take Mr. Farah’s words to heart.

Christians, the time for “fence sitting” is gone. You must choose a side. You are either for Israel or against Israel.
Consider your decision carefully before you make it, because in reality, you really are choosing to be for or against G-d Almighty.
(I apologize for the length of my comment).
-Steve

Nov 16, 2007 - 9:23 am 5. David Thomson:

Leftwing Christians like Jimmy Carter are inherently inclined toward anti-Semitism. If nothing else, leftist Christians (and other left of center religious denominations) are hostile towards the concept of meritocracy. They embrace zero-sum economic theories. Jews, whether secular or religious, are disproportionately more successful than other groups because of their respect for intellectual activity and hard work. To those of a socialist temperament, however, this is interpreted as the result of deceitfulness and outright theft.

Nov 16, 2007 - 9:59 am 6. Stevens:

Dr. Chesler,
As we both know, anti-Semitism is hardly a new phenomenon in the world. What I’m wondering is whether modern anti-Semitism among progressives is in fact a critique of capitalism – buying into and propagating the myth of Jews as economic leeches and extending this to a rabid rejection of Judaism and Israel (as we know, anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism) in their war on free markets. Thoughts?

Nov 16, 2007 - 12:36 pm 7. Ahad Ha'amoratzim:

It is entirely possible that former President Carter does not pen scurrilous anti-Jewish screeds because the Saudis pay him, and that rather the Saudis pay him because they know that he is inclined to pen scurrilous anti-Jewish screeds. Perhaps the Jew-haters did not so much buy his loyalty as reward him for the loyalties that he held long before they came into the picture.

Nov 18, 2007 - 3:42 pm 8. B Dubya:

If many of you have allowed the memory of the administration of James Earl Carter to fade from your memory, be assured that I have not.
In 1976, I was a 25 year old 1st class petty officer serving on a nuclear powered FBM submarine, and I retain a perspective of that man that no Nobel prize will ever brighten.
Jimmy Carter is a small man. Mean of spirit and absolutely bankrupt in courage that a true leader must have. Much of what is happening in the ME today is a direct legacy of Carter’s treachery to our friends and of his complete surrender to Breshnev and the Soviet Bloc.
He ain’t my village elder. Sorry. He’s Georgia’s village idiot.

Nov 21, 2007 - 10:43 am 9. Chesler Chronicles » Guess Who Is The Opening Night Speaker at the DNC? The Man From Plains, Georgia:

[...] have written about this Here. Trust me: Carter hates Jews big time and his Jew-hatred is based on a perverse reading of the [...]

Aug 20, 2008 - 3:25 pm