CHRISTMAS, CHRISTIANS, AND JEWS

Once upon a time, long before the idea or phrase “sensitivity training” was born, the various religious groups in our heterogeneous society had developed a strategy for getting along with one another. It was a strategy based on civility and prudence. Since American society was then more provincial, more narrow-minded, than it is today, civility and prudence only worked up to a point. But I would maintain that they worked better than the current strategy, which by encouraging all ofustobe perpetually “sensitive” to others, and especially sensitive to “militant” others, actually invites self-styled spokesmen for minorities to be aggressive, uncivil, and imprudent. Though religious discrimination has, thank goodness, declined sharply in the last fifty years, this decline is mainly visible at the individual level—the most important level, it ought to go without saying. What our liberals call “intergroup relations,” however—i.e., relations at the public level—seem to be worsening, as the new version of “pluralism” feeds destructively upon itself. Eventually, one fears, there could be disagreeable repercussions on the individual level as well.

Jewish-Christian relations are a case in point, and this Christmas seems an appropriate time to ponder the issue. It is my strong impression that, while relations between Christians and Jews as individuals are far better today than ever before, tensions between the two religious communities are being exacerbated. It is not a matter of a “resurgent anti-Semitism,” as some major Jewish organizations claim. Only within the black community is there evidence of any such resurgence, and since this phenomenon is as inexplicable as it is irrational, given the extraordinary Jewish commitment to the struggle for equality of civil rights, no one really has any idea of what to do about it. In any case, there is nothing even superficially Christian about black anti-Semitism, which is a peculiar, home-brewed racism that has little appeal to white Christians. What anti-Semitism still prevails in the larger society is primarily social, a reluctance to assimilate Jews into the social life and social activities of the non-Jewish community. Such discrimination has some nasty side-effects at the occupational and professional level, though on the whole American Jews seem to manage to evade those effects. In any case, as a Jew who is not particularly interested in participating in such an assimilation, I can live with it.

About the Author

Irving Kristol

Irving Kristol (1920–2009) was an American journalist and founder of The National Interest.

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Once upon a time, long before the idea or phrase “sensitivity training” was born, the various religious groups in our heterogeneous society had developed a strategy for getting along with one another. It was a strategy based on civility and prudence. Since American society was then more provincial, more narrow-minded, than it is today, civility and prudence only worked up to a point. But I would maintain that they worked better than the current strategy, which by encouraging all ofustobe perpetually “sensitive” to others, and especially sensitive to “militant” others, actually invites self-styled spokesmen for minorities to be aggressive, uncivil, and imprudent. Though religious discrimination has, thank goodness, declined sharply in the last fifty years, this decline is mainly visible at the individual level—the most important level, it ought to go without saying. What our liberals call “intergroup relations,” however—i.e., relations at the public level—seem to be worsening, as the new version of “pluralism” feeds destructively upon itself. Eventually, one fears, there could be disagreeable repercussions on the individual level as well.

Jewish-Christian relations are a case in point, and this Christmas seems an appropriate time to ponder the issue. It is my strong impression that, while relations between Christians and Jews as individuals are far better today than ever before, tensions between the two religious communities are being exacerbated. It is not a matter of a “resurgent anti-Semitism,” as some major Jewish organizations claim. Only within the black community is there evidence of any such resurgence, and since this phenomenon is as inexplicable as it is irrational, given the extraordinary Jewish commitment to the struggle for equality of civil rights, no one really has any idea of what to do about it. In any case, there is nothing even superficially Christian about black anti-Semitism, which is a peculiar, home-brewed racism that has little appeal to white Christians. What anti-Semitism still prevails in the larger society is primarily social, a reluctance to assimilate Jews into the social life and social activities of the non-Jewish community. Such discrimination has some nasty side-effects at the occupational and professional level, though on the whole American Jews seem to manage to evade those effects. In any case, as a Jew who is not particularly interested in participating in such an assimilation, I can live with it.