Saturday, January 05, 2008

Intolerance

This is interesting. In Liverpool, England an exhibit about the Life of Anne Frank has been organized in an Anglican Church.

This quote:

Organizers hope using a church to house a replica of the room where Frank wrote her diary will convey a message of tolerance in a city afflicted by gang violence and crime. But Liverpool's Jewish schools have banned pupils from attending because the festival is being held in a Christian place of worship.
[emphasis mine]

Is ironic- is it not? In an effort to promote diversity, ecumenism, and in an effort to promote spiritual relativism, Christians have dedicated Church space to the memorialization of a Jewish victim of the Holocaust. In turn, Jewish schools will not let their children attend.

I actually applaud this action by the Jewish schools and their administrators. It shows that they understand that you do not teach children dogma by compromising it. You cannot pretend to support definitive truth and then condone what they believe is error.

Would that Christians and especially Catholics understood that you do not condone false sects by giving them "Church space" or any type of forum for their error.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is your problem with the Jewish exhibition in the Anglican church or the fact that it was a Jewish exhibit? I am not clear as to what you would see wrong with anyone attempting to understand and correct a problem using "signs or symbols". Since "our" roots are in Judaism and our Lord in fact a Jew, His people were horribly persecuted as well as our own Catholic and other Christians. I sure don't get your point on this one.

Anonymous said...

Well, I get the point, which is not a difficult one to fathom. 1)the Jews believe the Christian Faith to be false 2)they will not let their Jewish people enter a house of 'false' worship.3)This is consistent with their beliefs.
Now, think "Assisi". JPPII invited all sorts of heretics and false religions to offer prayer to 'their god' in a Catholic Church, even allowing them to place a Budda on top of the (empty) tabernacle! This was labeled 'eccumenism'. The contrast is stricking - the Jewish school leaders will not let the children go into a house of 'false' worship whereas eccumenism encourages them in our midst! Years ago, a Catholic was forbidden to even enter a Protestant Church, thus being true to their belief as the Jews of the article are. IMO, the point is that we, too, as Catholics, should be as firm in holding to our Faith and not letting the foxes into the hen house.
Isn't it ironic that the Catholic Church does not have an exibition dealing with the deaths of thousands of priests and lay Catholics in the same holocaust? At least the Jews are being true to their belief - the Catholics are not.

Petrus said...

The irony of course, is that it was Christians who hid the Jews from the Nazis.

The Jews had no problem entering Christian houses, monasteries and convents when they were hiding from the Nazis.

That point seems to be lost here.

Anonymous - its not quite accurate to say that there are not similar exhibits regarding the Catholics who died in the Holocaust. I have been to two concentration camps in Eastern Europe, and the Catholics actually seem to be portrayed more if not at least equal to the Jews. I remember one very moving exhibit of the various instruments used to construct rosaries by prisoners.

Anonymous said...

The irony of course, is that it was Christians who hid the Jews from the Nazis.

Furthermore, the most credit goes to those most maligned, Francisco Franco and Pope Pius XII.