Lux Lucet

But what Sen. Murphy and Rep. Pelosi get wrong is talking about “our democracy” at all.  The United States is not and never has been a democracy.  It is a republic, just like the Pledge of Allegiance says, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands….  The pledge is “to the republic,” not “to the democracy.”  This may seem like a pedantic point to some, but a democracy and a republic are not the same thing. 

A democracy is where the popular vote rules in every matter.  The potential for tyranny in a democracy is easy to see.  Some have called democracy two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.  The United States is, as was the Hebrew Republic of the Old Testament, a constitutional republic, with officials elected by popular vote and vested with limited power by a written constitution.

In the American Constitution, one of the most important sections is the First Amendment found in the Bill of Rights.  It reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The recent events in Israel and the subsequent expressions by those who support the Palestinians have resulted in calls for suppression of free speech and aggressive legal attacks on those who have expressed support for the Palestinian cause by Zionists.  A recent example of this is an op-ed piece in the Washington Post titled “To fight antisemitism on campuses, we must restrict speech.”[3] 

The gist of the argument is that the University of Pennsylvania (a private school where the author is a faculty member) is that Jewish students are being bullied by supporters of the Palestinians whose calls saying “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” are interpreted as a call for Israel’s elimination and the genocide of the Jews.  “The value of free speech,” the author tells us, “has been elevated to a near-sacred level on university campuses,” and this hate speech must be curbed to prevent antisemitism. 

A few thoughts…In the first place, the claim that “The value of free speech has been elevated to a near-sacred level on university campuses” is a real howler.  In recent years, there has been no end to the calls on university campuses to squash free speech, including at Penn.  In truth, free speech has been all but eliminated at many college campuses.  Witness the treatment of swimmer Riley Gaines when she spoke at college campuses against men competing in women’s sports as so-called “trans-women.”  One headline reads “Protestors chased down Riley Gaines after her campus speech.  SFSU says it’s ‘proud’ of the event’s handling.”[4]

Second, there is the matter of the nebulous term “hate speech.” There is no mention of the subjective term “hate speech” in the Constitution. Hate speech has been accurately described as speech the listener hates and is no guide for determining what constitutes free speech.

Then there’s the issue of antisemitism.  This is another term that is hard to pin down.  There are various definitions, some claiming to be official.  But the way it’s used in the mainstream press today, antisemitism means simply disagreeing with a Jew about pretty much anything.  In that regard, it’s a lot like the term “racism” which means disagreeing with a minority about pretty much anything.   

Even historic and biblically sound Christian doctrine is deemed “antisemitic” these days. For example, here’s a story about the European Jewish Congress wanting to add trigger warnings to the Bible for passages they deem “antisemitic.”[5] According to a document put out by the group, “God’s revelation is thus marred by human fallibility. Beginning with the New Testament [apparently, all the sharp rebukes of the Jews in the Old Testament from the prophets were not antisemitic] divine revelation expresses itself in Christian holy texts that also express a form of hatred.” 

Even Uber Christian Zionist John Hagee has been accused of antisemitism by no less an authority than New York Times Magazine, which singles out Hagee as an antisemite for a comment he made saying “Jews have everything but spiritual life,”[6] which exactly what the Bible teaches about all, Jews or otherwise, who deny that only way to heaven is by belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ alone. By implication, New York Times Magazine is saying that if you believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, you’re an antisemite. This is ridiculous and unacceptable. 

It’s been said by some, and I believe rightly, that the United States is the Constitution.  Attack the Constitution and you attack America.  The author of the Washington Post op-ed piece wants to argue that Penn is not subject to the First Amendment because it’s a private institution. This is true, but I think largely irrelevant.  Universities supposedly are places where ideas can be discussed and debated, and there’s certainly enough criticism of white Christians and men on your average campus, much of which can be traced to the work of Jewish academics.[7] But in recent years, campuses have become hotbeds of censorship while actual scholarship seems to be lagging. Why should the assertions and actions of Jewish Zionists be sacrosanct while everyone else is fair game for criticism?

Further, the op-ed ignores the fact that at least some of the criticism of Israel is due to the behavior of the Israeli government that is carrying out, not some theoretical program of mass murder of civilians and ethnic cleansing, but an actual program of such.  The plan is to kill or exile the entirety of Gaza.  High Israeli government officials have helpfully opined in the Wall Street Journal[8] that it is the job of Europe and the United States to take in the exiles Israel has created or plans to create.     

Finally, the push by Finkelstein to restrict “hate speech” at Penn is not some isolated case, but part of a larger push to insulate Zionists and Israel from any and all criticism.  This has been a growing problem in America for several years, but it has really come to the fore since the Hamas attack on October 7^th.  The House just passed a resolution declaring that anti-Zionism is antisemitism.[9]  What if such language is enacted into law, which is likely the ultimate goal of the Zionists? The implied tyranny in such a resolution is obvious.  One could not even so much as raise the least objection to anything done by the Israeli government.  We already have state-level laws of this sort.  There are numerous examples of states passing laws that require citizens to sign loyalty oaths, not to the United States, but to agree not to boycott, disinvest, or sanction Israel to serve as a contractor for the state or to work as a schoolteacher.  In 2017, Newsweek reported that “Residents of one Texas city are being asked to sign a loyalty oath to Israel if they want to receive funds for Hurricane Harvey relief.”[10] This sounds like a joke, but it isn’t. It is, however, a warning of the lengths to which deranged Zionists are willing to go to silence all criticism of themselves.    

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[1] “‘Survival of our democracy’ depends on banning sites like InfoWars, Dem senator says,” by Caitlin Yilek, Washington Examiner, August 7, 2018, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/survival-of-our-democracy-depends-on-banning-sites-like-infowars-democratic-senator-says, accessed 12/10/2023.

[2] “Pelosi: In 2024, ‘nothing less is at stake than our democracy,’” by Nick Robertson, The Hill, 9/13/2023, https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4203549-pelosi-in-2024-nothing-less-is-at-stake-than-our-democracy/, accessed 12/10/2023.

[3] “To fight antisemitism on campuses, we must restrict speech,” by Claire O. Finkelstein, December 10, 2023, The Washington Post, https://wapo.st/4ahnVn8, accessed 12/10/2023.

[4] “Protestors chased down Riles Gaines after her campus speech.  SFSU says it’s ‘proud’ of the event’s handling,” by Amanda Nordstrom, April 12, 2023, https://www.thefire.org/news/protestors-chased-down-riley-gaines-after-her-campus-speech-sfsu-says-its-proud-events, accessed 12/10/2023.

[5] “Jewish leaders call for new editions of the Bible and the Koran to carry trigger warnings highlighting anti-Semitic passages,” by James Wood, Daily Mail, 11/23/2018, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6421233/Jewish-leaders-call-religious-texts-carry-warnings-highlighting-anti-Semitic-passages.html, accessed 12/10/2023. 

[6] “How the Battle Over Israel and Anti-Semitism Is Fracturing American Politics,” by Nathan Thrall, March 28, 2019, New York Times Magazine, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/28/magazine/battle-over-bds-israel-palestinians-antisemitism.html, accessed 12/10/2023.

[7] Critical Race Theory has been in the news a lot recently.  What few people realize is that Critical Race Theory is based on Critical Theory, a body of thought developed by a group of Jewish scholars known as the Frankfurt School.

[8] “The West Should Welcome Gaza Refugees,” by Danny Danon and Ram Ben-Barak, 11/13/2023, The Wall Street Journal, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-west-should-welcome-gaza-refugees-asylum-seekers-hamas-terrorism-displacement-5d2b5890?st=tgnxjorvsjgjwfu&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink, accessed 12/10/2023.  The arrogance of these Israeli lawmakers is off the charts.  They can’t/won’t deal with the Palestinians, but want to dump the problem in the West’s lap. 

[9] “House Declares Anti-Zionism is Antisemitism, Dividing Democrats,” by Karoun Demirjian, 12/05/2023, The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/05/world/middleeast/house-anti-zionism-antisemitism.html?unlocked_article_code=1.FE0.xZpi.WqWa8aIuK87k&smid=url-share, accessed 12/10/2023.

[10] “Hurricane Victims Must Support Israel to Get Relief, Texas City Demands,” by Linley Sanders, Newsweek, 10/20/2017, https://www.newsweek.com/hurricane-victims-must-support-israel-get-relief-texas-city-demands-689407, accessed 12/10/2023.

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