Is Occupy Wall Street a Hate Movement? Liberal Heeds the Call

First the story, here, with a video for those willing to look at it...

http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/wall-street-protests-antisemitism/2011/10/18/id/414817?s=al&promo_code=D488-1

This liberal (as distinct from left-winger) hereby heeds the call to denounce anti-Semitism, among Occupiers of Wall Street or elsewhere. I'll say: Listen, kids, I read a book called Billions for the Bankers before most of you were even born, okay? I know Wall Street is not your friend or mine, although I happen to think leaving the stock market and the credit-card industry alone is a better way to "protest" than making yourself a nuisance in a city that's not your own. I also know that a lot of people on Wall Street happen to be Jewish. That's not too surprising, since a lot of people in New York City as a whole happen to be Jewish. Those are two separate things. You want to denounce the way the money-breeding industries play around with our economy, go ahead; I'll even agree with some of the things you're saying. But please have enough common sense to leave the background of some, not all, Wall Street types, and also many bystanders who might otherwise support you, out of it.

Plus some of you lot are getting paid by, ahem, George Soros. Maybe you think "Soros" is a Greek name? "Soros" is one name for which I don't have a "definition" in my database, but if you'd been paying attention even to TV last year you would have heard that the man is Jewish. So kindly stop snapping at the hand that, if it's not feeding you, is feeding some of your fellow protesters.

Now, just in case any Occupiers of Wall Street identify themselves as Christians, here's a related rant about something that's been on my mind for several weeks now--I just wasn't sure how to write it.

One of my favorite Yahoo writers (other than Sheryl Young) also happens to be Jewish. She doesn't wear religion on her sleeve. I found out that she was Jewish only through a private e-conversation. But she has written a lot of Yahoo News stories, including some that reflected her perspective that religion is too private to be mentioned in the public schools.

As our regular readers know, we've agreed to disagree about this, as good liberals should. The closest I'm willing to go toward proselytizing anyone I know to be Jewish is trying to convince the person that, as a serious Christian, I really do have good will toward that person. I respect their faith and practice, whatever those may be.

And to Christians who've said things like, "If you really like Zahara Heckscher" [I used to work for her in real life] "why don't you try to convert her?" I suggest that they reread Matthew 25. My understanding is that Jesus is here reported as having said that one day everyone will acknowledge Him as their Lord, and some of them will wish they had done so sooner, but Jesus will forgive them if they showed real good will in this lifetime. If I'm wrong, then I've staked my own salvation on an error...but I don't see much cause for concern about Zahara Heckscher. I'm not aware of any particular reason to worry about my e-friend at Yahoo News, either.

But I think there may be some reason to worry about some alleged Christians who've posted horrible, hateful comments on her news stories. One report (which didn't seem more offensive to me than any coverage of prayer in the schools I've ever read in a mainstream newspaper) actually got a comment along the lines of "I hope you, [screen name], burn in Hell for this [obnoxious words]." I think this commenter may be heading for grief. My late husband, who often said that people reward and punish themselves in this life, might have asked whether this commenter isn't already burning...in one way or another. I think the flames may be hotter one day.

The commenter probably didn't know my e-friend is Jewish; didn't mention it, anyway. I don't think Christians should indulge in hate speech against Muslims, Buddhists, or Neo-Pagans either. I think that if you really want to convert anybody, the first step is to convince them that Christians are people of good will...and if you're not a person of good will, you have no business calling yourself a Christian. I think the commenter's hate speech was much more anti-Christian than anti-Semitic.

These days Anti-Semitic drivel usually spews out of mouths that identify themselves as Muslim, and while it's probably a Muslim writer's job to denounce them, I'd like to state for the record that all religious hate speech annoys me.

Whether the haters are behaving in more of an anti-Christian, or anti-Muslim, or anti-Jewish, or even anti-the-sex-and-self-worshippers-in-the-homosexual-lobby manner, the Christian name for their real religious practice is "Satanism."