From the Chairman: December 2023
As I write this, antisemitism in the United States seems to be uncharacteristically high and it deeply troubles me. In fact, this is an article I would have never imagined writing.
At least twice a year I travel for business and in October I found myself heading into downtown Chicago. My colleagues and I were on the tail end of an education and technology conference and we wanted to sample some local cuisine. Upon nearing our destination, the traffic started to slow and we could see hundreds of people gather in a park. As we got closer, I could hear chanting amplified by megaphones and dozens of Palestinian flags being waved. Having been utterly oblivious, I asked one of my colleagues what was going on. It was at that very moment that I learned of the brutal terror invasion that happened in Israel.
Interestingly, just two nights before, we were meeting with a client for dinner and we broke all the rules about discussing politics at the table. There’s a time and place for healthy debate and there’s a time to be silent and listen (Ecclesiastes 3:7) and so I patiently listened as one individual carried on about racism within the Republican Party. I politely disagreed at times but mostly considered it an opportunity to hear an outsiders opinion and learn.
Within just days of returning home, a number of headlines started surfacing about antisemitism and white supremacy running a muck in the Republican Party. The evidence was both undeniable and disheartening. After all, our Party founder, Abraham Lincoln, built a legacy fighting racial bigotry and our Party Principles are rooted in Judaeo-Christian values. How could this be? Yet nearly a month has passed and new stories continue to emerge.
Having graduated from a Bible College and served as a Youth Minister for a number of years, it puzzled me how such prominent figures in the Republican Party could call themselves a disciple of Jesus while simultaneously avoiding rather clear Scriptures and embracing hatred.
From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth. (Acts 17:26)
For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited… they [Israel] are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. (Romans 11:25-28)
As is often the case, one such individual revealed themselves by attacking Dispensational Theology. That five-dollar word simply describes a natural set of doctrines that surface when one takes a literal approach to interpreting the bible in it’s historical context. In the political arena we call this being an “originalist”. It is the pursuit of authorial intent which fashions our understanding of the Constitution and rejects the notion of a subjective, “living document”. While not a perfect analogy, the liberal ideologue does the same thing when the Constitution gets in their way. In other words, by avoiding the plain language of Scripture, the antisemitic actors of our Republic seek to justify themselves.
As the Chairman of the Republican Party of Montgomery County, I unapologetically denounce those who promote and foster this abhorrent rhetoric. As a Christian, I call upon them to repent of their hatred for the children of Abraham whom God called “friend”.
