Free Republic

Few religious doctrines have attracted more virulent criticism than the idea of the chosen people. Over the past several centuries alone, both Jews and non-Jews have judged this key tenet of classical Judaism to be undemocratic, chauvinistic, superstitious—in short, retrograde in every way that matters to the progressive mind. Nor is it just progressives who have found it deficient. It, and Jews who still believe in it or otherwise decline to assimilate to prevailing norms, have been savaged by everyone from captains of capitalism to Soviet commissars. Henry Ford, to cite a famous example, sponsored the publication of the Protocols...

Many of the bitter controversies in every corner of the globe inevitably raise the same ancient question: why does the world hate the Jews? Whether it’s the angry international reaction to Israel’s efforts to defend itself in Lebanon, or Mel Gibson’s drunken rant in Malibu, the age-old specter of anti-Semitism refuses to disappear. With only 13 million Jews in the world – less than one fourth of one percent of the earth’s population – why does this tiny group inspire such bitter, widespread and often violent animosity? The answer is obvious to anyone who monitors anti-Semitic propaganda from all its...

As for chauvinism, there is not a hint of inherent superiority in the claim of Jewish chosenness. In fact, the Jewish Bible, the book that states the Jews are chosen, constantly berates the Jews for their flawed behavior. No holy work of any other religion is so critical of the religious group affiliated with that holy work. As for the claim of chosenness being irrational or even bizarre, it is so only to an atheist. But anyone, even the atheist, must look at the evidence and conclude that the Jews play a role in history that defies reason. Without the...