By Larry Rosenbaum
It reminded me of New Testament stories of persecution of the Early Church by the Jewish religious leaders. On May 25, the CBS Evening News had a report on evangelism in Israel. The story showed Cyril Gordon, who participated in several SOS outreaches two years ago before moving to Israel. He was witnessing to some orthodox Jewish students who tore up and burned the New Testaments he offered, then assaulted him.
They reported that a proposed law in Israel would make giving Christian literature to a Jew a crime punishable by a year in jail. A rabbi said missionaries were breaking up their “happy family.” They termed Christian witnessing as “hate speech.”
Sadly, this is similar to what we are seeing in San Francisco. As people increasingly hate the gospel message, they consider Christian evangelism to be “hate speech” and say it is no longer protected. They say the right of sinners to be “left alone” is more important than the right of Christians to free speech. If you are concerned about this proposed law, you can write or call the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu c/o Israeli Embassy, 3514 International Dr. NW, Washington DC 20008, (202) 364-5500. Israel may not like Christian evangelism, but they do care about the Christian tourist industry. They would like to know if this law would hurt their tourist business.
Below is a letter I wrote Prime Minister Netanyahu:
As a long-time supporter of Israel, I was very disturbed to hear on the CBS Evening News that your government is considering a law to make criminal the distribution of Christian literature in your country. I am sure that many in our nation, both Christians and Jews, are concerned about this proposed law. We have a long history of free speech, which involves the protection of messages that we disagree with. Our Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black once wrote “I do not believe that it can be too often repeated that the freedoms of speech, press, petition and assembly…must be accorded to the ideas we hate or sooner or later they will be denied to the ideas we cherish.” I am reminded of Voltaire’s famous statement: “I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
The May 25 CBS News Report stated “To most Israelites, religious and non-religious alike, the right of missionaries to solicit conversions is a lot less important than the right of Jews to be left alone.” It may be annoying to be confronted with a message you do not like, but that is the price of living in a free society. For many years, evangelical Christians and Jews have been the biggest supporters of Israel in our nation, both politically, financially, and through tourism. Most will become significantly less supportive of Israel if your nation begins imprisoning Christians for obeying what they believe to be their Biblical mandate. I urge you to oppose this dangerous law.
