GUILT BY ASSOCIATION?
By Rev. Ted Pike
One of the most remarkable characteristics of Jesus was His indifference
to warnings against "guilt by association." Criticized
as a "friend of publicans and sinners," He applied his
spittle to the eyes of a blind man, put himself in danger of contagion
by healing lepers, and counseled an "unclean" Samaritan
woman and a Jewess caught in adultery.
In fact, He seems to have had a downright quarrel with the maxim
of polite society: "You are known by the company you keep."
He would do just about anything to rescue a perishing human soul
from hell.
Winston Churchill, during England's darkest hours, said that if
the devil himself would offer his services to defeat Hitler, he would
take them. I can't go that far, but considering the extremity of
the danger to our world and nation, I don't ask too many questions
of those who want to help me in the fight for freedom.
Some of those helping me are Jews.
Rabbi Lapin and "Toward Tradition"
One of the most powerful tools for awakening the church and nation
was provided by Rabbi Daniel Lapin of "Toward Tradition," a
politically conservative, orthodox Jewish organization in Seattle.
On his international TV program, aired on Trinity Broadcasting, Lapin
warned an enormous Pentecostal audience that "evangelical Christians
are now under relentless attack from secular Judaism." I have
trumpeted his warning to countless more, awakening Christians to
a brand new idea: Israel-first evangelicals may love evil Jewish
leaders, but they are not loved in return. Such Jewish leaders as
ADL's Foxman are formidably opposed to everything Christian, working
night and day to remove Christian values from society.
Some have criticized me for thanking Rabbi Lapin and encouraging
him to continue to alert both Christians and Jews. They say I am
giving the impression that Rabbi Lapin is sincere. Actually, they
say, he is but the "front man" for hidden anti-Christ forces;
he leads the "religious right" the way Abe Foxman leads
the Jewish left.
Yet, I ask, if Rabbi Lapin is as evil and devious as that, why
the gift of the most explicit unprecedented warning against evil
Jewish leaders that lovers of freedom could hope to receive?
Yes, Rabbi Lapin is working to bring the whole world under the
more "rational" jurisdiction of Hebrew monotheism. Yet,
unlike ADL/B'nai B'rith, he is not publicly smashing Christendom's
most cherished values and symbols in the process. Actually, Rabbi
Lapin's persistent admonitions to American Jews to deeply appreciate
America and its Christian culture fulfill God's command to exiled
Jews to seek the peace and welfare of the nations in which they dwell
(Jer. 29:4).
Rabbi Lapin is aggressively outspoken against ADL, or what he calls "secular
Judaism." He is critical not only of its anti-Christianity but
its eagerness to label its opponents anti-Semitic. In fact, his organization
offers to assist any Christian or conservative who has been so threatened
or tarnished.
On the other hand, I am under no illusions about Rabbi Lapin. He
is a Pharisee, Talmudist, and Zionist of the deepest persuasion.
On his programs and in his books, Lapin attempts to elicit our admiration
for the Pharisees, their methods, and the Talmud they created. In "educating" us
about Talmudism, he creates an extremely distorted, white-washed
facsimile of what rabbinic Judaism is really about. Only by such
distortion can he succeed in his goal of obtaining complete acceptance
of rabbinic Judaism within Christian society.
Rabbi Weiss and Neturei Karta
In his opposition to liberal Jewish activism and its civil liberties "muscle" organizations,
such as ADL and JDL, Rabbi Lapin is similar to Rabbi Yisroel Dovid
Weiss, leader of the ultra Orthodox Jewish Neturei Karta movement.
(See www.nkusa.com and www.jewsagainstzionism.com.) Neturei Karta
asserts that Israel, having been exiled for disobeying the Pharisees,
cannot be repatriated to Palestine except in obedience to God and
the Pharisees. Neturei Karta absolutely opposes Zionism and the largely
secular state of Israel.
For purposes of fragmenting the awesome powers of organized world
Jewry, presided over by ADL/B'nai B'rith, many critics of Zionism
have allied themselves with Rabbi Weiss. I also have taken advantage
of the leverage Rabbi Weiss and his movement contribute. Of course,
I am under no illusions that he, like Rabbi Lapin, is actually religiously
close to Christians. Ultra-orthodox or Hassidic Judaism is passionately
devoted not only to the Talmud but even more to the Cabala. This
devotion takes precedence over the Torah of the Old Testament. Rabbis
Lapin and Weiss spin the term "Torah" to give the impression
that they are "Torah-observant Jews," primarily adherents
of the Old Testament. This ingratiates them to Christians and conservatives,
yet nothing could be further from the truth.
Rabbinic Judaism teaches that "Torah" means "the
progressive religious expression of the Jewish people." They
believe such ongoing religious evolution has been much more perfectly
realized in the Talmud than in the Bible.
At the same time it cannot be denied that Rabbi Weiss and the Neturei
Karta provide a powerful alternative voice within Judaism that is
challenging the historically undisputed control of ADL/B'nai B'rith.
Also, Neturei Karta is popularizing the truly Biblical truth that
Jews can't return to Israel as a nation except in obedience to God.
In this regard, they are closer than Christian evangelicals to God's
timeless requirement that the Jews must obey in order to dwell in
the land. Evangelicals, under the sway of Scofield dispensationalism
and aligning themselves with Zionism, are heretical in their belief
that obedience to God no longer matters. (See "Why
the Mid-East Bleeds.")
Unlikely Allies
Would I appear on a program opposing ADL with Rabbi Lapin or Rabbi
Weiss? Absolutely! Does that mean I have compromised the truth? Absolutely
not! Jesus had lunch with a Pharisee (Lk. 7:36) and an extended conversation
with a Pharisaic leader, Nicodemus (Jn. 3). His truthtelling and
salty reproof continued unaffected.
These Jewish leaders are using the political right for their own
ends. Christian lovers of freedom who strategize for the saving of
civilization also have the right to use such Jews. No compromise
of our most deeply held beliefs is required by either side. The Talmud
teaches that the Pharisees were the most enlightened leadership the
Jews have ever known. Despite public denial, these rabbis, as the
strictest followers of the Talmud, must believe the Pharisees were
right to have Christ crucified. They must surely agree with the Talmud
that He, as a false prophet and deceiver, now languishes in hell.
(The Talmud gives license for duplicity, saying, "It is permitted
to deceive a goi" [Gentile]. Babakama 113B)
In contrast, as a follower of the New Testament, I believe that
rabbinic Judaism is the "synagogue of Satan," a lying anti-Christ
religious system, and that without trust in Jesus Christ as Savior,
no adult Jew can see God (Rev. 2:9, I Jn. 2:22, I Jn. 2:23).
Of course, I would love to persuade both of these Jewish leaders
to trust in Israel's true Messiah, Jesus Christ. Yet, as one struggling
to save America, I must be free to accept their help to fragment
the staggering power of ADL/B'nai B'rith. In so doing, I pattern
myself precisely after St. Paul. Brought up on charges of heresy
by the Jewish Sanhedrin, he sided with the theology of the Pharisees
in their belief in an afterlife. By so doing, Paul inflamed the opponents
of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection. Result:
both Pharisees and Sadducees went at each other, forgetting the main
reason they had convened, which was to persecute Paul. Having split "organized
Jewry" into two warring factions, Paul saved his life (Acts
23:6).
In an article I wrote about Rabbi Lapin, I encouraged him to become
a "second Moses" to deliver Jews from ADL/B'nai B'rith
bondage. Of course, no one but Jesus Christ can deliver any Jew from
the bondage of sin. But if Rabbi Lapin or any other Jewish leader
could create a rebellion within Jewry, breaking B'nai B'rith's hammerlock
of control, such an initiative would be deserving of the support
and eternal gratitude of every lover of freedom.
We Fight to Win
Sailors know well the saying, "Any port in a time of storm." Those
who fight to win also know that if your theological brethren don't
come to your aid, it may be necessary to take the help of less conventional
allies. In the Old Testament, David fled for his life from Saul,
unassisted by the people of Israel. He had to take refuge in the
land of the Philistines, even making alliance with them. For me,
such liberty means I will tell the truth on just about any talk show
that will host me. I'm not going to worry about how "respectable" they
are. (I have recently been featured on Mormon, Christian Preterist,
and Christian Identity talk shows.)
In fact, if Howard Stern himself assured me I could tell the whole
truth, I would be powerfully tempted to do just that before his millions
of listeners.
Rejecting the rule against "guilt by association," Jesus
knew that in order to save sinners, He would have to associate with
them. I believe that if He were in human form today, He would be
all over talk radio. He would not refuse bookings because they were
not respectable. He would speak wherever He was allowed to tell the
whole truth.
The only rule or law He was under was the law of love.
It is lawful, He said, to do good (Mk. 3:4).
