OpEd: Manger Display Unacceptably Portrays War in Gaza as a Religious One

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — How cute. We find Baby Jesus in a new environment: swaddled by a black-and-white keffiyeh, emblem of the Palestinian struggle. Not to rest in a manger but to lie amid a pile of rocks that symbolize the rocks left over from bombed-out buildings in Gaza. Thus, the label “Christ in the Rubble.”

At a church in Washington, baby Jesus is Black, an apparent homage to the concept of intersectionality – as if Hamas’ savage attack upon southern Israel is another civil rights movement.

What a gambit. Avoiding taxes while enabled to insult the Jewish people. While churches and other religious institutions may be allowed to voice their political attitudes, our system of tax breaks forces us to pay them to offend us. How obscene can we get?

What the Washington church and other churches are doing creates a pile of rubble for the Jewish and Christian religions in America and elsewhere. Christ in the Rubble tableaus have been appearing in churches this year without regard for Jewish concerns about the current conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The creation of these displays is a slap in the face to Jews worldwide and a direct attack on Jewish theology. It contradicts part of the mission statement of one church, the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, which states: “Join a team working…to respect the dignity of every human being.”

If All Saints respect (s) “the dignity of every human being,” it would find a way to recognize that 1,200 Jews were slaughtered in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, 250 Jews were taken hostage by Hamas, survivors of the attack have committed suicide, friends and family members are in perpetual mourning and living survivors must struggle with physical injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Or maybe Jews are not human beings? Such an interpretation of the New Testament led to the Spanish Inquisition, Russian pogroms and the Holocaust.

It is understandable that people are deeply concerned about thousands of Palestinian deaths, and Israel’s response does raise disturbing questions. However, Israel’s critics focus on the Arab side and mostly ignore damage to Jews and other victims of Hamas’ actions. It has been a one-sided affair, and that makes it easier for Jews like myself to lose sympathy for Palestinian victims.

We became aware of baby Jesus’ new environment when it was presented at the Vatican, where the wheelchair-bound Pope Francis observed it last week. The Religion News Service reports that the creche was first set up last year outside the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem in the West Bank. All Saints in Pasadena copied it and placed it on one of its lawns.

Two artists based in Bethlehem presented a creche to Pope Francis on Saturday, Dec.7, located in St. Peter’s Square, and he responded by declaring, “Enough wars, enough violence!” He added, “Remember the brothers and sisters, who, right there (in Bethlehem) and in other parts of the world, are suffering from the tragedy of war.”

Who was he talking to? Hamas started this chapter of the war. Hamas merged military targets with schools and hospitals.

Pope Francis’ comments triggered a strong backlash, and the Vatican showed enough sense to remove the creche within a few days, according to The Times of Israel. The Vatican would not explain its decision to remove it. This display was not the main creche at the Vatican.

The Religious News Service did not report on any responses from Jewish groups or individuals, which could not have been difficult to find, but they mentioned other instances. A similar nativity scene was assembled outside St. Mark’s Episcopal Church less than half a mile from Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., which added a racial statement, that baby Jesus is Black.

That would symbolize the oppression that our Black community and the Palestinians share together. Or so they say. Many Palestinians want to destroy Israel. Their leaders and neighbors could care less about social justice, which civil rights groups in America have sought for decades.

Which brings us to tax breaks for churches, synagogues, hospitals and other nonprofits. Despite tax breaks, many religious organizations engage in political activities at some level. St. Marks and All Saints went too far. It is one thing to practice their beliefs in the context of a hot issue, but they are attacking another religion.

Portraying Jesus in a creche reflects Christian beliefs in the birth of their messiah, but these new touches metaphorically blame Israel for Palestinian deaths while ignoring Hamas’ abuses. By placing a Black Jesus in the creche, they suggest that both Israel and American Jews are aligned with white supremacists. They are signaling this message: While Israel oppresses the Palestinians, American Jews stand with their fellow white Americans in persecuting Black America.

And these displays are situated outside the churches for all passersby to see – and perhaps get brainwashed.

The government should not tolerate these acts. It should investigate the status of each church’s tax breaks and revoke them if they are attacking a different religion. If the Internal Revenue Service cannot do this under current laws, then we are due for new laws on this topic. This is the kind of step that the Jewish community should insist upon.

If President-elect Trump wants to fight antisemitism, this is a suitable place to start.

*
Bruce S. Ticker is a Philadelphia-based columnist.