Judeo-Christians

Hans Calmeyer Righteous Gentile 1903-1972

Lawyer for Life


	WHY SAVE LIVES ?


		Jews and Christians share two key foundations: G_d and Law. And that law, given by God in the Jewish Torah, is the same law expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Those documents are in turn the last major expression of Western Law to have founded a major country. And recently, Europe has used many (though not enough) elements of these same principles in a new constitution for the European Union. Western Civilization is built on shared foundations.

			Utopian visions, both secular and theological, have always been a part of Western Civilization, and some of those have led to the worst excesses in human history. Non-Jewish thinkers hatched the Nazis. Jewish thinkers hatched Marxism and Communism. But Judeo-Christian Civilization has been the most successful and lasting of all the cultures that have ever been known on the planet.

	Are the terms Jewish Civilization or Christian Civilization taking the word “civilization” too far? Jewish Civilization is of course based on the Hebrew traditions. Christian Civilization similarly is founded on the Greek and Roman traditions. The combination represents most of Western Civilization.

Hans Calmeyer was neither Jewish nor overtly Christian himself, but he was brought up by a Christian mother and culturally understood the value of life and that Jewish life was just as valuable as any other, in the face of a regime that recklessly wasted lives of every kind. Hitler’s war was not just against the Jews, it was against Christians too. Any Nazi opposition was anathema. It is high time that the western world begins to understand the danger to which Judeo-Christian Civilization is now exposed. Roughly 3000 years of Judaism, 2000 years of Christianity, 1500 years of Islam have created 3 so-called “great world religions” which have been on a collision course since inception. Anti-Semitism is widespread and has led to the Jewish Holocaust as just the most recent example of empires dominating Jews and the Tribes of Israel. Anti-Christianism is widespread, and has led to many instances of genocide and eradication and persecution. Anti-Islamism is also widespread, and is becoming universal, despite the efforts of politicians to deny the reality of the continual and inevitable clash between Jihad and the other two faiths. All three great religions have had great and small conflicts amongst each other. Death is the result, on an ever more massive scale. But the fundamental great great clash is 2-sided: between Judeo-Christian Civilization and an anti-Jew and anti-Christ Civilization that is metastasizing through threat and conquest and a totally clear Jihadist program of subjection and eradication of all opposition. Jews had their times of conquest in the very distant past, before there was much opposition, and have since operated in a more nomadic progression of excellence in various countries behind the scenes. Some historical experts have observed that Christianity has “matured” from its conquering proselytization into a more gentle form of evangelization and material persuasion. Not so with Judaism, where only the most unobservant Muslims (or those many observing the Koran and the Hadiths against their will) deny the specifics of their chosen or imposed faith: all non-believers are to be subjugated or put to death. This is not just radical Islam, it is the essence of Mohammedan Islam. Islam’s true nature is there.


One God for Judeo-Christian Solidarity ? Let it be a rule with us, in the reading of our Bibles, to study the types and ordinances of the Mosaic law with prayerful attention. They are all full of Christ. The altar–the scape-goat–the daily burnt-offering–the day of atonement, are all so many sign-posts pointing to the great sacrifice offered by our Lord on Calvary. Those who neglect to study the Jewish ordinances, as dark, dull, and uninteresting parts of the Bible, only show their own ignorance, and miss great advantages. Those who examine them with Christ as the key to their meaning, will find them full of Gospel light and comfortable truth. ~ J.C. Ryle

	What of the Hindus, is this fourth numerically-large religion a threat to the 3 great religions or vice versa? They are not threatened by Jews or Christians, but certainly in the crosshairs of the Muslims. Clearly not part of Judeo-Christian Civilization, the Hindu Civilization (and it is an ancient one, perhaps the most ancient) shares the ongoing conflict with expansionist Muslims in India, Pakistan, and Malaysia, to name a few. Secularists might well be said to represent a fifth great mass movement (column?), large but disorganized. Secularism and secularist anti-religions are however ineffectual and naive dreams at best, with no power over believers. In fact, they become their own belief systems resulting in totalitarian systems that merely amount to alternate gods, including environmentalism (earth worship), fascism (leader-worship), statism (state-worship), atheism (chaos as god), evolutionism (the god of chance), and so on. The point is that man and masses will inevitably believe and follow leadership. Calmeyer fought for the life of the innocent against an anti-Semitic regime that was also anti-Christian. Hitler perceived all religions as threats to his iron rule, although he was happy to organize a whole Muslim regiment for mutual totalitarian ends. Hitler was not the first or last tyrant to use religions for his own purposes and against each other. His faith was in an idealized super-man, a faith that required the eradication of lesser men, under complete control by the Fuehrer-Leader. Calmeyer would be aghast at the current passivity of Jews and Christians in the face of Muslim expansion. More than ever, it is time for Jews and Christians to converge, in their shared G_d, in concerted defense of the western civilization they have largely created together.

			Christ clearly considered himself as the Jewish Messiah, supporting everything in the Old Testament and teaching the OT in Synagogue. He was ultimately rejected by the Jews. But the Foundation of all Law was already set. “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” (Matt 5-17)

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If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. ~ John 5:46

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the substance, however, is of Christ. ~ Colossians 2:16-17

But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. ~ Hebrews 8:6

If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. ~ Deut 13.

17"Do not think that I came to abolish the (V)Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18"For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Deuteronomy 4:40 Thou shalt keep therefore His statutes, and His commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy G-d giveth thee, for ever. (KJV)

Psalm 111:2 The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. 3 His work is honorable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever. 4 He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion. 5 He hath given meat unto them that fear him: He will ever be mindful of His covenant. 6 He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that He may give them the heritage of the heathen. 7 The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all His commandments are sure. 8 They stand fast for ever and ever, [and are] done in truth and uprightness. 9 He sent redemption unto his people: He hath commanded His covenant for ever: holy and reverend[is His name. (KJV)

Marc Chagall's White Crucifixion, a response to Kristallnacht â€” "The Night of Broken Glass," remains the icon among many paintings that described Jewish suffering even before l939. Chagall used the theme of a crucified "Jewish" Jesus set against vignettes of Jewish persecution that unfolded in the Nazi era. -- Stephen G. Feinstein, Witness & Legacy

Christ's Passion and Crucifixion have proved to be among the^Âmost popular and enduring symbols of the Holocaust in art. -- Ziva Amishai-Maisels,"Faith, Ethics, and the Holocaust"

http://scribalterror.blogs.com/scribal_terror/2007/04/white_crucifixi.html

On Jewish and Christian relations:

"It is impossible for a Christian to be a Christian ... without the Jewish people."

"What Christians believe, they got through the Jews.”

“Jews and Christians are the guardians of the revelation of the Only One God and of his design to bring all humans together one day.”

“Christianity is the fruit of Judaism."

“The strength of evil can only be answered with an even greater strength of love,”

Cardinal Lustiger, Archbishop of Paris, a Jew, in his own words

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article2215865.ece


The Concept of Judeo-Christian Civilization The reason to consider Judeo-Christianity in respect to Hans Calmeyer is that the social conflict between Jews and the rest of the population (principally Christian) is a part of the fabric of the Calmeyer story. What made Hitler and the Nazis such a diametrically anti-Semitic force? Was it largely pre-existing in European society (yes) and was it inspired by any perceived sins or evils that Europeans saw in the Jews of that time (again yes), and was the hatred inspired by something civilizational or by something anti-civizational like the Third Reich (again yes). The concept of the Third Reich or Empire was, as we remember, a stated evolution from first the Greek Alexandrian Empire, then the Roman Caesarian Empire, and now the German Hitlerian Empire. Why would a gentile of mildly Christian up-bringing risk his very life for a people that were truly held in universal hate and disreput in the Germany and Europe of Calmeyer's time? An explanation of Calmeyer's apparent altruism in the face of demands to toe the Nazi line, which would have been much simpler and easier, is that Calmeyer as a well educated intellectual did not in fact share any ant-Semitic tendencies with the Nazis. That explanation would have to be joined by a motivation: either Calmeyer was legalistically obligated to respect the fine lines of the laws protecting the individual from the State, or he was morally obligated to protect and save the lives of upcoming Nazi victimes, or he had another hidden axe or two to grind. We do not see mere administrative lawyering as sufficient motivation to risk the dangers inherent in repeatedly promoting and accepting false evidence in some 3000 cases. We have not found any particualr pro-Jewish inclinations in Calmeyer's past, though some of his literary/poetic heroes and philosophers were Jewish and he tried to defend a Jewish co-worker from automatic dismissal based merely on her Jewishness. I am most convinced by the notion that Calmeyer acted out of a basic moral imperative: the Nazi deportations were simply untenable on that basis. Calmeyer knew that the deportations led to concentration camps, some for slave labor, some for extermination, and ultimately for both. His moral imperative was therefor a combination of fighting for justice and fighting for life and freedom. Since there is little evidence that Calmeyer was a particularly vocal thinker on the topic of freedom, we can conclude that his reason for drawing a line in the sand was a basic respect for human life. While his legal admisistrative duties were technical, related to fine distinctions of racial and cultural identity, and seldom based on any personal interaction with victims, there was little other discernible reason for him to oppose the entire command structure of German occupation in the Netherlands. The Holocaust concentrated on the Jews, but Catholics and especially their priest leaders were targeted as well. In Dachau alone, no fewer than 2,771 priests were imprisoned, of whom at least 1,000 died from hunger, disease or illtreatment. Acts of brutality, torture and murder were commonplace in these camps, not just for Jews and Christians, but other dissidents, especially Christians. The majority of the priests interned in Dachau were of Polish origin; however, apart from German nationals, there were large numbers of French, Czechs, and Austrians. Dachau was host to priests from all over Nazi occupied Europe. Seminarians from these same countries were drafted in as part of forced labour gangs in Germany. No less than 4,000 priests were put to death during these years, either as 'political saboteurs', or, after incarceration in concentration camps, by hanging, starvation, mishandling, lack of medical aid, or as victims of medical experiments including euthanasia. It is a story of courageous and heroic resistance against the overwhelming power of a police state. [3] ENDNOTES 1. cf Lewy, G., The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany, London 1964, pp.170-172 2. cf Homiletic and Pastoral Review, February 1983, p.48-49 3. cf J.C. Conway, The Nazi Persecution of the Churches 1933-1945, London 1968, pp.298-299, and note 24, p. 447

	Was an early Judeo-Christian amalgamation, which believed in a prophet Jesus and in the God of Abraham, but not in the deity of Jesus, the foundation for Islam and the Koran? ... Ten Myths About Islam 5th Edition By Timothy W. Dunkin © 2001-2010, All Rights Reserved “Scholars have observed the great amount of influence that Judaeo-Christianity had upon the initial development of Islam, Judaeo-Christianity being here defined as those sects who were present in Palestine, Syria, and Iraq and who accepted Christ as a Messianic figure, but who rejected His deity (e.g. the Nazoreans, Ebionites, etc.). Indeed, many beliefs of these groups coincide with those later held by Islam, including a belief that Jesus Christ was not a member of the Godhead, but was instead a subordinated prophet of God, and the emphasis upon Abraham as the first "man of knowledge" who had the knowledge of God conferred upon him by an angel (Y.D. Nevo and J. Koren, Crossroads to Islam). Other aspects of the theology of these Judaeo-Christian groups were later adopted by the Arabs into their developing monotheism after their military expansion into these regions. These include the denial of the crucifixion, the obligation to observe the sabbath and other elements of the Mosaic law, and the qiblah (direction of prayer) towards Jerusalem, which was the initial direction recorded in Islamic tradition before it was changed to Mecca. The Arabs, of course, would have been exposed to the religious beliefs of these groups, as well as those of the Jews and the various Christian sects, due to the presence of some of these groups in Arabia, as well as through trade relations. After the Arabs expanded their conquests into Persia/Mesopotamia and the eastern end of the Byzantine Empire, it would not be surprising that these doctrines were accepted into the larger aegis of the developing state monotheism, especially as the Arabs sought to distinguish themselves from both the Jews and the Christians of the Byzantine Empire. All of this helps to explain the great amount of quranic borrowing from Christian, Jewish, and especially Judaeo-Christian sources. It is likely that the Arabs developed the belief system of Islam only after leaving the Arabian desert and coming into contact with these Judaeo-Christian groups (primarily) and other belief systems outside of Arabia. A striking evidence of the influence of Judaeo-Christianity on the early development of Islam is found in an early Syrian variant of the shahada (the Muslim â€œwitnessâ€ or profession of their core belief in Allah and Mohammed as his prophet) that included a belief in Jesus in its statement. Bashear summarizes the significance of this evidence, Essentially, the scheme of Islam’s self perception vis-a-vis the issue of belief in Jesus, outlined above, conveys a sense of dependence upon and continuity of a certain Judaeo-Christian legacy that ran much deeper than the general notion of accepting Jesus only as one of several other pre-Islamic prophets and saintly figures. A close examination of the material on Quran 3:55 and 4:159 clearly shows the existence of a second century current which presented the roots of Islam as going back to a certain Judaeo-Christian group whose basic feature was the belief in Jesus. Though being the word (or will) of God personified, and in spite of being raised up to him once his mission was complete, Jesus himself was only human and, so to speak, earthly. This belief, we are told, was suppressed by mainstream Christianity and Judaism until it was regenerated by Islam. ... S. Bashear, “Jesus in an Early Muslim Shahada and Related Issues: A New Perspective”€, Studies in Early Islamic Tradition, Ch. 15, pp. 17-18; presented as a paper at the fourth Hadith Colloquium held in Amsterdam, August 1991.

		Geert Wilders 3-25-11: Islam is a totalitarian ideology. Islamic Shariah law supervises every detail of life. Islam is not compatible with our Western way of life. Islam is a threat to our values. Respect for people who think otherwise, the equality of men and women, the equality of homosexuals and heterosexuals, respect for Christians, Jews, unbelievers and apostates, the separation of church and state, freedom of speech, they are all under pressure because of islamization.