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| Pâ•qidꞋ Yi•rᵊmᵊyâhꞋu |
2004.03.04 Mensa Israel International Misojudaism SIG (Special Interest Group) – Note: Mensans have views. Mensa, per se, has no views. The views expressed in this article are those of Mensan Yi•rᵊmᵊyâhꞋu Bën-Dâ•widꞋ, founder and monitor of M-Misojudaism SIG.
"The term anti-Semitic is problematic. Arabs argue, correctly, that they cannot be anti-Semitic because they are also Semites and they don’t hate fellow Arab-Semites. That’s logical. To fight logic is to lose. Jews ignored this logical fallacy when "anti-Semitism" was primarily a problem of Christian Europe. Like a malignant cancer, this hatred has metastasized from the first-order (Christian) Displacement Theology to the second-order (Islamic) Displacement Theology. It was predictable by anyone who understood its workings.
"Some have used the term Judeo-phobic, but that means "fear of Judaism." But the problem is hatred, stereotyping and bias, primarily against Judaism, and only as a product of hatred of Judaism, hatred of Jews; not fear of Judaism or Jews.
"Reflection upon the repeated failures of traditional responses to this hatred, stereotyping and bias over the past two millennia demand a thorough review of the response by all intelligent and fair-minded people, free of sacred cows, in order to develop an effective – logical – response.
"First things first. The proper term for hatred of everything Judaic; i.e., Judaism and Jews, is μισό- (miso-) Judaic.
Why "miso-Judaism" rather than "miso-Jew"? Because "Jews" is an abbreviation of "Judeans," who were defined by the Romans as the inhabitants of "Judea." Both terms, Jew and Judea, derive from the Hebrew Yᵊhud•âhꞋ, the only identifiable tribe of Israel surviving at that time as a tribe. Hence, Jew, Judea, Judah, Yehudah are all the same term in Hebrew, Yᵊhud•âhꞋ; and they are defined by the religion that the Romans named after them: Judah-ism. Jews were originally defined in the Jewish Bible, i.e. by Judaism (pardon the anachronism), and without Judaism there can be no such thing as a Jew. With the collapse of the Ten Northern Tribes the remnants from all of the other tribes took refuge in Yᵊhud•âhꞋ, merging with the Judeans (Jews), thereby transforming Jews into Israel (the people). Attempts to distinguish Israel as the Ten Northern Tribes from Judea is tantamount to claiming that, in the American Civil War, only the Union side became Americans.
"Rather than continue to see responses to hatred and bias against Judaism and Jews founder over misuse of a term, I recommend that we begin with a logically consistent slate, abandoning the erroneous term, anti-Semitism, and replacing it with miso-Judaism.
"America refers to both people and land. A land-people isn’t a difficult concept. Long before America, Israel referred to both people and land. This was the original definition and is the only logically valid use of the term Israel.
"To be used logically, miso-Judaism must be defined. While significant fine-tuning may well be in order, I suggest we begin with the following draft definition: Miso-Judaism is bias against or hatred of Judaism or Israel (as defined above), especially through generalization or stereotyping. (Note, for example, that, according to this definition, Mel Gibson’s movie can be quantitatively proven miso-Judaic.)
"Already, this exposes a fine line that must be discerned. Criticism of Israel, whether the people (Jews) or the land (government), can certainly be valid. What is needed is an objective touchstone. That touchstone is generalizing, stereotyping, bias or hatred. It is the presence of one or more of these elements that constitute miso-Judaism, whether it targets Judaism or Israel. This is consistent with logic generally. Generalizing, stereotyping, bias or hatred earns condemnation irrespective of who happens to be the victim.
"Despite its terminological deficiencies, familiarity with the seminal classic treatise on "anti-Semitism" by Oxford historian James Parkes (The Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue, A Study in the Origins of Anti-Semitism) is a prerequisite for informed discussion of miso-Judaism.
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