9/18 Letters: The history of Luther’s anti-Semitism

Regarding the letter to the editor “Remove Luther too” (Sept. 14): The author is right: Martin Luther’s anti-Semitism was virulent, violent and vile, but it also was more complicated than Schiffman makes it sound. Luther actually started out with a rather enlightened position, at least by the standards of the late Middle Ages. In 1523, he advocated for the inclusion of Jewish people into society and a non-violent mission effort to convert the Jews. When they failed to flock to the newly reformed brand of Christianity as Luther had expected, he turned against them with a vengeance, writing the diatribes of 1543 to which Schiffman referred.

Those writings were then used in the late 19th century to justify the ghettoization of the Jewish people in Germany and, during the Third Reich, their physical extermination in the gas chambers of the Nazis. The Lutheran Church either approved or stayed silent, with only a tiny fraction of Lutheran Christians showing any kind of resistance. The latter organized the Confessing Church, of which Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer is the most prominent representative.

The Lutheran World Federation officially rejected Luther’s anti-Semitic writings in 1969, as did our denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), in 1994. ELCA predecessor church bodies had done so in 1974.

More Swiss cheese holes

David Von Drehle, the author of “The Swiss-cheese Philosopher” (Sept. 14), agrees with Steve Bannon’s statement that the dysfunction in Washington, D.C., is the result of its being a “successful business model.” That is so. But it’s not just the “lawyers, lobbyists, consultants and contractors,” it’s Congress itself. Add to the mix, the Supreme Court – which has put its legal imprimatur on big money having a legitimate role in our electoral process.

There is another big “hole in the cheese” that emerged in Charlie Rose’s interview with the former White House chief strategist, but which Drehle does not mention, and that is Bannon’s view that there is one purpose of immigration. Bannon believes it should be based solely on what the rest of the world can do for America. Never does it occur to him that the richest country in the world has a history of our offering something to the world – a haven, a hope for a new life, free from persecution, misery and poverty. The Roman Catholic religious tradition in which Bannon was raised is very clear about America’s obligation in that regard. Strange that he is so blind to it.

This story was originally published September 17, 2017 at 3:14 PM with the headline "9/18 Letters: The history of Luther’s anti-Semitism."