I’m sure this incident is inspired by the swastika incident. It’s not like this area is a hotbed of constant, public anti-Semitic acts. It’s not. We had the Catholic priest, Most Rev. Richard Donahoe attend our Rosh Hashanah service and speak, we hold a Passover Seder at a different church every year, the churches around us lend us their parking lots for the High Holy Days, etc. So, while there is an underlying anti-Semitism and racism for some, it’s not a majority by any means. If I wear my kippah and walk from synagogue, I hear “Shalom”, not slurs.
So, here is the incident in question: http://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/2012/01/03/church-sign-vandalized-with-anti-semitic-message/
But, I really love the stand the pastor took afterwards:
“It just kind of disturbed us. We are Christians and have theological differences with the Jewish faith, but we are rooted in the Jewish faith,” Irvin said. “We are not a hate group, not anti-Semitic. We do not consider them as enemies; we consider them as friends. We respect the Jewish people.
“We really do respect those people and their beliefs,” he added. “We don’t want them to have any harm. It just disturbed us that some people may have seen our sign and it was not us that put it there.”
Irvin posted a new message on his church’s sign.
“It’s from Psalm 122:6, ‘Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, how blessed are those who love you,’”
Beautiful. Thank you, Pastor, and may the blessings of God shine upon you and yours
