Jerry Newcombe
The 'death to America' crowd
FacebookTwitter
By Jerry Newcombe
May 9, 2024

We’ve all witnessed the recent drama of the pro-Palestinian, anti-Jewish protests on college campuses. A recent discovery at one of the protests speaks volumes about the whole movement.

In the tents of the anti-Israel, pro-Hamas protesters at NYU, the police who cleared out their den of dissent uncovered signs which said, “Death to Israel! Death to America!”

Surprise. Surprise.

People who care about America’s godly roots as a nation—yes, our Judeo-Christian roots—know how principles revealed in the Bible are linked to the American experiment in self-liberty under God.

In contrast to our nation’s founding are sentiments held by many young Americans today: “Death to Israel and Death to America.”

There is a sense in which Jews and Christians are tied together for freedom’s sake both in America and in the country of Israel.

I’ve interviewed Rabbi Daniel Lapin a few times for Christian television. He is the founder and head of the American Alliance of Jews and Christians.

He once told me, “No country in the last two thousand years has provided the same haven of tranquility and prosperity for Jews as has the United States of America. And this is not in spite of Americans being Christian; it is because of it. You might say that America's Bible Belt is the Jewish community’s safety belt.”

And he added: “Jews need to understand that our safety and security in the United States is dependent upon the health and vitality of American Christianity.”

Therefore, said the rabbi, the very safety of Jews (and others) is put at risk when the Christian faith is undermined in America. That is certainly borne out more and more in the protests and the rise of anti-Semitic violence we see today.

As the executive director of Providence Forum, I recently had the privilege of participating in our ministry’s Faith and Freedom Tour in Philadelphia. Dr. Peter Lillback, the founder of Providence Forum, was our tour guide. Providence Forum is now a part of Coral Ridge Ministries, headed up by Dr. Robert J. Pacienza, our host for this memorable weekend.

At one of our stops, Dr. Lillback highlighted the old synagogue there. Because of the Christian attitude of that city’s founder, the Quaker minister and lawyer William Penn, all people (including Jews) were free to practice their religion in his settlement without harassment. A rarity in that day.

As Dr. Lillback noted in one of our videos, Penn cared deeply about conscience rights and it showed in the colony and the city he created in America—“Philadelphia, named from the Bible "brotherly love," established on the Golden Rule freedom of conscience to each other. That becomes, then, the model of America. When Thomas Jefferson and George Washington look at Philadelphia, they say that place has succeeded far better than Virginia that imposes religion on others. Their view of conscience, their view of freedom is extraordinary.”

One of the Jews who came to Philadelphia almost a century after Penn helped the American cause in pivotal ways, for which he should be remembered: Haym Salomon was a very successful Jewish investor who fled Europe because of anti-Semitic persecution.

In his 2022 book Rediscovering America: How the National Holidays Tell an Amazing Story About Who We Are, Scott S. Powell, a senior fellow with the Discovery Institute, writes: “Washington and the Continental Army were in fact perpetually short of financial resources. Fortunately, even before the Revolutionary War started there was a young Jewish lover of liberty being raised up, Haym Salomon.”

Thankfully, Scott Powell was able to attend our tour and to provide some information about Salomon, a man to whom America owes a debt of gratitude. Powell notes that Salomon was not only savvy and successful as a financier, but he had an “impeccable reputation of integrity.” That was certainly a key element of his success.

Powell notes in his book: “After the war, financial records sum up that Haym Salomon’s fundraising and personal lending provided over $650,000 [which would translate to a staggering amount of money in today’s dollars]…for Washington and the war effort.”

One interesting footnote about Haym Salomon is that the terrific actor Claude Rains played him in a short dramatic film made in 1939—entitled “Sons of Liberty”—by the eminent Casablanca director Michael Curtiz.

The film may not hold up well today, but the man—Haym Salomon—deserves to be remembered by whole new generations of Americans.

America was built by the sacrifices of many Christians and some of their Jewish friends, like Haym Salomon, a man that modern Americans have almost completely forgotten.

So, we fast forward to today, and we see modern nihilist protesters with mottos like “Death to Israel! Death to America!” Truly, our nation is overripe in its need for a genuine spiritual revival.

© Jerry Newcombe

 

The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)

Click to enlarge

Jerry Newcombe

Jerry Newcombe, D.Min., is the executive director of the Providence Forum, an outreach of D. James Kennedy Ministries, where Jerry also serves as senior producer and an on-air host. He has written/co-written 33 books, including George Washington's Sacred Fire (with Providence Forum founder Peter Lillback, Ph.D.) and What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? (with D. James Kennedy, Ph.D.). www.djkm.org @newcombejerry www.jerrynewcombe.com

Subscribe

Receive future articles by Jerry Newcombe: Click here

More by this author

 

Stephen Stone
HAPPY EASTER: A message to all who love our country and want to help save it

Stephen Stone
The most egregious lies Evan McMullin and the media have told about Sen. Mike Lee

Siena Hoefling
Protect the Children: Update with VIDEO

Stephen Stone
FLASHBACK to 2020: Dems' fake claim that Trump and Utah congressional hopeful Burgess Owens want 'renewed nuclear testing' blows up when examined

Rev. Mark H. Creech
From ministry to need: Seeking help in my darkest hour

Jerry Newcombe
Bible sales increasing

Tom DeWeese
Change the debate and take back liberty locally

Steve A. Stone
Truth will out...maybe...someday

Curtis Dahlgren
On the need for noble mothers (and fathers)

Tom DeWeese
If you are illegal, come. We’ll give you $thousands and let you kill and rape. If you are legal, go to hell

Stanley Zir
The sky is not falling, Chicken Little, under Donald Trump

Jerry Newcombe
How Thanksgiving became a national holiday

Frank Louis
Thanksgiving Thoughts: If you think prayer doesn’t work, think again

Kari Lee Fournier
Almighty God vs. Satan: Thanksgiving during demolition of the Deep State!

Victor Sharpe
Glory or weakness: Israel’s eternal choice

Selwyn Duke
Let’s say man IS changing the climate. So what?
  More columns

Cartoons


Click for full cartoon
More cartoons

Columnists

Matt C. Abbott
Chris Adamo
Russ J. Alan
Bonnie Alba
Chuck Baldwin
Kevin J. Banet
J. Matt Barber
Fr. Tom Bartolomeo
. . .
[See more]

Sister sites