COMMENTARY: South Carolina flag flap shows the power of symbols

c. 1996 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.) UNDATED _ In his effort to remove the Confederate flag from atop the South Carolina state capitol, Gov. David Beasley has discovered what any religious leader could have told him: Symbols are often more powerful than words […]

c. 1996 Religion News Service

(Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the

American Jewish Committee.)


UNDATED _ In his effort to remove the Confederate flag from atop the South Carolina state capitol, Gov. David Beasley has discovered what any religious leader could have told him: Symbols are often more powerful than words because of their extraordinary ability to stir intense emotions _ for good or ill.

Beasley wants the controversial flag moved to a Confederate war memorial on the capitol grounds, and his plan has gained the support of some key South Carolina political leaders. But the governor’s foes, mainly conservative white state officials, have accused him of being a traitor to the heritage of the South and to the memory of the soldiers who fought under the”Stars and Bars”during the Civil War.

Unsurprisingly, South Carolina’s blacks and many whites perceive the flag as a symbol of racial division and a public license to commit violent acts of bigotry. Indeed, the Ku Klux Klan in the state has appropriated it as a symbol of hate. No one, it seems, is neutral about the flag.

But a much older symbol than the Confederate flag, the Christian cross, also arouses profound feelings of both love and dread. For Christians, millions of whom proudly wear a crucifix around their necks, the cross is a tangible reminder of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Being nailed to the cross is a particularly brutal form of punishment, and during their occupation of the land of Israel, ruthless Roman officials executed many Jews, including Jesus, in this manner.

Over the centuries, the cross has replaced the earlier sign of the fish as the major symbol of Christian faith. Today, the cross is a central feature in many churches around the world, and in recent times, a red or blue cross has became the nearly universal insignia for healing and medical care. The cross’ impact upon Western vocabulary and culture is reflected in such words as crux, crucial, crusade, crucible, and excruciating.

But, as with so many other symbols, there is another, quite different perception of the Christian cross. An American Catholic priest, the Rev. Edward Flannery, learned that fact first-hand many years ago during the Christmas season.

One December evening he and a Jewish friend looked at a well-known Manhattan office building whose carefully lit windows on many floors formed a large cross. For Flannery, it was a welcome symbol of the holiday season. But his friend physically shuddered and said that the cross made her terribly uneasy, even frightened.

She told the priest that the cross triggered deep-seated memories of the many centuries of anti-Jewish acts of murder, expulsion, and discrimination that were committed by Christian warriors, who often wore the cross on their shields, and who acted in the name of Jesus. For the priest’s Jewish friend, the cross, so revered by believing Christians, was a symbol of her people’s persecution and oppression.


Flannery, deeply shaken by this episode, returned to his home in Providence, R.I., where he began a scholarly investigation into the roots of Christian anti-Semitism. He was stunned by what he discovered: the sad and bloody record of systemic Christian animus directed against Jews and Judaism for nearly 2,000 years, including heinous acts that were carried out by Christian clergy themselves.

Flannery’s research changed his life forever.

In 1965, as a direct result of his studies, Flannery published a remarkable book that has become a classic,”The Anguish of the Jews.”It was the first time that a Catholic priest wrote about this painful side of Christian history.”The Anguish of the Jews”is a powerful call for a radical change of Christian attitudes, beliefs, and actions towards Jews and Judaism.

The jarring experiences of Gov. Beasley and Father Flannery provide vivid reminders about the power and danger of emblems like the Confederate flag and the Christian cross. Although these symbols are cherished by many people, throughout history they have often had their original meanings twisted and tragically abused. Not everyone looks upon them with affection and warmth.

Political and religious leaders should treat such potent symbols as they would radioactive material. Powerful symbols must be used in ways that are constructive, not destructive, and handled with extreme care, lest they promote or condone violence and hatred.

MJP END RUDIN

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