Another Priest with an Attitude - Wagging the Dog

The reinstatement of a priest who is a Holocaust denier by the Pope has generated, and rightfully so, a tremendous outcry from the Jewish world. It seems, though, that he is not the only priest with a problem with the Holocaust. Ynet reported of another priest who, while not a Holocaust denier and while admitting that there were 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust, still felt it appropriate to compare the recent Israeli defensive incursion into Gaza to the Holocaust. (See http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3664042,00.html.) After all, he maintained, what is the difference between 6 million and 1 thousand? In a certain way, that is true; the gemara does compare the life of a single person to the entire corpus of humanity -- but the comparison is ridiculous and not simply because of the numbers. In a certain way, I feel that even presenting the numerous ways why this comparison is more than ludicrous is an affront to the Holocaust itself. The real question is how could this priest, how could any sane person, make such a statement?

Ah, but the answer is actually also presented in the Holocaust. In the last paragraph of the Ynet article, it quotes the priest as referring to Jews as killers of God and calling upon them to repent and accept Jesus. So that's the point. It really is a case of the tail wagging the dog. If non-believers in Jesus are going to Hell, such non-believers must be evil. If they are evil, they must do evil acts. It is very difficult to contend that non-believers are going to Hell if they actually act in a good fashion. Why would a deity send such fine doers of good to Hell just for not believing in him? Must be that they don't do good things. In the end, this priest wants Jews to be labeled as evil -- it goes with his religious perspective. It thus serves his religious perception to compare Gaza to the Holocaust. And if you have a problem with that, remember the great Catholic proclamation of faith credo qui absurdum est, I believe because it is absurd. This priest is just practicing his faith.

Rabbi Ben Hecht