OPINION:
The Rev. Raphael Warnock has preached that Jesus was a “poor Palestinian prophet.” This is not only false, it is targeted hate speech that only touches the surface of what he believes.
The word Palestine does not appear one time throughout the New Testament and the Philistines referenced in the Old Testament became extinct during biblical times.
The only people who attempt to rob Jesus, a Jew born to Jews in Judea of his heritage, are those who hate Jews. It appears that Mr. Warnock is more interested in pushing a subversive political agenda than teaching God’s word.
Mr. Warnock’s teachings are a fusion of two anti-Semitic doctrines that have led to the murder of countless Jews throughout history; Replacement Theology and Liberation Theology.
The heretical teaching of Replacement Theology promotes a doctrine stating that Christians replaced the Jews as God’s Chosen People and in turn the Jews will live in damnation for eternity. This belief has led to pogroms, inquisitions and even the Holocaust.
Liberation Theology was born in Latin America during the rise of Communism, peddling the notion that Jesus was a revolutionary fighting off the yoke of Roman colonialism. It later spread worldwide wherever Marxists needed to recruit Christians. Taking forms like Black Liberation Theology or Palestinian Liberation Theology.
Yasser Arafat, an Egyptian Muslim who led the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) knew that the life of Jesus stood in direct contradiction to his narrative, making it difficult to recruit Christians to his cause. So he rewrote the Bible and rebranded Jesus as a Palestinian. Institutions were established in Bethlehem where Palestinian activists cloaked in Christianity peddled their own newer testament.
This false and blasphemous doctrine has been quietly disseminated in America for decades by fringe anti-Semites on the right and left; from President Obama’s former preacher and Mr. Warnock’s mentor Rev. Jeremiah Wright to Pastor Rick Wiles of Tru News who recently gained notoriety by suggesting there was a “Jew Coup” underway to overthrow America. What unites those who appropriate Jesus as a Palestinian is their hate for Jews.
This was further proven last year when Linda Sarsour, who was booted from the Women’s March, because of her hatred for Jews, tweeted “Jesus was Palestinian of Nazareth and is described in the Quran as being brown copper skinned with wooly hair.” This new Muslim interpretation on the same theme was quickly retweeted by her friend Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. No surprise that both of these individuals are personally campaigning for Mr. Warnock.
The fact that Mr. Warnock pushes the Palestinian Jesus narrative is indicative of his broader perspective. His spin doctors are working around the clock to cover his past and paint him as an heir of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, a Zionist and staunch ally of Israel, when he is actually cut from the same cloth as his teacher Rev. Jeremiah “God Damn America” Wright.
What starts with Jesus and the Jews, never ends there. Mr. Warnock and his allies are bent on rewriting American history and eroding the Judeo-Christian values upon which America was founded.
At a time when America is crying out for unity, we the people need leaders who respect our shared past and aim to build a better future.
• Laurie Cardoza-Moore is the founder of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, an Evangelical Christian organization that educates Christians about their Biblical responsibility to stand with Israel and the Jewish people against the rise of global anti-Semitism.
