Dear Ms. Kugler,
As an alumnus of the university, I was greatly disturbed to read the recent (Aug 21) letter to the editor in the New York Times from Rev. Bruce Shipman, the Episcopal chaplain at Yale. In this letter, he lays the blame for the increasing incidence of anti-Semitic attacks and other incidents on the actions of the State of Israel. This is as puerile as it is repugnant.
No matter what one thinks about the actions of Israel’s government, only someone who was already an anti-Semite would respond by attacking Jews in the streets. A mob attacking Jews in a Paris synagogue is not a political protest. Someone shooting defenseless Jewish school children in Toulouse is not criticizing the Israeli government. It should be obvious to any thinking person that the inclination to such anti-Jewish violence preexisted any political excuse.
More fundamentally, however, Rev. Shipman’s argument is just like one blaming African Americans for racism because of high crime rates. What more need be said? It is a morally repellent claim which anyone, especially one considered a man of God, should reject with all force conceivable.
Reasonable people can certainly have differences of opinion as to the propriety and even morality of various governmental actions. But there should be no question that it is deeply immoral to use such opinions to justify hateful, racist violence.
The Yale Religious Ministries Agreement, which Rev. Shipman has signed, stipulates that members “will not undermine another faith community.” And yet he has done exactly that, by justifying anti-Semitism. This is an outrage, and he should be promptly expelled from the Yale Religious Ministries, as provided for in that Agreement.
Sincerely,
Shlomo Engelson Argamon (’94 PhD)
