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I was invited by former Arkansas state Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Conway), president and founder of the National Association of Christian Legislators, to speak about antisemitism at the NACL's conference in Branson, Mo., last week. My talk coincided with a haunting milestone at Yad Vashem, the world holocaust center in Jerusalem: 5 million of the 6 million Jews who the Nazis murdered in the Holocaust have now been identified. The Nazis sought not only to kill the Jews, but to erase every trace of our existence. I've known Rapert for years and worked with him on legislation and oversight concerning the Freedom of Information Act and higher education, among other topics, when he was in office. You might also remember Rapert as the recent member of Arkansas' library board who took the apparently controversial position of seeking to have sexually explicit material in libraries placed out of reach of children. (How fringe? Sigh.) When the board refused Rapert's efforts, the Legislature and the governor fired the current members, and the governor appointed new ones. I had intended to recount here what I said at the NACL conference, but when I read Rapert's statement on the topic that he posted after the event, I realized that his words are better than mine. Here's what he said: "I am the founder and president of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers--representing Christian elected officials from all 50 states, who proudly bring their biblical values into their roles as lawmakers. They serve at the local, state and federal levels of government. "We are conservative Christians who are very patriotic Americans. We want to be clear: God stands with Israel, America is one nation under God, and therefore we stand with God who clearly stands with Israel! "We stand solidly with our friends in Israel and the Jewish people. Rooted in Scripture, Genesis 12:3 declares: 'I will bless those who bless you.' In these trying times, we affirm God's covenant with Abraham's descendants, praying for Jerusalem's peace (Psalm 122:6) and rejecting all forms of antisemitism at home and around the world. "Amid the current controversy over whether conservative commentators or organizations should platform individuals with antisemitic, Hitler-promoting, or Holocaust-denying views--I am honestly disgusted by those who do that. We can uphold free speech as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, while also rebuking those who say horrible and evil things. That's our right under free speech as well! "We have opposed the tactics used in so-called cancel culture and defend everyone's right to speak. However, we also believe those who platform such views have a duty to strongly challenge them, as Ephesians 5:11 urges: 'Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.' Silence in the face of evil promotes it, echoing James 4:17: 'Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.' "Our leaders at NACL boldly put America first. We also have passed legislation and resolutions to support Israel, rebuke Hamas, and fight against antisemitism. I am personally disappointed and disgusted with the shocking antisemitic rhetoric we hear coming from Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson and some others who have seemingly lost their way. They speak out of ignorance or they are purposely twisting the truth when they claim to be Christians and then use their words to attack Israel and drive a wedge between Christians and Jews. Jesus was JEWISH. The Apostle Paul was JEWISH. The authors of the New Testament Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the epistles, and the Book of Acts, were all JEWISH. The early Christian movement was a sect of Judaism, and its foundational texts reflect this JEWISH origin and identity. "I personally rebuke the voices of antisemitism in the United States and those who seek to destroy our alliance with Israel." As another Jewish attendee of the conference (there were several) said: "I've never experienced more love for Israel and the Jewish people in one place than I did this weekend, and that includes going to all of the Jewish events that I've grown up around." Israel and the Jews know no better friend than Jason Rapert and the NACL. May God continue to bless them both. This is your right to know. Robert Steinbuch, the Arkansas Bar Foundation Professor at the Bowen Law School, is a Fulbright Scholar and author of the treatise "The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act." His views do not necessarily reflect those of his employer.
