Further, singling out proselytization as the one and only matter of concern is extremely shortsighted. For one, any faith that takes itself seriously, that subscribes to the idea that religious truth is objective, is going to be, to one degree or another, a proselytizing faith. Even Judaism advocates bringing non-Jews to a knowledge of God through observance of the Seven Laws of Noah.
In fact, one of Messiah’s tasks will be to compel non-Jews to forsake their false gods and religions and accept the Noachide Laws. And messianic though this task may be, even in ancient times Israel was permitted to wage wars in order to expand the borders of Eretz Yisrael, and in those cases non-Jewish populations were compelled to accept the Seven Noachide Laws and pay tribute to Israel.
That being the case, how can Christians, so long as they remain Christians, be expected to refrain from “witnessing” to the world?
I do not excuse or justify Christian proselytization of Jews. I do, however, maintain that the only way to stop Christian proselytization of Jews is to convert Christians from Christianity. And biblical Christians are reachable because they accept the Divine origin and authority of the Tanach.
Liberal Christians, because they reject the belief that any one religion or god is more correct than another, are seemingly immune to any argument for the Torah.
The simple fact is that Christians will proselytize Jews for as long as they believe their religion is true. Why not simply educate them that it is not, and bring them to knowledge of the True God and of His Laws? It is quite maddening that many who react to the idea of proselytizing others with a vehement “but we don’t do that!” seem to have no objection to offering a never-ending series of demands for internal changes in other people’s religions.
Forgive an old Bible-Belter for observing that open, honest proselytization of non-Jews (for Noachism, not conversion to Judaism) is a thousand times more honorable than the constant demands that Christianity change its doctrines. How could anyone think otherwise?
The fact is that Christianity is not in need of liberalization. What is needed is rejection and replacement with the Noachide Laws. Jewish encouragement of liberalism in Christianity is an extremely shortsighted goal. It is better to argue with people who believe in the objective truth of another religion than to exchange niceties with people who do not believe in an objective truth of any kind.
The time has come to cease rewarding relativism and liberalism and to reward instead closeness to Torah. This does not mean excusing or ignoring the threat of missionaries, but it does mean acknowledging that the philosophies of doubt and skepticism, of rejecting received teachings in favor of an allegedly ever-evolving “truth,” are far more deadly to the Jewish soul than the “orthodox” form of any foreign religion.
