In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
As a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, as a proud American I believe that standing with Israel is the duty of every single American who stands against terror and hatred anywhere in the world. In the wake of the hate crime perpetrated on Emanuel Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina last June, I led the charge to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina State House grounds due to its painful past of slavery, Jim Crow, and hatred. The evil and brutality of this hate crime was felt around the world – and we rightfully united and took that flag down.
Standing up to speak out against hate and racism is exactly what the late Dr. King was referring to when he said “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
This is especially true for me as a Republican woman in the South.
It is shocking that on August 1, 2014 eight sitting members of Congress, including South Carolina Congressman Mark Sanford voted against emergency aid to Israel. The Iron Dome in Israel saves Israeli lives, and those of the many Americans living in the only democracy in the Middle East. By voting against the Iron Dome project, Sanford is condoning terrorists who choose to attack unarmed Israeli men, women, and children.
A vote against the Iron Dome is a vote against democracy, freedom, and voting against Israel’s right to live in her secure homeland. Just as I stood against the confederate flag, I intend to stand against Mr. Sanford due – in part – to his positions against Israel.
While our Republican presidential candidates are speaking about religious liberty in the United States, Congressman Sanford has turned his back on the Jewish nation, protection of the Holy Land, and on biblical principles. As a Christian woman, I find his positions against Israel disgraceful.
Our country was founded upon religious freedom. Religious intolerance is the single more important civil rights issue of the 21st Century. Protecting our Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel is mandatory to our security as Americans of all faiths.
Just as one stands up for justice and the right thing in South Carolina, so must they stand up for the Jewish State, in South Carolina and in all of America.
{South Carolina State Representative Jenny Horne is a Republican candidate for Congress in South Carolina’s First Congressional District}