THEY'VE GONE TOO FAR

“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)

There’s a story on the front page of Thursday’s (October 29, 2009) MetroWest Daily News (Framingham, MA) entitled, “Group calls Rizoli Holocaust denier”.
You can read that story at:

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x876590468/Anti-Defamation-League-calls-Jim-Rizoli-Holocaust-denier

I’m not surprised it’s in there. I’ve only watched Jim and Joe Rizoli’s television show on Framingham’s public access cable station perhaps a dozen times, but I did catch last week’s and I was appalled at what Jim Rizoli was saying. As the paper reports, Rizoli did defend Iranian President Ahmadinejad in his denials of the holocaust. Rizoli also spoke strongly against “zionism” and encouraged his viewers to check out a website which denies the holocaust.

God bless the local Anti-Defamation League for putting a statement about this on their website and for expressing their outrage. I admit that I halfway thought about writing about it on my blog last week, but I hesitated. The last thing I wanted was to be excoriated on Rizoli’s T.V. program, or have the Rizolis showing up at our church shoving cameras in people’s faces. Ironically, I’ve agreed with the Rizolis on SOME issues. I AM concerned about illegal immigration. I believe we must have immigration enforcement and also we must have some sort of immigration reform. I happen to agree with the Rizolis that on the Sunday in 2002 that Brazil won the World Cup in soccer, the Brazilian community was totally insensitive to their American neighbors. That day was a nightmare for our church. We had a guest speaker trying to get to us only to have every possible route to our building blocked by thronging, ecstatic Brazilian soccer fans. It was rude on the part of the Brazilians that day, and it was wrong.

That said, the Brazilian community has made many positive contributions to our community. I’ve been privileged to speak at Brazilian churches on several occasions, and sometimes to go to a Brazilian church just to worship. The people’s worship is warm, deep, and genuine. Most of the Brazilians are hardworking and family oriented. They seem to be more spiritually minded than are most Americans. I don’t agree with some of my “bleeding heart liberal” friends that the Brazilians are the greatest thing that’s ever happened to Framingham, but I also don’t agree with the Rizolis that they’re the worst thing that’s ever happened to Framingham. As with all groups and all situations, there are good aspects of the Brazilian influx into Framingham and there are some bad aspects of the Brazilian influx into Framingham. I try to focus on the good. I’ve even learned a little Portuguese in the process!

Now to the holocaust. It’s a fact. It’s well documented. Over 6 million Jews, 100,000 Gypsies, and many others died at the hands of the Nazis. Thank God for heroes such as the Ten Boom family of Holland who rescued many Jews and then were sent to a concentration camp, themselves. (Their story is told in the book and film, “The Hiding Place”.) What was done to the Jewish people of eastern and central Europe in the 1930s and 1940s is a great EVIL. Regarding Zionism, it existed as a cause prior to the holocaust, but was deemed a necessity by the civilized world after the holocaust. Frankly, the Bible predicts the Jewish people will return to Jerusalem and the holy land prior to the return of Jesus Christ to this earth, and that’s exactly what’s happening. It’s God’s plan, and God still has a covenant relationship with the Jewish people.

This is a free country, and YES the Rizolis have the right of free speech, but this time, they've gone too far. The ADL also has the right to expose and repudiate the Rizoli's errors.