The anti-semitism maelstrom on the right continues to swirl faster by the day. And, in what has become a familiar posture, I keep getting stuck in the eye of the storm. I have come to regret my participation in the National Conservatism Conference and had to resign from the Heritage Foundation. Both of those entities have not taken the needed steps to distance themselves from the growing tides of antisemitism on the right. Now, another one of my affiliations has been swept up.
On Monday, February 8, the White House Religious Liberty Commission held a public meeting in Washington, D.C. The theme of this session was anti-semitism. I am on the legal advisory board of the Commission. Though I was not able to attend, I played a small role in the planning process. When this commission was formed last year, I could not have fathomed how the ecosystem on the right would radically change. I now think the Carlson-Roberts exchange will come to be seen as the moment the dam broke.
The meeting garnered attention because Carrie Prejean Boller, a commissioner, asserted that her Catholic faith is incompatible with Zionism. She said, "Catholics do not embrace Zionism, just so you know." You can see the fireworks around the 1:30:00 mark at C-SPAN. I don't profess any expertise on this point. Fellow commissioner Ryan Anderson, who is a leading Catholic intellectual, argued that Boller's position is wrong as a matter of doctrine. He read from Second Vatican Council's Nostra aetate and Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. I found this article by EWTN to be extremely insightful:
