Your Right to Question the Holocaust Narrative
Last week we looked at the foolish and dangerous law signed by South Dakota Kristi Noem that incorporates the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) “working definition of antisemitism” into state law. According to the IHRA’s definition, “claims that Jews kill[ed] Jesus” are considered antisemitic.
The problem with this is that the Word of God clearly and repeatedly teaches that the Jews did, in fact, kill Jesus Christ. Stephen the deacon went even further in his description of the Jews who put him on trial. He called the “betrayers” and “murderers” of Christ. Any law that criminalizes, or, potentially criminalizes, teaching what the Word of God says is unjust, as it contradicts the Word of God. Thus, there are good reasons for opposing South Dakota's "model legislation," which the Governor says will be replicated in states nationwide.
Now I doubt the South Dakota state police will be kicking down church doors next Sunday and dragging Christian ministers out of their pulpits for preaching from Acts 7:52. More likely, the South Dakota law will function similarly to a law recently passed in Georgia. There, Governor Brian Kemp signed a bill in January of this year. According to one of the supporters, “the definition will only come into play after someone has committed a crime.” [1] This is still objectionable, dangerous, unconstitutional, and unchristian as it criminalizes speech, if only indirectly, and is, in my opinion, designed to conceal the tyrannical intent behind such laws of attacking the First Amendment, if only indirectly. But who’s to say charging Christian ministers for preaching the Word of God is not the end goal of those who promote legislation of this sort? Given the attacks on free speech throughout the West, preventing Christian pastors from honestly teaching about the role the Jews played in the murder of Christ may very well be the end goal of those who lobby for such legislation.
That may sound extreme, but consider what has happened to those in other Western nations who have been prosecuted for the crime – yes, the crime – of holocaust denial. This may surprise Americans, but in many Western nations, you can be imprisoned for questioning the official holocaust narrative.[2] And unlike the Georgia law, and probably under the similar law in South Dakota, you don’t have to commit another crime for this to happen. And the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism supports this.
According to the IHRA, a contemporary example of antisemitism is:
Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).[3]
At the end of a rather long list of examples of antisemitism such as the one above, we find the following paragraph:
Antisemitic acts are criminal when they are so defined by law (for example, denial of the Holocaust or distribution of antisemitic materials in some countries).
Now ask yourself this question, why would the IHRA put a paragraph like this at the end of its definition of antisemitism, which definition is said to be “non-legally binding” at the top of the same web page? The idea seems to be that their definition is not legally binding…yet. But when it is, you’re going to jail if you dare question the official holocaust narrative.
I’m not a holocaust scholar. But like most people in the West, I know the general outlines of the holocaust narrative, the heart of which is that Nazi Germany murdered 6 million Jews out of hatred for them.
Now go back to the IHRA’s “holocaust denial” example above. Notice that holocaust denial is not as simple as saying the holocaust never happened. One can be a holocaust denier, and thus an antisemite according to the IHRA for simply questioning the “scope” of the holocaust, e.g., for questioning the number of Jews killed by the Nazis.
As I said above, I’m not an expert on the Holocaust. But I do know nonsense when I hear it. And the IHRA is talking a whole lot of nonsense here. They want to force you to accept the holocaust narrative by branding you as an antisemite for questioning it. In many European countries and Canada, you can be criminally charged for holocaust denial.[4] This is not thinking, this is medieval dogmatism, much like what the Roman Church-State did when it imprisoned, tortured, and murdered those who denied the real presence of Christ in the mass. Such behavior, whether by Antichrist in the Middle Ages or by Jewish groups in the 21st century, is a major red flag.
Whenever you’re told you’re not allowed to question something, the most reasonable assumption is that those asserting the dogma have a weak case. If someone has a strong case, they would naturally welcome challenges, being confident of proving. But those with something to hide try to shut down all criticism. This raises the question in my mind, what are those pushing the holocaust narrative hiding?
As Americans, we have a God-given, constitutionally protected right to question any and all narratives, the holocaust included, without suffering legal penalties. But some want to take this right away, and they have made significant inroads in doing so. May the Lord protect our republic from such subversion.
[1] South Dakota is not the first or only state to adopt the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism. In January 2024, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia signed legislation adopting this definition of antisemitism in his state, https://apnews.com/article/georgia-antisemitism-bill-israel-governor-e21444b355f7c3c9f50f0495c9044eac, accessed 3/24.2024. According to the article,
[2] Legality of Holocaust denial, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_Holocaust_denial, accessed 3/24/2024.
[3] Working definition of antisemitism, https://holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definition-antisemitism,
[4] “Historian Sentenced to Jail for Holocaust Denial,” by Rob Gifford, NPR, 2/21/2006, https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5226095, accessed 3/24/2024.