Protestant Church Editors Urged to Take More Active Part in Combating Anti-semitism

The charge that the press of the Protestant Church in the United States is not sufficiently active in helping combat anti-Semitism in this country was made here today by Rev. Dr, Carl Hermann Voss at the annual meeting of the Associated Church Press, an organization of Protestant Church editors. Dr. Voss is extension secretary of the Church Peace Union.

“The church press,” he told the gathering, “has not been vigilant enough in exposing the ‘enemy within the gates’–the vicious anti-Jewish propagandist who is on the pro-fascist fringe of the church and works through such pernicious periodicals as Harvey Springer’s Western Voice, Carl McIntire’s Christian Beacon, William D. Herstrom’s Bible News Flashes, Gerald B. Winrod’s Defender, Bob Shuler’s Methodist Challenge, and Gerald L.K. Smith’s two publications, The Cross and Flag and the Letter, We may think this infantile fringe is numerically insignificant, but we forget they, whether on editorial pages or in the pulpit, are an extremely dangerous influence on American life, especially because they reflect the prejudices and perversions of the Protestant middle class mind.”

Dr. Voss also pointed out that the church press “has done an injustice to Zionist aspirations” by not presenting accurate facts about the Zionist cause and its case. “We have neither completely understood nor correctly interpreted the needs of the Jews for a state of their own,” he said. The Protestant press is not aware of what anti-Jewish agitation means in terms of undermining the values of Western civilization, he charged.

“The church press has not created among Christians a sense of contrition and repentance for the inescapable fact that anti-Semitism is fostered by Christiana,” Dr. Voss pointed out. “Just how much have we written in the church press about the sin of quota clauses in our colleges, universities, and professional schools? About racial and religious restrictive covenants in real estate sub-divisions? About racial and religious discrimination in employment? How much have we said in comment and in protest about the recently reported increase of anti-Semitism throughout America? These are sins of omission for which we as church editors, have a real responsibility.”