In her recent debate with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach on the Piers Morgan Uncensored show, Candace Owens began with what she seems to like best - namely, throwing New Testament phrases at Jews (recall Owens using various New Testament quotes, including the 'Christ is King' phrase, as a retort against Ben Shapiro in their heated exchange on Twitter, now X, back in November 2023). This time round, Candace, a new convert to the Traditional Catholicism, took recourse to a quote from the Book of Revelation - she invited Rabbi Shmuley to draw his attention and to consider the phrase 'the Synagogue of Satan'. What Owens failed to mention though, rather conveniently, is that the same book of the Bible, likewise, refers to one of the churches as 'the seat of Satan'.
Another leading intellectual figure of the modern American Traditional Catholic movement and an outspoken supporter of Candace Owens [1], is E. Michael Jones. Resembling Owens, Jones also likes the phrase 'the Synagogue of Satan' a lot and, having written books on a number of topics, his favourite narrative by far is the one about evil Jews running the world. [2] In one of his books titled 'The Jewish Revolutionary Spirit and Its Impact On The Entire Human Race', Jones alludes to the Jews as being 'enemies of the entire human race'. [3] Hence, one may be justified in concluding that, according to E. Michael Jones, Zionism is the biggest threat facing the world today. In another of his written works 'The Jews and Moral Subversion', Jones makes the argument for the media, notably Hollywood, being controlled by Jews. [4] Sounds familiar? Recall Owens' recent YouTube suspension for making exactly the same claims.
Moreover, Jones went on record to say that Iran, a country where gays are hanged from trees and women are violently attacked on the streets for not wearing the hijab “is the leader of the free world” because, unlike the United States, it has been able to stand up to Jewish efforts to undermine the moral order of its society. [5] Jones also appears to believe that Islam is a force for good at least as long as it remains the only force left in the world to form a military resistance against Zionism.
Given that both Candace Owens and E. Michael Jones are self-proclaimed, wear-it-on-your-sleeve traditional Catholics and that as the 'Trads' (shorthand for traditional) have their entire world view (the political one included) built on Catholic theology and doctrine, it might be helpful to see how that latter has inspired their anti-Semitic rhetoric.
However, prior to conducting such an examination, it is imperative to establish, be it briefly, what the theology of the Catholic Church vis-a-vis the Jews actually is. And henceforth, briefly, we note that the principal Catholic teaching on this topic in question is as follows: anti-Semitism is essentially pagan, and that this paganism isn't merely the enemy of Judaism, but also Christianity.[6]
Notwithstanding the actual teaching of the Catholic faith concerning the Jewish people, it is, nevertheless, a matter of fact that both Owens and Jones draw on their religious convictions as the basis for their anti-Semitic views. So how come the contradiction? Well, the tragic fact of life is that, well-read as one may be, he or she can still remain ill-informed or at least blissfully ignorant regardless. And this is exactly what we are dealing with here. Both Owens and Jones are ill-informed on the matter of the Catholic position pertaining to the Jewish people and, consequently, what they believe and proclaim amounts to a Catholic pseudo-doctrine.
According to this Catholic pseudo-doctrine, the Catholic Church supersedes Israel (and the Jewish people) as the Chosen people, the election of the Jews no longer continues as it was transferred to the Church (the new Elect) almost 2000 years ago and, conversely, Rome has become the New Jerusalem.[7] This mistaken belief would have continued unchallenged but for the earth-shattering historical event of 76 years ago which, for the Trad heretics, was simultaneously a sort of theological ‘Armageddon’: the glorious and miraculous re-emergence of the state of Israel, ending the nearly 2000 years long Jewish exile from the land. And thus history crashed with theology, and the former has emerged triumphant.
The pseudo-doctrine which denies Israel’s continued election was able to develop and flourish for as long as the Jewish people were dispersed among the Nations and the state of Israel erased from the map of the world. However, with the creation of the Jewish state in 1948, the replacement theory (as this pseudo-doctrine is called) has been exposed for what it really is, namely, a false teaching. Hence the Trad’s hatred for Zionism as the latter reveals the former’s own fundamental error and, thus, fatally wounds the notion of Trads being the new Chosen People.
Lastly, it's worth pointing out that, notwithstanding their anti-Semitic beliefs, the Trads maintain, despite all appearances to the contrary, that they 'love' the Jewish people as long as the Jews are subordinates of the Church – whereas an independent and thriving Jewish state runs contrary to Trad’s theological assumptions and, as such, is anathema to them and a thorn in their doctrinal flesh.
So what is the moral of the story here? Follow your own advice, i.e. follow the facts and not your feelings. Or, otherwise, you might end up like the Trad Anti-Zionist who, instead of reconsidering his/her false religious assumptions and beliefs in the light of the new historical developments (i.e. the creation of the Jewish state), has chosen to deny the fact in order to maintain his/her erroneous beliefs and, in the process of doing so, have aligned themselves with people who wish to erase Israel from the map.
Let's conclude by quoting Rabbi Shmuley's spot-on response to Candace Owens’ claim that she’s a Christian - the Rabbi replied, "If you are a Christian, then I am the Second Coming of Christ".
Rabbi Shmuley won the debate.
References:
[1]https://x.com/EMichaelJones1/status/1772989538345824361
[2] Times of Israel; https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/e-michael-jones-war-on-the-jews/
[3] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59635276-the-jewish-revolutionary-spirit
[4] https://goodreads.com/book/show/28949797-the-jews-and-moral-subversion
[5] Times of Israel; https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/e-michael-jones-war-on-the-jews/
[6] https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2024/09/candace-owens-doesnt-speak-for-catholics
[7] Ripperger, Dominion, Sensus Traditionis Press, 2022, p. 63. In his book entitled Dominion, Fr. Chad Ripperger, one of the leading authorities in the modern Trad movement, states:
'(...) St. Michael is the guardian angel of the elect insofar as he was the guardian of the chosen people, that is the Jews and their nation, and then his guardianship is transferred to the Catholic Church , which is the cradle and Church of the elect'
Fr. Ripperger then continues by the way of a footnote:
'The modern theory that the Jews remain the chosen people (elect) is not supported by the tradition of the Church'.
Very interesting. I would say though to my fellow Tribe Members that as someone intimately familiar with the Catholic Church, I have never before heard this nonsense about "Trad Catholics." This is one more stupid phrase idiots like Candace have made up for the TikTok generation.
No normal churchgoing Roman Catholic believes anything like this weird idea that the State of Israel somehow invalidates Jews as the Chosen People.
Candace drank the Jew Hate Juice fresh from the spigot, clearly, but she did not get it from recognized Church teaching.
This Jones person is completely psychotic. I don't know a single Catholic who shares this deranged belief.
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"Moreover, Jones went on record to say that Iran, a country where gays are hanged from trees and women are violently attacked on the streets for not wearing the hijab “is the leader of the free world” because, unlike the United States, it has been able to stand up to Jewish efforts to undermine the moral order of its society".