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January 10, 2003/Shevat 7 5763, Vol. 55, No. 20
St. Vincent De Paul's motives are suspectDR. GORDON M. WEINERWhen I first learned of Temple Beth Israel's association with the St. Vincent de Paul Society many years ago, a nagging concern entered my mind. I was not able to deal with the matter until this year, when completion of a research project into the modern transformations of anti-Semitism forced me to confront the largely hidden aspects of the true relations between various Christian groups and the Jews.I also note that our Jewish community's support and aid to the St. Vincent de Paul Society has grown over the years and now also includes activities by Temple Kol Ami and Mitzvah Day, sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix. For reasons documented below, I think these actions are misguided and need to be rethought in light of this Christian group's aims and methods. By the end of the second decade of the 17th century, St. Vincent de Paul had come to the conclusion that the best way to a man's soul was through his stomach. With the help of wealthy Parisian Catholics he established missions to convert the poor, the heathen Protestants and infidels. When Frederic Ozanam started the modern St. Vincent de Paul Society in 1833, this same strategy was applied and is still operational. Writing in the current newsletter (Winter 2002), Eugene B. Smith, the national president of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, asks, "What is the Vincentian call about?" He then answers, "It's about three basic questions."
Smith goes on to lament that the Society has lost some of this focus. He argues that this must change by adhering to the Society's Strategic Plan adopted in September 2000. One of the goals is to enhance the image of the Society to become a more visible sign of Christ. The St. Vincent de Paul newsletter also discusses the Society's concept of "Twinning." This is a mechanism of getting American money into poorer countries so that the economic incentives to conversion can be more effective. The current newsletter also contains an article by Jim Towey urging the Society to "start looking at new approaches and new strategies (for funding) that might work." He is talking about the Bush administration's Faith Based Initiative and the possibility that by downplaying the overt conversionary aspects of the Society, they might be able to steal into the system as a group that simply "has a mezuzah at the door or a cross on the wall." I would suggest that given the goals and methods of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, this is not a group that Jewish organizations should enthusiastically embrace. However, if we choose to continue aiding these Catholic conversionary activities, I recommend that the Jewish servers be armed either with the material taught in Aaron Scholar's "How to Answer a Christian Missionary" or my own course at Arizona State University on the History of anti-Semitism. Gordon M. Weiner is professor emeritus at Arizona State University. |
