Moral inversion is a dangerous psychosis where shared ethical foundations are shattered, where personal responsibility is replaced by a culture of blame-shifting and entitlement, where perceived victimhood is glorified, where truth becomes relative, and, importantly, where moral vanguards are ridiculed or demonized.
“Never Alone” is a newsletter helmed by Elissa Wald. Many essays explore antisemitism from the perspective of left-identified Zionists. Wald recently proposed a thought experiment where there is a Group A and a Group B. In modern times, Group A accepted the opportunity for self-sovereignty in a land where they were indigenous 2,300 years before Group B’s ancestors existed. Group B rejected any allotment and proceeded to continually attack Group A — decade after decade, year after year.
Group A turned a desert wasteland into an agricultural mecca — inventing drip irrigation and introducing it to African countries to greatly improve lives there. Group A granted full citizenship to two million members of Group B — giving them more human rights and civil liberties than anywhere else in the surrounding countries. Group A treats women as equals and provides a safe haven for LGTBQ people. Group A is the only country in history to airlift tens of thousands of Black people out of Africa, not to enslave them but to give them full citizenship and save them from starvation. Group A consistently saves the lives of Group B through clinic and hospital care with state-of-the-art medical technologies.
Group B puts all of its energy into destroying Group A rather than building its own nation. Group B seeks an Islamic Caliphate which severely oppresses women and where LGBTQ people can be thrown off of roofs or hung from cranes to die. Group B does not allow any members of Group A to live within its borders. Group B teaches and applauds children from the age of five in formal education to act out murdering Group A members and that it is holy and good.
Group B has used billions of dollars in aid money to create terror rather than to improve the lives of its citizens; in fact, they recently committed unimaginable acts of violence against the very people in Group A who support them in self-determination. Group B starves its own people as a strategy to gain the world’s sympathy. They prevent their own people from getting food aid from Group A and its allies while they convince the world they are victims. Many of Group B’s leaders are billionaires with lavish lifestyles.
Any thinking and caring person should view Group A as inspirational and Group B as morally repugnant and deeply dangerous, yet Group B has managed to perversely mind-meld humans around the world into believing that its terrorists are freedom fighters. These believers give Group B a free pass for wanting the total destruction of Group A’s country —calling for an actual genocide — while claiming Group B are the victims of it in the midst of a war that they caused! The mind-melded bunch do not acknowledge that the current Group B-generated war continues to happen in Group A’s country as well — with bombs and rockets causing a democracy to be constantly vigilant and ready to evacuate to bomb shelters on a nearly regular basis.
What is it about Group A that generates such irrational hatred, outrageous distortions, and the unwillingness to comprehend and combat Group B’s sociopathic nihilism? Would a new-to-earth alien from an ethical planet begin to understand it is because they are a majority Jewish population in a pluralistic democracy? Probably not because it is so clearly morally wrong. It would be particularly confusing for such an alien to witness this malice from people who claim to be on the side of kindness and justice when their actual venom spews such loathing towards a life-affirming, expansively caring culture. The alien would wonder why otherwise intelligent people pontificate about Group A’s country with either no actual knowledge of its history or by believing propaganda, slurs and falsehoods from Group B. In the alien’s world, such manipulation and lies would be quashed quickly since the culture’s primary tenets are truth and ethical collaboration.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Rawan Osman each recognized the universally dangerous lies and trajectory of radical Islamism that surrounded them growing up. Read about Muslim reformers in CLARITy (Champions for Liberty Against the Reality of Islamist Tyranny) at www.theahafoundation.org. These brave women and others like them distinguish between faith and death-loving hatred under the guise of a holy cause. They have lived it, and they work to combat antisemitism in all forms including anti-Zionism. See Simon Deng describe to Noa Tishby in recent days why the South Sudanese support Israel. From Sudan to Gaza: Survivor Simon Deng Condemns Jihadi Terror and Stands With Israel’s Hostages.
Later this month, Jews will celebrate the head of the year known as Rosh Hashanah. It is a time to reflect on doing good in the world and committing to spiritual growth. It may be an ideal time for each of us to investigate and acknowledge the moral inversion of the current moment while we refuse complicity with inexplicable and normative antisemitism.
To close, the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church feels heartbreaking beyond belief, and I find myself taken back to my childhood where I went to Mass every day before homeroom at Holy Family School in Grand Blanc, Michigan. I have been a lapsed Catholic since my late teens, and I have good reason to not support the institution, yet I can also recall the innocence and gift of contemplative time with fellow students and teachers before we began the school day. I feel a tie that transcends politics — to a common shared humanity. And deep sorrow.
J.M. Sorrell is a monthly columnist. Shana tovah u’metukah.