I listen to Andrew Klavan occasionally on his podcast. He’s part of Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire crew. He’s written many books but this book is about his faith journey from being a secular Jew who came to believe in Jesus Christ and is now an Evangelical.
First of all, Klavan is a good writer. I’ve never read one of his novels but this could definitely make me consider reading one. In the subtitle of the book, it refers to Klavan as a secular Jew and boy was he ever secular. His family was secular enough but he even cranked it up a few notches. He even refused to celebrate Hannukah.
I don’t want to get into the details because Klavan tells his own story better than I do. One thing that was there the whole time was the relationship with his father. His father sounds like a very unpleasant figure. It seemed that he wanted Klavan to fail in life. It’s such an odd concept because most parents want their children to succeed if no other reason than to brag.
Here are some references that Klavan makes about his father:
I was aware there was such a thing as anti-Semitism. Of course I was: my father was obsessed with it, increasingly obsessed as the years went on.
– Page 6
Finally, as we reached the table where the rest of the family was waiting for us, he swiveled to me and pointed his finger in my face about half an inch from my nose. He said, “I hope you know that if you ever convert to Christianity, I’ll disown you!”
– Page 102
My father was obsessed with the Holocaust. He was convinced that at any moment it would begin again, right here in America. Any cultural development that worried him seemed to him the prelude to the mass extermination of American Jews. Any politician he disagreed with was a Nazi.
– Page 217
For many Jews the holocaust is a Christian phenomenon. The Nazi Party and the Germans who supported them were weekly mass attending, rosary praying Catholics with a few Protestants thrown in for good measure. I can’t imagine growing up in a household where these lies were thrown around constantly.
One of Klavan’s chapters is called Five Epiphanies. This one really talks about how he overcame his secularism which was firmly entrenched. Klavan was never an anti-theist but he was very secular.
One thing that I also liked about book is that it wasn’t just an autobiography of faith. It was also a secular autobiography. You learn about many parts of Klavan’s like that have nothing to do with religion or lack thereof. So in conclusion, I’d add it to your list.
Most germans in nazi germany were still christian of some sort even if some leaders were more into old pagan stuff or atheism or whatever. I think its pretty fair that jews see it as a christian thing given it occurred in europe and the history there. Theyre not going to exactly blame it on buddhism or something.
“I think its pretty fair that jews see it as a christian thing given it occurred in europe and the history there.”
Communism happened in Europe. Are you going to blame Christianity for communism? Russia was 90% Eastern Orthodox when the communists took over but you can’t blame The ROC for communism.
“Theyre not going to exactly blame it on buddhism or something.”
No, they should blame it on a lack of Christianity. It’s not a coincidence the holocaust happened in the secular/nationalistic mid-20th century and not in the 13th century where the Church had infinite political control. In the 13th century, the Pope could have written a papal bull and had every Jew in Europe murdered if he wanted. Europe rejected this model for secularism and nationalism which brought the holocaust.
I’m saying its fair for them to see it that way given the history. Its hard to be nuanced when you go through tragedies. I think alot of Armenians probably blame Islam for the genocide that happened to them although I don’t think classical Islam allowed for that, but was still a part of it. It’s similar to that.
I have a feeling I know who you blame for communism given your proclivity for EMJ.