Obsessive-Compulsive Judaism

By Irwin Graulich, From MichNews.com, Nov 21, 2003.

A new old syndrome is catching on worldwide. The broad scientific term is "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD.)" OCD has become all the rage on psychiatric couches and in mental institutions. Yet for 4000 years, there has been a similar disorder affecting a large part of humanity called "Obsessive-Compulsive Judaism (OCJ)."

Psychiatrists tell us that people become obsessed with an idea which they believe to be the "absolute" truth. Scientists who study the mind have proven that obsessive/compulsive individuals therefore "believe" that something is true which may be true or false, although they become totally preoccupied with its validity. "My hands are always dirty" makes individuals obsess on cleanliness, ultimately resulting in a continuous hand washing cycle.

Why are 1.2 billion Muslims obsessed with the idea of "this tiny group of Jews is always dirty" syndrome? Why is David Duke's website and virtually all of his writings about the Jews? Why is the KKK obsessed with Jewish thoughts? Why is the former Malaysian prime minister virtually addicted to blaming Jews, in a country that is Judenrein and where 95% of Malaysians never even saw a real live Jew? Freud would have a great time with these head problems. However, his research would have most likely been dismissed as just another Jewish attempt to control "our" minds.

Amazingly, the common link throughout history of those with the "OCJ disorder" is that they are all sick, vile, evil people. When studied seriously, the entire illness does not make any sense. This obsession with Jews dominating everything from politics to business to deciding on the next war to the reason that the Arab/Muslim world has failed drastically has become great folk lore. Within the past 60 years, OCJ has spread from Nazi Germany to The Middle East into Europe to most recently, college campuses and other leftist laboratories worldwide.

The ultimate question is, "Why haven't antisemites become obsessed with other competing religions which are much larger and more direct competition?" The answer is actually quite simple and stems from an important sentence in The New Testament. "Those who bless the Jews will be blessed and those who curse the Jews will be cursed."

Anyone who believes in this statement will take the road of religious American Christians. It is no wonder that America has become the most "blessed" country in the history of the world. Thomas Jefferson said that "America is the new Israel" and he wanted to make the US symbol, a logo of the Jewish exodus from Egypt. And which nations are the most cursed today? Obviously the Arab and Muslim world, even with all their oil wells!

However, for those who believe that Judaism is a religion of infidels, why shouldn't they simply ignore Judaism's foolish adherents? If a religion formed around Elvis Presley or the belief in aliens from outer space, non-believers would laugh and not pay any attention to such utter nonsense. So why are Jews taken so seriously if their religion is thought to be fraudulent by others?

The amazing answer is that most of the non-Jewish world "knows for certain" that Judaism is true and many in Europe, Asia and The Middle East are quite upset with that frightening realization. In contrast, it is a large portion of Jews who unfortunately have doubts about the truth behind Judaism. Something seems to be wrong with this picture.

The real cause of Islamic Fundamentalist terrorism is that its adherents have major doubts about the validity of their own religion. That is why there is so much hatred toward Jews and Christians coming from Imams and Ayatollahs in mosques. They see a system of Christianity in America for which God blessed a great country with everything, including incredible power, strength and influence. Even worse, they see a system in their own back yard, The Middle East, where a country with no natural resources and just a few million Jews has surpassed every single Arab and Muslim nation. Here is God acting in our world and they are not receiving their fair share. Quite upsetting, to say the least.

Religious figures in the Islamic world cannot announce to followers, "Look at the success of Islam in our world. Pray to Allah for thanks." Instead, they say that, "Judaism and Christianity have stolen our successes. So let's destroy the infidels."

OCD means that one's brain has gotten stuck on a particular thought and just cannot let go. Since 998 out of every 1000 people are not Jewish, it would seem that a large number of very foolish people are both obsessive and compulsive with OCJ, relating to this miniscule, trivial group. Perhaps this idea even extends to the Hitlerian obsessive contamination problem which forbade swimming with or even touching Jews. Might this be the reason that Jews were thrown out of so many Arab countries?

With over 50% of UN General Assembly resolutions condemning Israel, not North Korea, Syria, Cuba, Iran, Libya or Iraq, one cannot say that it is simply all of the things that Israel may have done. When people hate or feel threatened about a belief system, it can only mean one thing. It threatens their own system and in all likelihood, renders it somewhat invalid.

The idea of Jewish Choseness has always been looked upon as arrogant and conceited. The truth is that America has taken on the role of sharing Choseness from God with the Jews. No wonder there are protests in Great Britain today. No wonder President Bush's effigy has been burned in almost every Arab and Muslim country. No wonder a large part of Europe has criticized America for bringing down another evil dictator.

It's a new disease... Obsessive-Compulsive America (OCA).

Irwin N. Graulich is a well known motivational speaker on morality, ethics, Judaism and politics. He is also President and CEO of a leading marketing, branding and communications company in New York City.