Our Family of Nations

I have something I want to cover briefly, because I am hearing it more and more in Christian circles:

You might think I am being unfair picking Republican conservative voices

No, I am picking influencers and a politician because they claim to be Christian

Thus they claim to speak on behalf of God.

You know how many democrat talkers speak as a Christian?

Not very many…

The historical practice of Christians forcing Jews to convert to Christianity under threat of death is generally referred to as forced conversion. In the context of Jewish history, particularly during the Middle Ages, such acts were often associated with violent persecutions, pogroms, or events like the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition. There isn't a specific Yiddish or Hebrew term that exclusively refers to this exact practice in the way you’ve described, but there are related terms and concepts in Jewish tradition that capture the experience of martyrdom or persecution for refusing to abandon Judaism.

Relevant Jewish Terms

Kiddush Hashem (קידוש השם) Literally "sanctification of the Name," this Hebrew term refers to acts of martyrdom or dying for the sake of upholding Jewish faith, particularly when Jews chose death over forced conversion to another religion, such as Christianity.

Meaning

: During the Crusades (11th–13th centuries), many Jews faced the ultimatum of converting to Christianity or facing death. Those who died rather than convert were often described as dying "al Kiddush Hashem" (for the sanctification of God's Name). This term is used in Jewish liturgy and writings to honor martyrs, such as those killed during the Rhineland massacres of 1096.Context

Anusim (אנוסים) A Hebrew term meaning "the coerced" or "forced ones," referring to Jews who were forcibly converted to Christianity (or Islam) but often maintained Jewish practices in secret.

Meaning: This term is particularly associated with the Jews of Spain and Portugal during the 14th–15th centuries, known asorin Spanish. For example, after the pogroms of 1391 in Spain, over 100,000 Jews converted to Catholicism under duress, and many faced death if they refused. The Alhambra Decree of 1492 further expelled practicing Jews, leading to more forced conversions.

Hillul Hashem (חילול השם) Literally "desecration of the Name," this is the opposite of. It refers to actions that dishonor God, such as converting to another religion under coercion to avoid martyrdom, though this was not always judged harshly given the extreme circumstances.

Meaning The Talmud discusses three cardinal sins (idolatry, sexual immorality, and murder) that a Jew must die rather than commit, even under threat. Converting to Christianity to avoid death could be seen as a, though medieval scholars like Maimonides argued for leniency, suggesting that a coerced conversion (e.g., a verbal declaration of Christianity) did not necessarily negate one’s Jewish status.

Historical Context

Forced conversions of Jews to Christianity occurred in various periods, notably:

Middle Ages: During the First Crusade (1096), Jews in regions like Lorraine, Mainz, and Worms were massacred or forced to convert by Crusaders.

Iberian Peninsula: The 1391 pogroms and the 1492 Alhambra Decree in Spain led to mass conversions or expulsions, with many Jews facing death if they refused baptism. In Portugal, a 1496 decree forced most Jews to convert, with few allowed to leave.

Eastern Europe: In the 18th century, figures like Elizabeth of Russia enforced conversions of non-Orthodox subjects, including Jews, though this was less widespread.

In 1942, approximately 100,000 Jews across Europe converted to Christianity as a survival strategy, though these were not always under explicit "convert or die" threats from Christians but rather due to Nazi racial laws that sometimes spared converts temporarily.

In some cases, priests or Christian officials exploited the situation for profit, as seen in the case of Edith Sommerfield, whose family paid a priest for false conversion documents, only to be betrayed. This is not a Christian-driven "convert or die" policy but reflects complicity in a broader genocidal context.

Theological and Cultural Notes

The idea of Jews being forced to accept Jesus or die is tied to the antisemitic trope of Jewish deicide (the claim that Jews are collectively responsible for Jesus’ death), which fueled Christian persecution of Jews for centuries. This trope, rooted in early Christian texts like Matthew 27:24–25 ("His blood be on us and on our children"), was used to justify violence and forced conversions but has been repudiated by modern Christian denominations, including the Catholic Church in Nostra Aetate (1965).

In Yiddish and Hebrew, the experience of persecution is often described through terms like Anusim or Kiddush Hashem, reflecting the Jewish perspective of resilience or martyrdom rather than the act of Christian coercion itself. If you’re preparing a sermon, you might contrast these historical terms with the Christian call to love and reconciliation, emphasizing that forced conversions contradict Jesus’ teachings (e.g., John 13:34–35) and that modern theology rejects blaming Jews for the crucifixion.

Tucker Carlson, “But so we assume that Christians would be getting an exemption from all this. Why would Christians who are not responsible for Christian terror, there's no such thing, why would they be penalized for this? Why wouldn't they again when the patron saint state is majority Christian? Why wouldn't the Christians there be getting some kind of special pass? I don't I just don't understand that. Why punish the Christians for Islamic terror?”

From Tucker’s video, “Here’s What It’s Really Like to Live as a Christian in the Holy Land” posted on YouTube on the week of Aug 11th, 2025.

Really, there is no Christian Terror…

The LRA, led by Joseph Kony (claiming divine Christian inspiration), blends distorted Christian theology with Ten Commandments-based rule. Active post-2000 (though diminished), they target civilians, including Christians not adhering to their version.

Lord’s Resistance Army: From 2000–2020, the LRA conducted abductions, massacres, and village raids, killing thousands of Christians seen as insufficiently devout or government-aligned. For instance, the 2008–2009 Christmas massacres killed over 800, many in churches. Theology (e.g., establishing a "Christian" theocracy) motivated them to view other Christians as apostates.

Irish Protestant-Catholic Conflicts (1641–1998): Total known casualties approximately 500,000–600,000 (mostly from 17th-century war-related famine and disease, with later conflicts adding tens of thousands); A prolonged series of sectarian wars, rebellions, and riots rooted in religious differences, land disputes, and British rule. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement brought relative peace.

German Peasants' War (1524–1525): Inspired by Martin Luther's Reformation ideas on spiritual equality but rejected by Luther himself, rural peasants (many Protestant-leaning) rebelled against Catholic and Protestant nobles over economic and religious grievances, leading to widespread violence; nobles crushed the uprising, resulting in approximately 100,000 deaths.

Anabaptist Rebellion in Münster (1534–1535): Radical Anabaptists (a Protestant sect) seized the city, establishing a theocratic regime with polygamy and forced rebaptism, viewing Catholics and mainstream Protestants as heretics; a coalition of Catholic and Lutheran forces besieged and recaptured the city, executing leaders in a brutal suppression that killed thousands and highlighted intra-Protestant violence.

French Wars of Religion (1562–1598): A series of eight civil wars between Catholic forces and Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants), fueled by theological disputes over sacraments and authority; peaked with the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572), where Catholics killed up to 30,000 Huguenots in Paris and beyond; ended with the Edict of Nantes granting limited tolerance, but with over 3 million total deaths from war, famine, and massacres.

English Tudor Persecutions (1534–1603): Under Henry VIII's break from Rome, Catholics faced executions for refusing the Oath of Supremacy; Mary I ("Bloody Mary," 1553–1558) burned over 280 Protestants at the stake for heresy; Elizabeth I targeted Catholic recusants and Jesuits with fines, imprisonments, and executions (e.g., 1585 Act against Jesuits), reflecting violent enforcement of Anglican Protestantism amid fears of Catholic plots.

Eighty Years' War/Dutch Revolt (1568–1648): Protestant Dutch provinces rebelled against Catholic Spanish Habsburg rule, leading to guerrilla warfare, sieges, and atrocities like the Spanish Fury (1576 sack of Antwerp); intertwined with the Reformation's spread, it resulted in Dutch independence and thousands of deaths, exacerbating Catholic-Protestant divides across Europe.

Thirty Years' War (1618–1648): Initially a Bohemian Protestant revolt against Catholic Habsburg emperors, it escalated into a continent-wide conflict involving Protestant states (e.g., Sweden, Denmark) versus Catholic powers (e.g., Holy Roman Empire, Spain); theological motivations blended with political ones, causing devastation through battles, sieges, and famine; estimated 4–8 million deaths (up to 20% of Europe's population), ending with the Peace of Westphalia that promoted religious tolerance.

English Civil Wars (1642–1651): Puritan Parliamentarians (Calvinist Protestants) fought Royalist forces loyal to Charles I (seen as too Catholic-leaning); religious zeal drove iconoclasm and executions, including the king's beheading (1649); extended to Ireland with Cromwell's 1649–1653 conquest, massacring Catholic populations (e.g., Drogheda siege), with total casualties around 200,000 in England and far higher in Ireland due to famine and displacement.

Crusades (1095–1291): Total known casualties approximately 1–2 million (including combatants, civilians, and Jews); A series of religious wars launched by the Latin Catholic Church to reclaim Jerusalem and holy sites from Muslim control, involving multiple campaigns (e.g., First through Fourth Crusades), marked by theological zeal, massacres of Muslims and Christians (e.g., 1099 Jerusalem siege, 1204 sack of Christian Constantinople), and widespread pogroms against Jewish communities (e.g., Rhineland massacres of 1096 during the First Crusade, where thousands of Jews were killed by crusaders), ending with the loss of Christian strongholds in the Holy Land.

Early Church Period (100–600 AD): Thousands executed; Christians faced sporadic Roman persecutions (e.g., under Nero, Decius, Diocletian) for refusing emperor worship, while intra-Christian violence emerged later with executions of heretics (e.g., Arians, Donatists) after Christianity’s legalization (313 AD), driven by theological disputes over Christ’s nature and church authority, notably the execution of Priscillian in 385 AD for heresy, marking an early instance of Christian-on-Christian capital punishment.

Christian Roman Empire (313–600 AD): Thousands executed ; After the Edict of Milan (313 AD) legalized Christianity and its establishment as the state religion under Theodosius I (380 AD via the Edict of Thessalonica), Rome shifted from persecuting Christians to targeting pagans, Jews, and Christian heretics for theological non-conformity.

Matthew 27:24–25 NASB 2020

Now when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; you yourselves shall see.” And all the people replied, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!”

Is the verse used to affirm violence against Jews

Even though it was Roman’s who did this

And, these were Jewish leaders who were judging another Jew

So the ultimate anger of Christians is that a Jewish man died 2,000 years ago

John 13:34–35 NASB 2020

I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”

A new what?

Command.

Let me ask you a question:

What nation or people, prior to the Holocaust, gave Jewish people aid during a time of persecution?

Can you think of one?

Roman Emperor Julian's Support (361–363 AD)

Caliph Omar's Conquest of Jerusalem (638 AD)

Khazar Khaganate (8th–9th Centuries AD)

Golden Age in Muslim Spain (Al-Andalus, 711–1031 AD)

Medieval Poland (13th–17th Centuries)

Ottoman Empire's Refuge (1492 Onward)

Napoleonic Emancipation (1799–1815)

World War II Rescues (1939–1945)

Julian, the last non-Christian Roman emperor, actively aided Jews to undermine Christianity. He permitted their return to Jerusalem, exempted them from certain taxes, and initiated plans to rebuild the Jewish Temple (destroyed in 70 AD), aiming to refute Christian prophecies. Though the project failed due to an earthquake and his death, it represented a rare imperial endorsement of Jewish religious revival.

After capturing Jerusalem from the Byzantines (who had banned Jews from the city), Umar ibn al-Khattab allowed Jews to return and settle, ending centuries of exclusion. He cleared the Temple Mount (used as a dump) for Muslim worship but preserved Christian sites via the Covenant of Umar, ensuring religious freedom and protection for non-Muslims, including Jews.

This Turkic nomadic empire in the Caucasus converted to Judaism en masse, providing refuge to Jews fleeing Byzantine and Islamic persecutions. Ruled by Jewish kings, it offered protection, economic opportunities, and a safe haven, fostering Jewish communities amid regional instability.

Under Umayyad caliphs like Abd al-Rahman III, Jews enjoyed prosperity, serving in high offices (e.g., as viziers and physicians), contributing to science and philosophy. This period of tolerance allowed cultural flourishing, with Jews like Maimonides thriving, contrasting with Christian persecutions elsewhere.

Polish rulers, starting with Bolesław the Pious's Statute of Kalisz (1264), granted Jews protections, economic rights, and autonomy, attracting those expelled from Western Europe (e.g., after 1290 English expulsion). Poland became a Jewish haven, hosting Europe's largest community with relative freedom until later partitions.

After Spain's expulsion of Jews during the Inquisition, Sultan Bayezid II welcomed them, sending ships to evacuate thousands to Ottoman lands. Jews integrated into society, gaining economic prominence in trade and diplomacy, with protections extending to port cities like Thessaloniki.

Napoleon Bonaparte's forces emancipated Jews in conquered territories (e.g., Italy, Germany), granting citizenship, ending ghettos, and promoting equality under law. This dismantled discriminatory restrictions, influencing broader European reforms despite later reversals.

During Nazi occupation, nations like Denmark (1943 rescue of 7,000+ Jews to Sweden), Bulgaria (preventing deportation of 48,000 Jews), and Albania (sheltering Jews via Besa code) actively aided Jews, saving thousands from the Holocaust through collective efforts.

My opinion: If you are a Christian, and you want to give your opinion on what Israel or the ‘Jews’ should do, consider their historical experience with your faith system.

Liberal activist left-wing Christians support Israel’s enemies

Conservative activist right-wing Christians say God hates Israel

And these are the two loudest voices

If you think there is no such thing as Islamic terror then you are a fool

You can tune in to MSNBC or Al Jezeera for that

And if you think God is trying to establish a global Christian monarchy, you are a fool

You can tune into Fox News for that

“If some of the branches [Israel] were broken off, and you [Christians] being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the right root of the olive tree…

Did you catch it?

Grafted ‘IN AMONG THEM and became a PARTAKER WITH THEM’

Not replacement

Not a plan for just Christians and then a plan for just Israel

It is one goal from the start, period.

…do not be arrogant toward the branches [Israel]. If you are arrogant, remember, it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you…

And you might say, ‘Branches [Israel] were broken off so that I might be grafted in!” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, and you stand by your faith…

Do not be conceited, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches [Israel], he will not spare you either…

See then the kindness and severity of God: to the fallen, severity; to you, God’s kindness…IF YOU CONTINUE IN HIS KINDNESS, lest you also will be cut off.” Romans 11:17-22

The goal is to put as many families of nations on this tree.

The goal is one family, our family of nations

Our Family of Nations