The dark legacy of Dearborn
By Jim Fletcher
A good buddy of mine is Dexter Van Zile, the managing editor of Focus on Western Islamism. It is a project of the Middle East Forum. (Dexter might not want to claim me!)
His work has been stellar his entire career, which includes a significant stint with CAMERA, the media watchdog group in Boston. I first became aware of CAMERA 30 years ago, and they are equally critical when it comes to standing for the truth in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
I can tell you that the fight here is ferocious and nasty.
Dexter has started a series on anti-Semitism in Dearborn, Michigan—not coincidentally the long-time home and base of iconic auto manufacturer Henry Ford. He was perhaps the most virulent Jew-hater of his time in the U.S., followed closely by people like Catholic priest and radio commentator Father Coughlin. Ford’s publication, The Dearborn Independent, was a trash rag that published much ant-Semitism.
I don’t think the average purchaser of a Ford vehicle has any idea that the company’s founder had this worldview. People don’t think about such things when they’re buying a truck. But it is also true that Ford used his position to foment violence against Jews. That tragic legacy continues, as it fed the current odious rhetoric coming from, in this case, primarily Arab community.
On the steps of the Henry Ford Library, anti-Israel protestors have screamed “Death to Israel!” and “Death to America!”
It’s stunning.
An important report underlines how Ford got to where he was regarding Jews.
“Ford wanted to assert that there was a Jewish conspiracy to control the world. He blamed Jewish financiers for fomenting World War I so that they could profit from supplying both sides. He accused Jewish automobile dealers of conspiring to undermine Ford Company sales policies. Ford wanted to make his bizarre beliefs public in the pages of the Dearborn Independent. For a year, editor Pipp resisted running anti-Jewish articles and resigned rather than publish them. Cameron took over the editorship and, in May 1920, printed the first of a series of articles titled “The International Jew: The World’s Problem.”
As a young man, Henry Ford thought enough of religion and church to walk four miles to an Episcopal Church, although it’s doubtful he got much real Bible instruction. The mainline churches, you see, have never really emphasized widespread Bible study, and our seminaries have been hijacked by closet unbelievers for many generations. In Ford’s day, such church attendance was more about ritual and social community than a proper understanding of Scripture. Ford’s own pastor claimed that the car titan believed in reincarnation.
An interesting Wikipedia entry states this:
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In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World(1932), society is organized on "Fordist" lines, the years are dated A.F. or Anno Ford ("In the Year of Ford"), and the expression "My Ford" is used instead of "My Lord". The Christian cross is replaced with a capital "T" for Model-T.
Now of course, Ford didn’t have anything to do with this directly, but his personal philosophy and worldview gave rise to this sort of thing. No, Mr. Ford definitely was not god.
Now, the thing is, most people won’t or don’t (if they know) care about Henry Ford’s non-biblical worldview, or his Jew-hatred. A confession: I did not anticipate living to see anti-Semitism at the degree it rages today. Further, I question how much actual good was done in the last 40 years by many pro-Israel groups, including predominantly Christan ones. This moment’s utter madness sweeping the world is indicative of a moral breakdown that is itself biblical, and prophesied.
For the last century at least, we have been rolling down the good highway of life, oblivious for the most part to the encroaching evil.
Henry Ford found out upon his death in 1947 just how wrong he had been about important things. He found out about the Jews.
We have a chance to make things right before we reach our departure date.