ABSTRACT
In his numerous writings, Parkes established that the foundations of antisemitism are to be found in a deeply rooted and malevolent falsification of Jewish history in the Christian tradition. As a believer, he found the continued persistence of that falsification within a segment of popular Christian tradition to be deeply offensive, and as a social critic to be exceedingly dangerous. One need not be a believer to feel a particular affront when antisemitism is pleaded as a Christian virtue, and none should shrink from attacking it for the perversion of Christianity which it is. Indeed the battle against modern antisemitism is futile unless its foundations in Christian tradition, once recognized, are irrevocably refuted. Canadian constitutional jurisprudence calls for contextualisation of the values underlying the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Charter when these are pleaded against state action.
