Standing firm in the face of slander

I have a distinct memory from my childhood that has always stayed with me. I was only in the first grade, and for the first time in my life, I learned about the history of slavery in the United States. Soon after, I also learned about the Holocaust. Heavy subject matter for first grade, I know, but even in the brief and perfunctory manner in which we learned about these subjects, a question arose in my spirit. "How could anyone have allowed these things to happen?" I asked myself. The answer, I felt, came in the fact that few people had the courage to truly stand for truth and righteousness at a time when an inhuman evil was being perpetrated in their midst. The silence of the majority has always empowered the minority of evildoers.

And so it was then, all the way back in first grade that I distinctly remember making an inner vow. I told myself if I ever lived at a time when it was required to speak out, to stand for truth and righteousness, to stand firm, that I would not remain silent; I would not sit down, no matter the cost.

It's no surprise, then, that here I find myself, half a lifetime later, a polarizing figure, being attacked, slandered and lied about from all sides. And as far as the attacks go, it has been a fairly busy week.

First, on the extreme left, the George Soros-funded Media Matters website has launched yet another attack, accusing me with the same old tired cliches of bigotry, racism and hatred.

In this particular slander-piece, I am listed alongside several of "the greats," including Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Mike Huckabee and Michael Savage.

Apparently, the reason I was included among these men is because of a comment I made while being interviewed by Mike Huckabee on his radio program. While discussing my new book, "Mideast Beast: The Scriptural Case For an Islamic Antichrist," with the former governor, I said I felt that "Islam is an inherently evil and soul destroying, freedom destroying, force in the earth."

Of course, Media Matters misquotes me as simply calling Islam an "evil religion." Not that my actual quote was radically different, but it is a misquote nonetheless. It's also clear that they purposefully left out the portion of my statement where I say that Islam is a "freedom destroying force in the earth." But of course they would delete this portion of my comment – after all, who can really argue with my statement? Show me anywhere in the world where a more devout form of Islam is implemented without freedom being trampled upon?

But it is from the right that another, far more odious form of slander is now spreading. This attack is far more concerning than Media Matters' standard stereotyping and demagoguery. This time, the attack is deeply anti-Semitic. This particular accusation began late last year when some obscure white supremacist blogger wrote an extensive slander piece accusing me and several other Messianic Jewish figures of being secret agents in an evil Zionist conspiracy to infiltrate American Christian churches, spreading our Jewish deception. Featuring prominently at the head of this piece is a picture of me with red glowing eyes, Satan perched on my shoulder and the Israeli flag to my side.

The author of the article begins by making the incredibly revealing statement: "I mean, look at the guy – he looks seriously Jewy to me." Then comes the standard anti-Semitic conspiratorial bile:

My guess is Richardson was born with one seriously Jewy sounding name, maybe something like "Schlomo Goldstein." His life in the Mideast "as an artist" was really intense training at the Mossad Institute of Advanced HasbaRATS learning about Islam for his new career in America as a major league Christian BS artist.

Later, I am linked in with other American evangelicals Joel Rosenberg, Dr. Michael Brown, Arnold Fruchtenbaum and several others, all who are also allegedly part of this Zionist conspiracy to deceive Christians. For my part, despite the fact that I am not Jewish, I was honored to be included alongside these fine men.

But if such deeply anti-Semitic slurs were limited to only a few juvenile white supremacists, I would be less included to be concerned. But in recent weeks, the anti-Semitism has metastasized. This time, the slander comes from another blogger named Sean Osborne, an American evangelical Christian and military figure who also writes for the Northeast Intelligence Network. On Osborne's blog, not only myself, but other well-known Zionists and Christians are once again accused of being part of a Zionist agenda.

On Osborne's blog, a commenter begins the smear:

Richardson projects a convincing Christian jargon and appears to be well-schooled in the Bible. But the first alert my spirit had re: Joel was his overwhelming acceptance by powerful people and the media. That was a red flag right there. I often wonder if he is part of the what I call "white propaganda."

The commenter confuses me with author Joel C. Rosenberg, but Osborne uses the opportunity to refer to me and others who hold to my perspective on the end times (figures such as Chuck Missler, Joseph Farah, Joseph Chambers, Walid Shoebat, Sid Roth, Paul Wilbur and several others) as "the prophets of Ba'al," "deceivers" and "false prophets." Finally Osborne perpetuates the anti-Semitic slur by asking the following question: "Are these men unsaved Jews? Maybe they are."

But here is where the issue of silence and righteousness comes into place. Among all of the other evangelical Christians commenting on the site, not a single person raises a word of protest. It is always in silence that evil is allowed to advance. This is a lesson the church absolutely must understand in these last days. Standing firm will have its consequences, but we must resolve now to be hated, accused and slandered from all sides. It will come from both the left and the right. It will come from those outside as well as those considered to be brothers and sisters.

When I look back at the vow I made in the first grade, I can see God's hand working in my life, even before I knew Him. I had no idea then that in only a few short decades, I would be living at a time that in many ways would parallel the 1930s. If ever there were at time the church must resolve to stand firm, it is now. But for men and women of righteousness everywhere, now is the moment to resolve to stand firm regardless of the consequences. And in doing so, we can find strength in the comforting words of Jesus: "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you" (John 15:18).

Get Joel Richardson's newest blockbuster book: "Mideast Beast: The Scriptural Case for an Islamic Antichrist"