New York, NY, November 24, 2014 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is deeply troubled by the upcoming release of a new “documentary” geared toward Christian audiences that purportedly will focus on “the history of the Jews,” but in fact will likely serve as a tool for denigrating Jews and Judaism.
The documentary film, “Marching to Zion” is a project of Steve Anderson, the pastor of the Faithful World Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, and Paul Wittenberger, a conspiracy-oriented filmmaker from Los Angeles. Anderson, who has a history of anti-Semitism through his sermons and a series of YouTube videos, is co-producing the film with Wittenberger.
Slated for release in March 2015, the documentary’s promotional materials describe the film as covering a number of anti-Jewish themes, ranging from claims that “Judaism’s Messiah” is the Antichrist, to the “blasphemous teachings of the Talmud and Kabbalah,” to “scriptural evidence that the Jews are no longer God’s chosen people.” Anderson is heavily promoting it on YouTube.
“Pastor Steve Anderson’s warped views of Jews and Judaism are a perversion of our faith and people,” said Rabbi David Sandmel, ADL Director of Interfaith Affairs. “It is deeply troubling when a pastor uses his pulpit to misinform fellow Christians about the nature of Judaism and to promote hateful anti-Semitic myths.
The film also will feature Texe Marrs, a Texas-based pastor with a lengthy history of promoting anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories.
Anderson denigrates Judaism in a number of clips on YouTube publicizing “Marching to Zion.” The titles betray their anti-Semitic agenda, including: “The Jews are the Racists,” “Taking Part in the Jews’ Evil Deeds,” Jews are Antichrists,” and “Jewish Synagogue = Synagogue of Satan.” He paints Jews as an evil force and claims God has rejected Jews, since Jews do not accept Jesus as the Messiah.
Anderson founded the Faithful Word Baptist Church in 2005 in Tempe. The church has a small congregation and is not affiliated with any mainstream Baptist denomination. In August 2009, the church, which is also known for promoting extreme positions on homosexuality, garnered national attention when Anderson sermonized that he was praying for the death of President Obama.
Though Anderson has a small following in Arizona, his first film, “After the Tribulation,” released in December 2012, currently has more than 1.6 million views on YouTube.