October 22, 2026

God’s Chosen People

The Jews consider themselves the chosen people. This is, without a doubt, a distinctive feature of the Jewish religion of the Old Testament, in contrast to the universalism of the great religions. However, the belief in being God’s favored people, even if it does not take on the same characteristics as in Judaism, is common elsewhere as well. Consider the destruction wrought by the conquistadors and even slavery in America, which were also justified on the grounds that they were opening the way to eternal salvation for those pagans who would otherwise have ended up in eternal damnation.

We must also bear in mind that today the vast majority of Jews are atheists. We might say that this includes all those who have contributed to Western culture, from Marx to Einstein to Freud, and so on.