Nope, the same old Antisemitism

Posted on

No, I guess he doesn’t. It doesn’t take long for Christians to turn anti-Semitic, does it?

from Support Mel Gibson!

I must conclude, however, that in the current controversy, Mel Gibson is David against the Goliath of the anti-Christian Hollywood establishment and politically powerful Jewish leaders.

…

[The Jewish viewers’] reactions were extremely bigoted and dismissive of the faith Christians hold dear: the movie was described as “painful, anti-semitic, and frightening.”

…

It is obvious that Jewish leaders are both contemptuous of the beliefs of Christians and ungrateful for Christian support of Israel.

…

Why is it, that in the midst of near-unanimous approval among Christians, Jewish leaders harbor such irrational fear toward a historically accurate depiction of Jesus’ life?

The answer is simple: Jewish leaders want a monopoly over the spiritual life of the Jewish people, and do not want them to learn about the liberating faith of Christianity because Jewish leaders would lose their power.

4 thoughts on “Nope, the same old Antisemitism”

  1. I don’t believe that Jewish leaders are contemptuous of Christian beliefs. I don’t think they think too much about them. And concerning Christian support for Israel, the average Ameican Jew knows very little about this. But when they do they automatically assume a hidden secret agenda. (For some of them, there is one; but for millions others, there isn’t.) Today’s current American Jewish leaders have no interest in spirituality. American Jewish life today – aside from the Orthodox – is almost totally devoid of anything which resembles anything spiritual. If they go to ‘temple,’ it’s only to see friends, talk about their latest trip to the Bahamas (never Israel, of course) and nosh at the kiddush table. And the other thing that keeps them together is anti-Semitism – at least the threat of it. In Europe, during Easter, it was precisely the Passion Play which caused pogroms to take place against the Jews. This is a part of the ‘baggage’ that we carry around with us. I know all about this – I grew up in the States. I remember my mother telling me about what her grandmother told her about the pogroms. I now live in Israel.

    For somebody in the middle of converting to Israel, it sounds like you haven’t quite yet cut yourself off from your Christian roots. That’s just an observation. Well, I am looking forward to getting a response to this.

  3. Hi Chaya –

    It’s true, I probably haven’t cut all my ties with Christianity. Catholicism formed such a large part of my childhood, and that will always be part of me, for better or worse.

    I wanted, with this excerpt, to show how some of the Catholic community – mostly the part that totally agrees with Mel Gibson (whose views are definitely not the same as the Vatican’s) – feels about Jews and Judaism.

    I’d never paid much attention to antisemitism until deciding to convert, so I find the continued existence, as well as the extent, of it surprising. I think Mel Gibson is stirring up a hornet’s nest with this movie. Then again, he’s probably hoping for a lot of free publicity, especially since it’s his money backing the project.

  4. Chaya, you haven’t been to my shul. There’s no talking during services, because everyone is involved and engaged in the service. There’s plenty of spirituality. New people are learning to chant Torah all the time. The Rabbi leads a discussion on the parsha every Tuesday in a downtown office building, in addition to Friday night service, Saturday morning service, and Havdalah service.

    And we’re not Orthodox, we’re Reconstructionist.

Comments are closed.