"Can someone help me understand this?"

[babylonsister]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/26/2112636/-Can-someone-help-me-understand-this

Can someone help me understand this?
Sarkazein
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Tuesday July 26, 2022 · 9:55 AM EDT
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I've read about it for years and known about it for years. I've heard it used as a reason for persecution and assimilation. I've seen it blamed for everything from climate change to vote changing to somehow controlling the world. But I don't get it.

Why does nearly every idiotic hate group hate Jewish people? I don't know the root of this. I don't get why every single ailment that may affect someone must be because of "the Jews" or some such nonsense. In my younger days, I dated Jewish women. I am friends with a lot of Jewish people. Hell, I dated a Middle Eastern girl that claimed to be Hawaiian because her last name sounded vaguely Hawaiian (and 17-year-old me didn't know the difference, or care for that matter). It didn't make her bad or evil. We dated for almost three years. I ended up married to an Eastern European.

But every single hate group that has suddenly become prominent because, thanks to a single rotten Orange, they became empowered -- they all blame Jews in one way or another. Whether it's Jewish Space Lasers™ or some weirdo secret cabal or secret powers or otherwise somehow a monetary force of untold fortunes and abilities, Jewish people are always accused of somehow being behind all of this.

Weirder still, these people usually claim to be "Christian" of some sort, which is laughable. The last thing these people are are followers of any organized religion. I was raised Catholic and made to go to church until 18 years old. I admittedly haven't been with any regularity since the "freedom" of not having to go to church, but for some people, it's important. Going to (a real) church and following the teachings clearly isn't anywhere close to important to the people claiming to be the strongest advocates of the practice.

But at least in America, the "Evangelical Christian" seems to hate everything not exactly to their liking, which is the opposite of pretty much any real religious teaching. It goes against everything that is said and taught (like, I don't know, the ten commandments), yet it's a crutch constantly leaned on as an excuse for persecution. Even outside of the US, we have various "religious" factions warring against each other in the name of some god that in reality wouldn't agree with a damn thing they say or do.

So, my question is, especially here but seemingly worldwide, why are Jewish people singled out as some master race controlling everything? Is it because some Jewish people are famous or funny or just generally successful? Is it because they've always been the target for some reason? Is there something I just don't get about how you can absolutely hate someone (or even an entire group of people) without knowing them at all?

I'll leave with this. A new 7-11 opened near me in the past few years. I went there to get beer once it opened, and I was sort of staring at the guy checking people out. He could see me staring at him and was getting agitated. What I was doing was staring at his nametag so I could say his name right (he's an Indian guy named Sukreet, and you just know he's got shit for that from some people that intentionally mispronounced it). I got to the front, put the beer down, and said, "Not to be rude, but is your name pronounced Sue-crete?" He suddenly smiled big and said, "Yes!" Ever since then, when I go there for something, it's "How are you, my friend!" and stuff like that. The smallest things make the biggest difference.

The point of my little 7-11 story is that if you take even the smallest gesture to be friendly, be human, the results are usually good. And I don’t understand why such a simple thing is so impossible for some people. I don’t get how there is apparently zero attempt to connect and understand. I don’t know 7-11 guy beyond his name and his job. He knows me as the nice guy that got his name right. Took two minutes, maybe? But that tiny effort made a friendship, not an enemy.

Is the hateful right so completely unwillingly to spare two minutes? They waste a lot more time hating and attempting to somehow prove their hate with nonsensical memes and posts. Isn’t there something better for a “Christian” to be doing? And why is it always Jewish people or beliefs behind everything they don’t agree with? And where do they get this unlimited supply of monies and resources (which oddly fuel the far right wing but more lately the mainstream Republican party)?

[Maeve]

1. Paraphrasing a line from "Fiddler on the Roof"

"Lord, I know we're the Chosen People. But once in a while, couldn't You choose someone else?"

Jews refuse to accept that "Christians are RIGHT, dammit"...and that is enough. Oy.

[hlthe2b]

2. Throughout recorded history... From childhood, I've wondered about this.

Certainly, there is a tribal nature to humans accentuated by perceived or observed differences. But I just don't see that as an explanation for more than two thousand years of this history. I do not know.

[jimfields33]

11. That's why I support Israel 100 percent

They have been to hell and back and deserve some peace.

[Butterflylady]

16. And the other side hasn't?

[jimfields33]

41. I'm not sure they were in the holocaust

[vlyons]

3. Because the Jews were blamed for Jesus cruxifiction

This doesn't make any sense, I know. The Christian church was a Roman invention. Jews refused to convert to Christianity, and Christianity is intolerant.

[2naSalit]

9. Pretty much.

[CanonRay]

13. Nailed it

It's rooted in basic Christian theology. The Jews killed Jesus, so if you're Christian you blame Jews. For everything. That's why Christianity and fascism meld so easily, I believe.

[vlyons]

19. Actually, it was the Roman gentiles, who killed Jesus

But since the established church was Roman invention with the bishop of Rome as gthe high priest pontiff, they certainly weren't going to take the blame.

[Mariana]

29. The Roman Gentiles killed Jesus because the locals demanded it.

According to the stories, after Jesus was arrested, Pilate investigated, found him not guilty of the charges, and intended to let him go. But by then Jesus had so alienated the local religious authorities and the population that they wanted him gone for good. Pilate gave in and ordered the execution.

Luke 23 : 13-25 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.”

But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”

But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

[Probatim]

40. If he hadn't upset the money lenders, Jesus wouldn't have been crucified.

It's one of the biggest lessons from the bible - don't mess the moneyed interests.

The vast majority of assassinations in world history follow that theme and continue through today. Look at those who've been murdered in Central and South America. Most are trying to protect people and forests and they're killed by the government or their intermediaries.

[BonnieJW]

52. Good to understand

that Jews were money lenders because that's all they were allowed to be. They weren't allowed to own land, in later years they weren't allowed to apprentice to learn a trade, if they were able to learn a trade they couldn't join a guild. They were only allowed the most hated profession- money lender. Who likes someone they owe money to?

Many times if a nobleman owed a great deal of money, he would arrange an "accident " and the money lender would meet an untimely end.

This is where the stereotypes of Jews and money come from

[vlyons]

64. That was true in the dark and middle ages, but not so during Jesus time.

Plenty of references in the Bible to Jewish farming and livestock. The New testament opens with shepards watching their flocks by night. And of course Jesus father was a carpenter. He was probably employed to help build Herod's port of Caesaria.

[demigoddess]

70. YES, that's what I learned in school,history.

[wnylib]

55. The Jewish priests and leaders were between a rock and a hard place.

There was a messianic fervor in Judea at the time of Jesus, with many people claiming to be the prophesied Messiah. Many of them taught and believed in a literal overthrow of Rome to establish a new, independent Israel.

Anyone with a messianic message and group of followers was a threat to Roman absolute power. Romans retaliated ruthlessly against them and Jews in general. A messiah with a following in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover - which celebrates God's delivery of the Jews from the Egyptian empire - would be seen by the Romans as a radical and a threat. That would put the Jews in danger of Roman retaliation. The priests and leaders tried to protect the Jews by weeding out radicals.

There was a lot of criticism of the priests and of the practices that they allowed in the temple by various sects of Judaism at the time. Jesus took it beyond verbal criticism to physical action. So he was a threat not only to priestly authority, but also to Roman authority, which had the power to retaliate brutally against the Jews in general for any civil unrest.

[Mariana]

58. If Jesus committed any actual crime, that was it.

He could have gone and asked them to stop, and explained in his reasoning. Instead, he flew into a rage, constructed a weapon, attacked the people, drove the animals out into the street, and vandalized the place. And people insist he was nonviolent.



Today, churches put on fundraising activities all the time, in which vendors sell their wares on the church property, and the church gets a piece of the action. Anyone who did to the people putting on one of those events what Jesus did in the temple would very rightly land in jail with a stack of criminal charges.

[vlyons]

63. It wasn't just the money lenders

The high priests were always Levites, which was a hereditary office. And at Jesus time, they basically kissed Roman ass to stay in power. Herod had built the port of Caesaria, which was an international trade center important to the Romans.

Jesus never flattered the priestly hierarchy. If you recall the parable of the good Samaritan, a priest and a Levite cross the oad to avoid helping the guy who was beat up by robbers. But the samaritan goes over and above board to help lean e injured man. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews, because altho descended from Abraham, they had intermarried with non-Jews, didn't keep the Sabbath, and ate unclean foods.

I would go so far as to ask, where did Jesus get his ideas about compassion and tolerance? .

[Whiskeytide]

66. Sometimes in discussions with evangelicals, I say ...

… “I remember the story about Jesus entering the temple and throwing out all the poor people because they were getting in the way of the money lenders”. About 70% of the time I get a “damn right” response. The other 30% I get confused, hard thinking looks.

[wnylib]

51. That's the Roman version of the crucifixion of Jesus.

It was written after the influx of Gentiles into the early Christian sect of Judaism. It is intended to make the Romans look like the good guys, fair and just.

But modern historians agree that the Biblical account of Pontius Pilate being reluctant to crucify Jesus is totally out of character for Pilate. He was a ruthless enforcer of Roman superiority over conquered people.

The Biblical accounts were written long after the events, by people who never knew Jesus or his disciples.

[Mariana]

57. Did the Christians who persecuted Jews all those centuries know that?

Do the Christians who persecuted Jews today know that? Good luck convincing them that the stories about their divine figure in their holy book are false.

[wnylib]

67. I doubt that any of the Christians who have persecuted Jews

at any time in history knew tgat, or know it today. There are many who would not accept it as fact today even if informed about it.

During the Middle Ages especially, it was common for priests to rile up the people by preaching against "Christ killers." The attitude still goes on in some churches today. Other churches teach that, according to Christian theology, Jesus was destined to die, so it is pointless to blame anyone.

Most of the hostility, as far as I can see, is due to seeing people of different cultures or beliefs as "the other." Some people have a deep seated need to hate someone in the crazy idea that somehow the hatred elevates themselves on some sort of social scale in their minds which assures them that, if there are people on the "outside," they are more certain of being on the "inside."

It is scapegoating, with religion as the excuse for what that kind of person would do anyway. If there were no religions, they would find other reasons for scapegoating some group.

[wnylib]

46. +1000

Also, Jews were considered a threat by Rome because of the Jewish desire for their freedom as a nation again. Jewish rebellions made them the "bad guys" of the Eastern part of the Empire.

The early Christians were a Jewish sect who believed in the return of their Messiah to establish kingdom on earth ruled by the Jewish God, and refused to participate in the required Roman religious ceremonies, so they were a threat to Roman absolutism, too.

As more Gentiles converted to the Christian sect of Judaism and added Gentile theology to Christianity, the Christians became less Jewish and more Gentile, splitting themselves off from Judaism. Jews were not unhappy about the split since they considered the Christians misguided at best. The concept of the incarnation of God into human form was (and still is) blasphemous to them.

So, once Christians gained acceptance by Rome and became the Empire's official religion, they acted toward Jews the way that Romans had acted toward the early Christian sect of Judaism. They became the "in" group and made Jews the "out" group.

Since Christianity spread throughout Europe and the world empires created by European colonialism, anti Jewish hatred spread with them.

It's no longer a strictly religious hatred. I have known non religious people who hate Jews, mostly out of a need for a scapegoat to hate and blame for their own problems projected onto a world problem.

[Whiskeytide]

27. I thought Jesus dying was part of God's plan. Why don't they blame God? n/t

[multigraincracker]

33. For fun and laughs, I just ask

them to explain the Trinity.

[Rebl2]

37. There you go

[Elessar Zappa]

22. Christianity is NOT a Roman invention.

The first Christians were middle eastern Jews. This is well documented.

[geardaddy]

36. Vylons wasn't saying that Christianity was a Roman invention

The Catholic Church was a Roman invention.

[Elessar Zappa]

39. Yes, that's true.

[fantase56]

26. Okay, so I understand this...

but when I had Christian friends and family, I asked several where their religion would be had Christ not been crucified. Never got a solid answer on that one.

[intheflow]

62. My fundie cousin told me, when I asked her why she seemed

to follow Hebrew Bible teachings more than Christ's teachings, that Jesus said, "I didn't come to change the laws." While it's true Jesus said this, I couldn't resist following up with the question, "Then why aren't you a Jew, as Jesus was?" Shut her right up!

[intheflow]

61. This is what I learned in seminary.

My New Testament teacher was Jewish (it was a really progressive seminary), and she really made the case for the early church's persecution of Jews because they "killed Christ." I'll add that this interpretation came out of the Catholic Church, based in Rome, after the Roman leaders had all converted and made everyone else convert from worshipping the Roman gods to Christianity. This, of course, is because it was the Roman authorities killed Jesus. Christian deflection came early.

[OneGrassRoot]

5. This is a good article:

https://theconversation.com/antisemitism-how-the-origins-of-historys-oldest-hatred-still-hold-sway-today-87878

Antisemitism: how the origins of history’s oldest hatred still hold sway today

The section after this excerpt addresses the "Christ Killers" hatred

Antisemitism in antiquity?

Some scholars would look to the pre-Christian world and see in the attitudes of ancient Greeks and Romans the origins of an enduring hostility. Religious Studies scholar Peter Schäfer believes the exclusive nature of the monotheistic Jewish faith, the apparent haughty sense of being a chosen people, a refusal to intermarry, a Sabbath observance and the practise of circumcision were all things that marked Jews out in antiquity for a particular odium.

Finding examples of hostility towards Jews in classical sources is not difficult. The politician and lawyer Cicero, 106-43BC, once reminded a jury of “the odium of Jewish gold” and how they “[stick together]” and are “influential in informal assemblies”. The Roman historian Tacitus, c.56-120AD, was contemptuous of “base and abominable” Jewish customs and was deeply disturbed by those of his compatriots who had renounced their ancestral gods and converted to Judaism. The Roman poet and satirist Juvenal, c.55-130AD, shared his disgust at the behaviour of converts to Judaism besides denouncing Jews generally as drunken and rowdy.

These few examples may point towards the existence of antisemitism in antiquity. But there is little reason to believe that Jews were the objects of a specific prejudice beyond the generalised contempt that both Greeks and Romans exhibited towards “barbarians” – especially conquered and colonised peoples. Juvenal was every bit as rude about Greeks and other foreigners in Rome as he was about Jews. He complained bitterly: “I cannot stand … a Greek city of Rome. And yet what part of the dregs comes from Greece?” Once the full extent of Juvenal’s prejudice has been recognised, his snide remarks about Jews might be understood as being more indicative of an altogether more sweeping xenophobia.

[multigraincracker]

53. I've always thought the "refusal to intermarry" was part of it.

You have to mix it up a little to get a multi-grain. Some of the most racist have multigrain grand kids now. Kind of changes the way they look at culture. Almost 50 years ago, my first love was a Jewish girl and after a couple of dates, her father would not allow her to go out with me. I guess it could have been because he thought I was a jerk, I don't know.

[Bayard]

6. I've never understood this either

With Jesus supposedly being Jewish and all.

The Christian Fascist Party seem to hate everything he stood for though, for all their claims.

[Ohio Joe]

7. And it's always rooted in 'the Jews control x'

Where ‘x’ is… Pretty much everything. Every government, every media, every business… Every everything… I saw a post a while back with an article about how the supremacists were complaining that the Jews controlled porn… WTF?

It’s not just insane… It’s plain stupid to believe such nonsense.

[mopinko]

8. raised catholic, but live in a pretty jewish hood, have a lot of friends, including one

that studied to be a rabbi (he's a shrink).
just met a guy, child of (now bela)russian immigrants, who were only there cuz the previous gen got chased out at partition.
he filled me in on a lot of the history that i was only vaguely aware of, like that the jews have been fighting for israel since the ottoman empire.
sorta bonded over our people's history, me being irish. and also new to my own deep history. we both spit on the crown, and we were friends. lol.

there's no more deep seated instinct in this species that a desire for a homeland. that they have fought for theirs for centuries, and still stand in that place, explains why they have a lot of blood enemies.
cuz humans.

[Omnipresent]

10. Evangelical Christians gave tfg a pass on that part alone.

Tfg’s daughter ivanka converted to judiasm to marry jared.
I guess that while they can become blind with rage against jews, they can also turn a blind eye to something that conflict’s with their beliefs?

[Lonestarblue]

14. I read somewhere (comment or article?) that evangelicals support Israel only because they believe

the Jewish state must exist so that Jesus can have his Second Coming and wipe out all the Jews, along with all the other people they hate!

[electric_blue68]

32. That's what I've read

[Marcuse]

38. The Crying Nazi finds Trump deficient

At one point, Cantwell even said he hoped for a leader who was "a lot more racist than Donald Trump" and who "does not give his daughter to a Jew," referring to the marriage between Trump's daughter Ivanka and Jared Kushner.

"I don't think that you could feel about race the way that I do and watch that Kushner b------ walk around with that beautiful girl, OK?" Cantwell said.[link:https://www.businessinsider.com/why-people-are-furious-with-trump-charlottesville-white-supremacist-vice-video-2017-8|

[mgardener]

12. Jews were blamed for Christ's crucifixion

[Timeflyer]

15. Don't get it either but...

(from Steven Hassan's 2019 book, "The Cult of Trump"--fascinating book, btw) "in his 1954 book, 'The True Believer', author Eric Hoffer wrote about the use of fear--the most basic of human emotions. It hits at the heart of our drive for survival. According to Hoffer, followers of mass movements need not believe in a god, but they must believe in a devil. Hatred and fear always unify believers against a common enemy." My guess is when the powerful Roman Empire went Christian, that was the start of the big insiders vs. outsiders view of the Jewish people. Well, not the start, but so convenient to prove allegiance to the majority party. Anyway, hate that it's still a thing in some quarters.

[catbyte]

17. I've wondered that myself, especially since today's right-wing "Christians" follow the Old Testament

Fire and Brimstone, angry vengeful God along with the hatred towards "others" and prejudices it contains rather than the love and understanding Jesus taught. But I got kicked out of Sunday School when I was 8 for asking too many questions so what do I know?

[SheltieLover]

18. I don't understand it.

[ToxMarz]

20. People aren't born with hatred, it is learned/taught

And they are taught that Jewish People are the default "go to" group. And the treachers learn to teach that (I guess laziness, it's easier since that's what everyone else it teaching).

Some/many people only have hatred in their hearts, likely because they hate themselves. Standardized hatred is simpler for simple people.

[Wounded Bear]

21. Just to add to what has been said above...

Christians, in the middle ages, were banned from committing "usury." Basically, they were not allowed by the Church to loan money at interest, with almost no exceptions. Consequently, Jews - whose religion had no such silly brake on business - did most of the banking.

Anyway, usury laws led to many major banking institution being run by Jews. Throw in a hatred of bankers to the mix and you have The Merchant of Venice and the character/caricature Shylock. Many of the wars as well as the voyages of exploration of the late medieval and renaissance eras were financed by Jewish bankers.

Google Jewish banking dynasties and you get names like the Rothschilds, who are still a prominent power in international finance.

[WestMichRad]

23. I think it's also...

…(in addition to the religious reasons described by others) that Jewish people tend to be hard-working and relatively successful, so that makes them easier to envy by some who aren’t so well off. Yes I know that’s a stereotype, but there is some truth to it. And the Jewish community is a close-knit bunch, so some are suspicious of them.

And there’s the fact that some folks just seem to thrive on hate, and the Jewish are apparently easy to hate for all the reasons described.

[Farmer-Rick]

34. So true

And the Jewish people tend to be a minority in most countries, except Isreal. So, it's easier to target them since there are fewer of them.

It always struck me as strange too like why don't they hate Amish people since they meet most of the same hate requirements that Jews do. Like Hardworking, well off, close-knit, different dress and social requirements.

But the thing about Nazis and other hate groups is that there is always someone else to hate. Slavs use to be a huge target for Nazi hate. But now, since their favorite idiot married a Slovenian sex worker, they consider them white......for now.

[Historic NY]

24. Republican say the support Israel, but a good many are anti-semitic

Don't they know Israel is the Jewish Home state? Or are they that f--king stupid?

PS; I guess they never realized that Jesus, Mary & Joseph were all Jews

[Random Boomer]

30. You're missing the why of support for Israel

Evangelicals support Israel because the existence of that country fits into some of their religious predictions for the future. It has NOTHING to do with Jews themselves.

[Submariner]

25. Why does nearly every idiotic hate group hate Jewish people?

Because imho it's probably easier to criticize a religion one knows very little about.

In 1954, the nuns taught us that everything started 1954 years ago.

When they spoke of other religions, we got little clues, but no real understanding. They mentioned the Torahs, Dead Sea Scrolls, and Jerusalem, etc,, but to the nuns and priests, that is all old testament stuff that does not follow their Jesus teachings, etc.

Educating the masses about Judaism could hopefully go a long way. A few years back I observed those tiki torch white nationalists marching and yelling "Jews will not replace us". In I'm sitting here wondering WTF they are talking about. I have not seen anything get better

How about the best and brightest of the Jewish community get together with Ken Burns and his documentary team and put together a 8-10 hour lesson in the origins of Judaism.

Go back to the beginning tracking the first people to leave Africa and settle in the current Middle East. See if we can smarten up the intolerant among us.

[babylonsister]

35. I DO like your Ken Burns idea, but

the people spouting the hate surely wouldn't want to be corrected.

[geardaddy]

44. I agree. A Ken Burns documentary would be great.

I would love watching that.

However, how many reich-wing crazies watch PBS?

[Stuart G]

28. Thanks For Posting. Some Great Answers that Educate All of Us. Thanks Again. K & R

[PortTack]

31. Part of it is they held all the wealth. They were good at community and networking, and still are

Which in turn was good for business.

[electric_blue68]

50. They didn't hold all the wealth... that seems over generalized

[PortTack]

69. In the late 1930s Germany, the Jews were quite well healed. A friend's family member was

Allowed passage, as many were if they left their vast fortune behind

[gibraltar72]

42. A convenient "other".

[Sogo]

43. Jealousy that so many Jews are successful and wealthy.

Also, they are blamed for the crucifixtion of Christ.

[Upthevibe]

45. babylonsister............

I've never understood this either!

It's just bat sh** crazy.....

I'm reading the replies here to get some kind of information. I'm not going to say "insight" because (IMHO) that would imply that it makes sense or would give me an "oh, I get it now" explanation.....

It's just bat sh** crazy!!!!

[IronLionZion]

47. They are a convenient scapegoat for thousands of years

For much of European history, they were the biggest immigrant or minority group. They have more influence historically than other immigrant or minority groups. People of any country can be Jewish, so when they see any Jew with influence they assume some global conspiracy is afoot.

These days it's even dumber. Since there are more non-white minorities, it's considered sneaky somehow for Jews who look white to exist.

It wasn't too long ago when even some DUers thought Lieberman or Feingold or even Bernie Sanders were too Jewish for President or VP. Then we got President Obama, and now VP Harris, mixed race people of color.

There were similar objections to President Kennedy being part of some global Catholic conspiracy. Biden is our second Catholic president. But then the GOP decided to help put RW Catholic extremists in control of our Supreme Court. Sonia Sotomayor and half of John Roberts are the only sensible Catholics on the court. The rest are loonies.

[Traildogbob]

48. Thank you for this

Post and the question. It has always been an issue I wanted to ask, but these WNC trump humping Baptist are the last people I would ask for an honest answer. (Or any opinion) I would get a more honest answer from the snake handling, tongue talking tambourine beaters up here in the mountains. Actually easier to understand the talking in to where bunch.
Great informative answers from DU peeps. Thanks all.
Especially the God’s plan comment. He did it. And committed adultery With a married virgin. Damn religious people love their virgins. Imagine the hell Joseph went through believing Mary and explaining to his friends. “My Virgin is pregnant”!😤😠😡🤬 Some will kill themselves for 72 of em.

[pandr32]

59. "My Virgin is Pregnant" would be a great Monty Python style film

The story of how it went for Joseph in the community because the 'Bible' doesn't cover that very much. Obviously it didn't really happen that God got Joseph's bride pregnant (common theme in Greco-Roman mythology), but it would surely create some gossip, jeers, and outright laughter if someone were to make such a claim 2000 years ago--or now!

[JT45242]

49. Historically there are a couple of reasons that then got perpetuated

1. The Jews killed Jesus fallacy
There are a lot of Christian groups (in name at least) who blame the Jews for Jesus death. So, hate the people who killed Jesus. They ignore the fact that crucifixion is a Roman punishment carried out by Roman soldiers and approved by the occupying Roman overlord (Pilate). People were taught this for years, and it stuck even though it is bad doctrine and not even true.

2. Jews were the only ones allowed to lend money and charge interest
For many years, Catholics were not allowed to loan money at interest. Since jews were allowed to, they were blamed for why people could not afford things. Again, people ignored the truly wealthy people born into aristocracy. You still hear the "Jews own all the banks and control the money"

3. When Jewish immigrants came to the US, they were willing to work for less than the previous wave of immigrants and "stole" their jobs.
Of course, this is true of all immigrant groups. This is why hate groups have targeted in no particular order: Germans, Irish, Italians, Chinese, Japanese, etc immigrants. When people leave their home land for a new country they will take any job and undercut the previous poor group. For other groups, especially European groups, enough mixing happened that you can't tell an Irish Catholic from an Italian Catholic after about 40 years. But since many groups forbid marrying Jewish people (and Jewish people tended to marry within the religion) there was no mixing of families.

4. They have made an easy scapegoat because they are identifiable -- they worship on a different day of the week, they have dietary laws, etc.

Then add -- you LEARN HATE -- if grandpa hates Jews because they took his grandfather's job 100 years ago, you learn to hate Jews too. So, the hate is passed on. Plus, that not intermarrying has a big part of not reducing the hate.

Then you can add the screw job that the Allies did with Palestine during WW2. They promised the same plot of land to two different groups: Palestinians and Jews. So, now a group of people with no real problem with the Jewish people historically now has to fight for land that they won by conquest literally over a thousand years ago and then fought the Axis powers to retain. So, now a group of mostly Muslim people view the Israeli government and the Jewish people as people who have illegally stolen land that they were promised and that they owned priot to WW2. This is not a sbig an issue here as in the middle east. But the more groups that hate any given group, the more acceptable it is to join n that hate.

Ironically, if we all would practice Rabbi Hillel's version of the golden rule -- "Do not doing anything hateful to someone else that you would not want done to you." then the world would be a much better place and I would not have had to type this post.

[Caliman73]

54. Mainly ignorance and greed.

Jewish people are a convenient scapegoat for people who want to use hatred to gain power. The Jews are blamed for killing Christ. That covers a lot of Christians' susceptibility to hatred of Jews.

Jewish people, unlike Christians had no religious objection to "usery", loaning money with interest. So Christian leaders who still wanted to make money lending money, would hire Jewish people to manage the money, separating themselves from sin, but still being able to get rich off lending. As some Jewish people started to gain power and status through their service and skill in banking, leaders would use the "blood libel" and other claims against them to keep them from amassing too much power and wealth.

There began the whole conspiracy about Jewish people secretly plotting to rule the world. Several countries have kicked out, or tried to kick out, OR tried to eliminate their Jewish populations, including Spain, Russia, Germany, France, and others.

As I said, in a VERY VERY simplistic way, "ignorance and greed".

[moniss]

56. A lot of the reason has to do with

these groups promulgating each other over the many decades with members and crazies (redundancy) moving in and out from one to another and then the shadow money moving around to help this one and that. They spawn new groups through the years but despite the different names it's the same kind of basic hate/conspiracy lingo.

[llashram]

60. because

as with so many of these so-called Christians, their pastor's interpretation given to them is that "Jews are Christ killers". In my studies, I found this fact at the root of the hate for Jewish people. "Idiotic hate groups" are ignorant sheep too lazy to study themselves. So like lemmings, they will follow their leader(s) over the cliff's edge.

Every pogrom against the Jewish people since the death of Christ has had this lie as a root cause. That a small portion of the Jewish leadership, the Pharisees, Sadducees and smaller groups wanted Christ out of the way. Their leadership(religious and otherwise) was being questioned by too many. Money and sacrifices to their temples were being affected because people were accepting the truth as presented by Jesus Christ and were falling away from the mainstream religions of the time.

In America, Christ has now become the "idiotic" people's answer to all the alleged ills of our society. Christ hates gays, Christ hates brown people etc Christ loves only white people are created by the interpretation of the Christian Nationalists now making a lot of noise. Just as with Islam's holy book the Quran, any interpretation of the Christian Bible no matter how wild can be mined from these holy books to justify many lies, murders and chaos. How many people fighting for trump 1/6 were Christians fighting for trump and Christ that day?

Just a personal answer to your OP. And with all the obfuscation concerning religions and their interpretation since BCE, things are muddied. Which is the intention of religious leadership in this world of ALL mainstream religions.

Hope this helps somehow.

But like I tell all who may ask me a question. Please don't take my word for what I tell you. Do your research and I am confident you will find some answers that reflect what I wrote here.

[lees1975]

65. There is no Christian principle or value which promotes hatred of any kind.

Three of the major Apostles of the early church, John, Paul and Peter, go to great lengths to relay instructions and their own experiences which led them to write that within the church, Christ is all and is in all.

I don't get it either. Churches are as segregated as any institution in America, so that should tell you that there are a lot of people in the church who don't know much about what they claim to believe.

[chowder66]

68. I don't get it either but I've decided it's because it's easier to hate "others" than look inward.

on edit: hate seems to me to be more exhausting than trying to heal yourself. Plus you are rewarded (in essence) by gaining new tools to cope and heal.

[live love laugh]

71. It's always been a mystery to me too. But this kind of explains it.