Posted on 03/11/2009 1:32:44 AM PDT by MartinaMisc
ANTI-SEMITISM is an ancient derangement, the oldest of hatreds, so it is strange that it lacks a more meaningful name. The misnomer "anti-Semitism" - a term coined in 1879 by the German agitator Wilhelm Marr, who wanted a scientific-sounding euphemism for Judenhass, or Jew-hatred - is particularly inane, since hostility to Jews has never had anything to do with Semites or being Semitic.
Perhaps there is no good name for a virus as mutable as anti-Semitism. "The Jews have been objects of hatred in pagan, religious, and secular societies," write Joseph Telushkin and Dennis Prager in "Why the Jews?," their classic study of anti-Semitism. "Fascists have accused them of being Communists, and Communists have branded them capitalists. Jews who live in non-Jewish societies have been accused of having dual loyalties, while Jews who live in the Jewish state have been condemned as 'racists.' Poor Jews are bullied, and rich Jews are resented. Jews have been branded as both rootless cosmopolitans and ethnic chauvinists. Jews who assimilate have been called a 'fifth column,' while those who stay together spark hatred for remaining separate."
There was Jew-hatred before there was Christianity or Islam, before Nazism or Communism, before Zionism or the Middle East conflict. This week Jews celebrate the festival of Purim, gathering in synagogues to read the biblical book of Esther. Set in ancient Persia, it tells of Haman, a powerful royal adviser who is insulted when the Jewish sage Mordechai refuses to bow down to him.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Golf clubs are still called *irons* even they are made of something else, right?
Will you stop calling this country *America* and her citizens *Americans* just because other people in the North and South America don't like us doing it - they are technically Americans as well.
If you want to use the term Jew-hate, you are welcome to do it, and I use it often, btw, but don't expect people to drop using the word Antisemite, just because Antisemites like to confuse people with demagoguery.
No, I will continue to use “America”. It’s more descriptive and commonly accepted than “United State”. Language changes and new terms are invented. I just have a thing about “anti-Semitism”.
Yes. That is the first recorded case of equal effort, unequal result and it ended in the first case of murder.
Nope, that would be the Christians.
See, there was this whole "New Testament" thing and this Jesus guy...
We all have our interpretation. God states in the Bible they are His people and will bless and curse those who bless and curse His people. God changes not. The Jews may have rejected that Truth but God loves them anyway (as He loves us all). It is true that a large portion of the NT is written by and about Pauls mission to primarily the Gentiles but the Bible as a whole centers on the (mostly failed) mission of the Jews to bring Gods Word to the rest of the world. They will awaken to this fact right before His return and the results will be amazing. With God all things are possible.
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