- May 26, 2005
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Please note: I am not saying I agree with any of what I will write below. Those are just some logical thoughts on how to build on some of the other misconceptions people have. Even though the starting point is what has been said, if I follow the logic I get to some really exotic things that have never been said. So I like to explore them just for their originality. With this prelude here it goes:
People say you can't say "all Jews killed Jesus" because Jesus was a Jew. But actually, even though Jesus was a Jew, He was one of the Jews that killed Jesus. In particular, "Jews killed Jesus" ==> "Jesus killed Jesus" ==> "Jesus killed Himself" ==> "Jesus chose to lay down His life" ==> "Jesus left the earth instead of spreading His teachings"
So maybe their thing is that they overlook the fact that Jesus' death provided sacrifice for our sins and, instead, they focus on the fact that due to Jesus' death, Jesus isn't around to spread His teachings any more, and they are angry at Him for this. And in this context, yes, they can be angry at the Jews other than Jesus for killing Him, but they can also be angry at Jesus for laying down His life. So they are angry at the Jews, including Jesus.
Now, you might ask: why are they angry at Jesus for withelding the rest of His teachings (by leaving the earth) instead of being thankful for him sharing what he did? Well, perhaps its both, just on different levels. Would you be angry if someone gives you 1000 dollars, but then you learn they had a billion that they chose not to share?
And being angry at Jesus for withelding His teachings (by leaving the earth) goes hand in hand with being angry at other Jews for not fulfilling their task as God's chosen people. And yes, it is possible that antisemites know that Jews are God's chosen people and thats why they are angry at them for not fulfilling their task as such. They are a lot more angry at Jews for rejecting Jesus than they are at atheists, perhaps because they subconsiously know that Jews are God's chosen so they aren't fulfilling their task. So, if they are angry at other Jews who don't fulfill their task as God's chosen people, they can be angry at ultimate God's chosen Jew (that is, Jesus) who didn't fulfill His task by leaving the Earth.
In fact they can be angry at Jewish community as a whole for not fulfilling its task as God's chosen, and simply include Jesus as part of that accusation. So, God's chosen Jewish community was about to bring about something great: Jesus. But then it had some internal struggles that caused it to withold it on multiple levels. First of all, Jewish community had an internal fight where its majority decided to kill Jesus. And secondly, Jesus, who is also a Jew, chose to be complicit at it and lay down His life. Different "bad" things went on, but they are all part of that internal problems Jews have that keeps them from being light onto nations like they are supposed to be. Hence the anger at them.
The other thing that they say is that Jesus can't be antisemitic because He is a Jew. But, in light of modern politics, you can say that Jesus is "self hating Jew" (this term has been yoused in reference to anti-zionist Jews such as Chomsky). And again, Jesus would be "self hating" in quite a literal sense, since He chose to lay down His life.
Well, at the top, I said I don't agree with what I wrote for a reason. Because I realize that ultimately God knows the best, and in God's perfect judgement it was best for Jesus to die on the cross. Jesus Himself was telling His disciples on the last supper that it would be good for them if He leaves. That plus also Jesus didn't "kill himself" in a way we would normally understand, because He resurrected and now He is alive in His glorified body. But the point is: Christian antisemites probably don't realize this. Because if Jesus' death is a good thing, then they would be thanking Jews for killing Jesus. So the fact that htey hate them instead indicates that they don't fully realize that its a good thing. They SAY they realize it, because they claim to be Christian, and this is one of the main tenats of Christianity. But just because someone understands something intellectually doesn't mean they understand it on deeper level emotionally. So it is possible that, on a deeper level, they don't truly understand that Jesus' sacrifice is a good thing (even though on doctrinal level they do) and thus they are angry at Jews for killing Jesus. Now, if on a deeper level they don't understand that its a good thing, then it only makes sense to also be angry at Jesus for leaving the earth, too.
By the way, the other misconception that is directly tied to this is the one of atheism. Remember the movie "God is not dead" God's Not Dead (film) - Wikipedia where an atheist professor asked all students to write "God is dead", and a Christian student refused. Now, I thought of a way a Christian "could" write it in good conscience. In particular, Jesus "died" on the cross, didn't he? Jesus is God. So God is dead. Now, of course, Jesus is alive in heaven. But since the souls of deceased Christians are also alive, yet those people are considered "dead", can't Jesus also be considered "dead"? And its not just a language coincidence. It actually is the reason the professor wanted them to write that. Why does atheism exists? Because God doesn't present to us the signs that we can see and touch. What does it mean to be dead? It means to live in a spiritual realm (in heaven for example) where your existence can't be proven. So Professor Radison's wish to write "God is dead" is a direct consequence of Jesus in fact dying on the cross (if Jesus didn't die on the cross, He would be around to prove His existence to stop people like Prof Radisson to want to write this).
To make it clear, I realize that this line of reasoning can be refutted by pointing out the Biblical passages about resurrection and about Jesus being the first fruit. So Jesus shouldn't be compared to souls of the deceased right now, He should be compared to the deseased after the resurrection in the future, and then they won't be dead. But as you can see we are now getting into subtleties. So saying "God is dead" might not be denial of Christianity as such, but rather not knowing those passages about first fruits.
Now, how does it relate to what I was talking about earlier? Here is how. The fallacy of being angry at Jesus for leaving the Earth, is logically connected to not realizing that what Jesus is doing in heaven counts (because we can't touch it). Wanting to say "God is dead" also logically connects to saying that what Jesus does in heaven doesn't count (to the point of saying He doesn't exist). And also: if Jews killed Jesus, then Jesus is dead (after someone kills someone, that person is dead). On the other hand, if Jesus is alive then Jews didn't kill Him (nobody did), they attempted to but they didn't succeed. Also, if Jesus is dead, then Jesus was a self hating Jew for bringing about His supposed death (see one of the earlier points). But if Jesus is alive then no He is not self hating Jew, he was doing something that fulfilled His ultimate purpose. And then we go back to the end of the movie where that student asked Radison "why do you hate God" and Radison says he hates God for not saving his mother from dying. To which student says "how can you hate someone who doesn't exist". So that confirms my point that hating Jews for not fulfilling their purpose and hating Jesus for not fulfilling His purpose is logically connected. Except that it is done by different people. Atheists (like Radison) hate Jesus for not fulfilling His purpose, while Christian antisemities hate Jews (otehr than Jesus) for the same thing.
What I am suggesting is a theoretical hybrid between an atheist and a Christian who would hate Jesus for not fulfilling His purpose (like atheists do) and hate Jews for not fulfilling theirs (like Christians do). And said hybrid would be able to say "yes Jesus is a Jew, and I hate Jesus for the same reason I hate other Jews".
People say you can't say "all Jews killed Jesus" because Jesus was a Jew. But actually, even though Jesus was a Jew, He was one of the Jews that killed Jesus. In particular, "Jews killed Jesus" ==> "Jesus killed Jesus" ==> "Jesus killed Himself" ==> "Jesus chose to lay down His life" ==> "Jesus left the earth instead of spreading His teachings"
So maybe their thing is that they overlook the fact that Jesus' death provided sacrifice for our sins and, instead, they focus on the fact that due to Jesus' death, Jesus isn't around to spread His teachings any more, and they are angry at Him for this. And in this context, yes, they can be angry at the Jews other than Jesus for killing Him, but they can also be angry at Jesus for laying down His life. So they are angry at the Jews, including Jesus.
Now, you might ask: why are they angry at Jesus for withelding the rest of His teachings (by leaving the earth) instead of being thankful for him sharing what he did? Well, perhaps its both, just on different levels. Would you be angry if someone gives you 1000 dollars, but then you learn they had a billion that they chose not to share?
And being angry at Jesus for withelding His teachings (by leaving the earth) goes hand in hand with being angry at other Jews for not fulfilling their task as God's chosen people. And yes, it is possible that antisemites know that Jews are God's chosen people and thats why they are angry at them for not fulfilling their task as such. They are a lot more angry at Jews for rejecting Jesus than they are at atheists, perhaps because they subconsiously know that Jews are God's chosen so they aren't fulfilling their task. So, if they are angry at other Jews who don't fulfill their task as God's chosen people, they can be angry at ultimate God's chosen Jew (that is, Jesus) who didn't fulfill His task by leaving the Earth.
In fact they can be angry at Jewish community as a whole for not fulfilling its task as God's chosen, and simply include Jesus as part of that accusation. So, God's chosen Jewish community was about to bring about something great: Jesus. But then it had some internal struggles that caused it to withold it on multiple levels. First of all, Jewish community had an internal fight where its majority decided to kill Jesus. And secondly, Jesus, who is also a Jew, chose to be complicit at it and lay down His life. Different "bad" things went on, but they are all part of that internal problems Jews have that keeps them from being light onto nations like they are supposed to be. Hence the anger at them.
The other thing that they say is that Jesus can't be antisemitic because He is a Jew. But, in light of modern politics, you can say that Jesus is "self hating Jew" (this term has been yoused in reference to anti-zionist Jews such as Chomsky). And again, Jesus would be "self hating" in quite a literal sense, since He chose to lay down His life.
Well, at the top, I said I don't agree with what I wrote for a reason. Because I realize that ultimately God knows the best, and in God's perfect judgement it was best for Jesus to die on the cross. Jesus Himself was telling His disciples on the last supper that it would be good for them if He leaves. That plus also Jesus didn't "kill himself" in a way we would normally understand, because He resurrected and now He is alive in His glorified body. But the point is: Christian antisemites probably don't realize this. Because if Jesus' death is a good thing, then they would be thanking Jews for killing Jesus. So the fact that htey hate them instead indicates that they don't fully realize that its a good thing. They SAY they realize it, because they claim to be Christian, and this is one of the main tenats of Christianity. But just because someone understands something intellectually doesn't mean they understand it on deeper level emotionally. So it is possible that, on a deeper level, they don't truly understand that Jesus' sacrifice is a good thing (even though on doctrinal level they do) and thus they are angry at Jews for killing Jesus. Now, if on a deeper level they don't understand that its a good thing, then it only makes sense to also be angry at Jesus for leaving the earth, too.
By the way, the other misconception that is directly tied to this is the one of atheism. Remember the movie "God is not dead" God's Not Dead (film) - Wikipedia where an atheist professor asked all students to write "God is dead", and a Christian student refused. Now, I thought of a way a Christian "could" write it in good conscience. In particular, Jesus "died" on the cross, didn't he? Jesus is God. So God is dead. Now, of course, Jesus is alive in heaven. But since the souls of deceased Christians are also alive, yet those people are considered "dead", can't Jesus also be considered "dead"? And its not just a language coincidence. It actually is the reason the professor wanted them to write that. Why does atheism exists? Because God doesn't present to us the signs that we can see and touch. What does it mean to be dead? It means to live in a spiritual realm (in heaven for example) where your existence can't be proven. So Professor Radison's wish to write "God is dead" is a direct consequence of Jesus in fact dying on the cross (if Jesus didn't die on the cross, He would be around to prove His existence to stop people like Prof Radisson to want to write this).
To make it clear, I realize that this line of reasoning can be refutted by pointing out the Biblical passages about resurrection and about Jesus being the first fruit. So Jesus shouldn't be compared to souls of the deceased right now, He should be compared to the deseased after the resurrection in the future, and then they won't be dead. But as you can see we are now getting into subtleties. So saying "God is dead" might not be denial of Christianity as such, but rather not knowing those passages about first fruits.
Now, how does it relate to what I was talking about earlier? Here is how. The fallacy of being angry at Jesus for leaving the Earth, is logically connected to not realizing that what Jesus is doing in heaven counts (because we can't touch it). Wanting to say "God is dead" also logically connects to saying that what Jesus does in heaven doesn't count (to the point of saying He doesn't exist). And also: if Jews killed Jesus, then Jesus is dead (after someone kills someone, that person is dead). On the other hand, if Jesus is alive then Jews didn't kill Him (nobody did), they attempted to but they didn't succeed. Also, if Jesus is dead, then Jesus was a self hating Jew for bringing about His supposed death (see one of the earlier points). But if Jesus is alive then no He is not self hating Jew, he was doing something that fulfilled His ultimate purpose. And then we go back to the end of the movie where that student asked Radison "why do you hate God" and Radison says he hates God for not saving his mother from dying. To which student says "how can you hate someone who doesn't exist". So that confirms my point that hating Jews for not fulfilling their purpose and hating Jesus for not fulfilling His purpose is logically connected. Except that it is done by different people. Atheists (like Radison) hate Jesus for not fulfilling His purpose, while Christian antisemities hate Jews (otehr than Jesus) for the same thing.
What I am suggesting is a theoretical hybrid between an atheist and a Christian who would hate Jesus for not fulfilling His purpose (like atheists do) and hate Jews for not fulfilling theirs (like Christians do). And said hybrid would be able to say "yes Jesus is a Jew, and I hate Jesus for the same reason I hate other Jews".
