(continued)

http://www.kanaan.org/international/israel/israel4.htm

… I belong to the generation of Germans who grew up during the Third Reich. Because of the crimes of our nation, God's judgment came upon Germany.

It was, however, from the ashes of World War II that our community, the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, emerged in Darmstadt 50 years ago as a movement of repentance. When the full facts of Nazi terror became publicly known after the war, our eyes were opened to see the enormity of the crimes committed by our people against the Jewish people. From the depths of our hearts an anguished cry arose, a cry inspired by the Spirit of God:
….
And so today, as we look back on the last 40 years, we are deeply moved by the forgiveness we have experienced from Jewish people and by the bonds of friendship uniting us. Despite all this, however, there remains a heavy burden on my heart. This burden has to do with our history as the Christian Church in the last 2000 years.

Paul writes in Romans 11 that the Jewish people are loved for the sake of their forefathers. Yet love has not been characteristic of Christianity's attitude to the Jews these past 2000 years.

After the age of the apostles, the theory arose that God was through with the Jews, that the Church was the New Israel and that the Jews were being punished for the crime of killing God. Later, when Christianity became the state religion, this theology was used as the basis for anti-Jewish policies … In time, the Jews were blamed for every calamity. A case in point is the Black Death, said to have been caused by the Jews poisoning the wells. In the name of Jesus unimaginable atrocities were committed: Jews were humiliated, deprived of their rights, baptised by force, burnt at the stake -- thousands upon thousands of them. Christian festivals, such as Easter, were sometimes chosen as a time to attack Jews. While burning the Jewish population in the synagogue in Jerusalem, the Crusaders sang 'Christ, We Adore Thee'

Continued

From the Evangelical Sisterhood of St Mary

Whether it was the Crusades, or, more recently, the pogroms, or, most horrific of all, the Holocaust -- Christian anti-Semitism paved the way for these atrocities. Is it any wonder that the name of Jesus is not loved by Jews -- and that the cross is, for them, a symbol of persecution?

Looking at the above possibly ALGOREisRICH should ask Bishop Spong and the Evangelical Sisterhood of St Mary to apologise for telling the truth.

Runner: There is a reason unborn babies haven’t been mentioned. There are no unborn babies. A baby has to be born to be a baby.

However, I wish ALGOREisRICH and runner well and hope that the light of reason will descend upon them.

Lexi:
<The only things we can be one hundred percent responsible for is our own minds.>

Are you serious?
How much of our thinking is our own? Don't you think we're culturally programmed?

Dear davidf,

Although not as rabidly as your goodself I do acknowledge and condemn the historical anti- semiticism of the church.

That being said I get the sense the Christian church, through it's evangelizing, may have done more than it's fair share of combatting racism. For instant the first black bishops of both the Catholic and Anglican faiths were ordained in the late 1800's in America. This was well before the civil rights movement had very much traction.

AGIR, anyone who can see the 'reason' behind anything Hitler and the Nazi's did to the Jews, needs to have a long, hard look at their bible again and read the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" again!

Runner "No bible believing Christian would ever kill a homosexual. They obviously hate the fruit of such perversion but would not consider killing someone for their sin as we all deserve death."

Are you joking Runner, or simply naive? I am sure there are many 'bible believing' Christians who have murdered others, for varying reasons.

How about all the pro-life Christian loonies who have murdered medical staff from abortion clinics?

How about the many Christian German Nazi's? I read how some Nazi's supervised the gas chambers at the concentration camps on a Saturday, and went to church with an apparently clear conscience on the Sunday.

Evil is not exclusive to non-Christians

Dear Otonoko,

I think one of the ways to transcend divisive identities is not to worry about them. When I became a citizen of Australia Michael Lavarch spoke and said that, "Australia is the best country on earth." I found that offensive. I am willing to obey the laws of Australia and participate in its democratic processes. Why do I need to put down other countries?

Dear suzeonline,

I would to see all countries no more than convenient administrative units. - no armies & no jingoism.

Dear lexi,

Let's be kind and question authority. Dostoyevsky valued a society by the way it treated those at the bottom.

Dear csteele,

I don't want to hammer at all Christianity or all Christians. Missionary religion is only one divisive force of many. Christians have done much good. I cited two of those who are trying to rid their religion of its bias and bigotry. All Christians do not have the narrow, intolerant attitudes of runner and AGIR.

In fact Bishop Spong is open to the recognition of the worth of not only his coreligionists but those of good will of all beliefs.

He posted on July 9, 2010:

I walk the Christ path faithfully because I know that it leads me beyond all human limits, even the limits of Christianity, into the experience of the divine. That has also been the experience of those who walk the Jewish path, the Islamic path, the Hindu path and the Buddhist path.

Dear Squeers,

Of course we are culturally conditioned, but I think we can develop ways to examine and override our cultural conditioning. This is difficult to implement since much of our education is indoctrination. Some people can override their cultural conditioning and promote desirable societal change. Some people can't and are programmed to repeat the follies of the past.