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Over A Quarter of Americans Believe That The Jews Killed Jesus

Gathomas88

Gathomas88

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Belief That Jews Killed Jesus Is Held By Over A Quarter Of Americans, Reports ADL Survey On Anti-Semitism

A recent survey by the Anti-Defamation League determined that 26% of Americans still believe that "Jews were responsible for the death of Christ." Though that percentage has decreased from 31% in 2011, it still accounts for over a quarter of America.
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Yet more P.C. handwringing from the "thought police" at the Anti-Defamation League. :roll:

The way they explain their reasoning is particularly hilarious.

Pope Benedict XVI specifically rejected the narrative which blames Jews for the death of Jesus in a 2011 book, "Jesus of Nazareth -- Part II." He explained biblically and theologically the reasons why Scripture doesn't support the argument that the Jewish people as a whole can be held responsible for the death of Jesus. He asked, "How could the whole people have been present at this moment to clamor for Jesus' death?"

Also, a 1965 Second Vatican Council document, "Nostra Aetate," was took the decisive position that Christ's death could not be blamed on the Jews as a whole at that time nor today.
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Maybe I'm confused, but who said that most of the people polled even did blame the Jews as "a whole" ethnic group for the death of Jesus? I've got no problem with the Jewish people whatsoever, but this doesn't change the fact that certain groups among the Jewish clergy and political classes in Roman occupied Judea were responsible for bringing about Christ's death.

It's a fundamental aspect of the Passion story.

Oh! Wait. I forgot... They have an answer for that as well. :roll:

Reza Aslan, a religious scholar and author of "Zealot," a biography of the historical Jesus, weighed in to the Huffington Post about why he thinks so many hold this erroneous belief.

Aslan explained:

The Gospels try to make it seem like the Jews killed Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew flat out claims that the Jews requested that the blood of Jesus be placed on their heads and their children's heads.

The Gospels were all written after the destruction of Jerusalem. A that time, Judaism had become a pariah of religion in the Roman empire, and so the gospels were primarily intended for a non-Jewish, Roman, audience. If you want to convince a Roman audience to accept Jesus, then you have to remove all blame from Rome for his death.

And so we see a steady progression from the first Gospel of Mark to the last Gospel of John, in which little by little, blame is removed from Rome and placed directly upon the Jews. This, of course, is totally unhistorical. The Jews under Roman Imperium had no power to influence capital punishment.
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Yup... We're not even expected to believe the Gospels anymore, because they're not "political correct enough" for modern racial sensibilities. :doh

I'm sorry, but this is complete and total misleading non-sense from beginning to end. You're not a racist anti-Semite simply because you happen to believe some things that a few particularly overly-sensitive Jews find to be uncomfortable.

help-help-im-being-repressed-motivational.jpg

Sorry guys, but when you've got entire multi-billion dollar organizations dedicated to silencing anyone who says anything (even only perceived to be) bad about you, it's more than a little silly to try and still hide behind the "victim" card.
 
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Depends what you mean by killing.

It was the jews who sentenced him to die and the romans who carried out that demand. Now the romans didn't carry out that command because they were doing the jews' bidding, but because Pontius Pilatus didn't want a revolt and the jewish religious and state leaders threatened a revolt similar to the macabeean revolt a few years back should Pontius not have him executed.

Does that mean the jews are responsible for killing Jesus? Sure.
Does this mean that we need to hate the jews? No. After all, Jesus forgave all those who wronged him + he died for the sins of mankind.
But of course, anyone who ever had anything to do with Jesus is long dead. Gone. And because we don't live in a barbaric society, even if you hold anyone responsible, guilt is not a collective, trans-temporal thing. It lives and dies with those who carry that guilt.

Ofc, the ADL has to do something. It can't otherwise justify the money they get. Best thing to do is to ignore bull**** organizations like this and a lot of other ones who all they do is bait. Bait bait bait... race-baiting, hate-mongering, fear-mongering, etc.
 
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azgreg said:
Of course that's assuming that Jesus existed in the first place.
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Moderator's Warning:
Not the place for that line of inquiry. Take it to Philosophy if you want to dispute the existence of God, Jesus, or other religious figures.
 
I'm still confused by why anyone is mad about Jesus' death. Isn't that supposed to be the best thing that ever happened? Without that, we'd all be condemned to hell no matter what, right? Instead, people can be saved and enjoy an eternity of bliss. On behalf of all the Jewish people, you're welcome for setting that up for you. Maybe all the massacres, pogroms, genocide, oppression, second class citizenry, torture, mutilation, purges, and the Holocaust were a funny way to show your gratitude.
 
Paschendale said:
I'm still confused by why anyone is mad about Jesus' death. Isn't that supposed to be the best thing that ever happened? Without that, we'd all be condemned to hell no matter what, right? Instead, people can be saved and enjoy an eternity of bliss.
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I wouldn't say that anyone really is "mad" about it any more. There might be a few hatemongering odd balls here and there who want to stir up trouble. However, by and large, I imagine most Christians' view of the Jewish people is rather apathetic.

The Pharisees were responsible for a rather grievous crime and travesty of justice against Christ and his followers, and that should be recognized. However, that was more than two thousand years ago. It doesn't bear any relevance to today.

On behalf of all the Jewish people, you're welcome for setting that up for you. Maybe all the massacres, pogroms, genocide, oppression, second class citizenry, torture, mutilation, purges, and the Holocaust were a funny way to show your gratitude.
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Insular minorities in foreign lands have pretty much always tended to draw a lot of negative attention from local populations. It sucks, but it's not really something that happens in the current day and age either.

In the modern Western World, Jews are, if anything, disproportionately represented in positions of power and influence.
 
Well, first, that the dropped the J in front of the ADL means they are trying to appear more mainstream an organization. Regardless, it does not matter. The "they killed Jesus" haters and the "they took Arab land" haters pale in comparison to the "They are ruthless, wealth-hording banksters" haters.
 
I live in Bible Belt Oklahoma, I have quite a few, oh call them friends I guess, who are very fundamental. They don't make so fine a distinction between Jews, Jewish Officials and the Romans. The cry "they killed Jesus" doesn't go into any great detail on just who the 'they' is around here.

When the Bible was being put together, or written depending on your view, Rome had usurped Christianity as a political tool of a crumbling Empire.

Given where I live I am surprised the percentage believing a flat-out statement of Jews killed Jesus isn't much higher- probably is in the Bible Belt.
 
I've never heard anybody express the opinion that the Jews killed Jesus, and while it makes for a nice little inflammatory thread, it's difficult to get worked up about this.
 
nota bene said:
I've never heard anybody express the opinion that the Jews killed Jesus, and while it makes for a nice little inflammatory thread, it's difficult to get worked up about this.
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To be fair, any Christian with more than a passing knowledge of the Gospels should at least be aware that Jewish authorities played a central role in Christ's execution. It's simply not something you hear very often from reasonable people because it happens to be such a complete non-issue.

Frankly, I've kind of got to wonder just how, exactly, ADL researchers asked the question in their poll for exactly that reason. They seem to view the position that the Jews played a role in the crucifiction as being more or less interchangable with still holding a grudge against the entire race over it.
 
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1) My concern would be why the question was asked in 2013, in the first place.
2) It is crystal clear that God had role in the death of Jesus Christ, by allowing it to take place.

So, dropping mere "blame" about the death of Christ, is rather moot, as it is not only His death, but His burial AND full body resurrection that is the relevant concern for all of humanity - both past and present.

What people should really be concerned about in the Western world is both how and when the False Church was formed out of a crumbling Roman Empire and how that False Church remains in such power, authority and control over so much of Western society keystone structures today, such as its: Political Systems, Legal Systems, Educational Systems, Economic Systems, etc.

If God wanted to pull His Son down from the cross, heal all of His wounds before His feet hit the ground and causes all of humanity to believe that He was indeed Lord of all, then He could have very well done that. But, that was not God's plan nor His intent. Things worked out the way God saw fit, regardless of who gets or fails to get the credit for who killed Jesus.

Focus on the history of the Holy Roman Church and its origins to better understand just how sick and demented mankind has become. True Christianity has absolutely nothing to do with Catholicism - nothing, whatsoever. Christianity, is about a relationship with Jesus. Catholicism, is about perpetuating the World System. "Light up the darkness."
 
Gathomas88 said:
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Sorry guys, but when you've got entire multi-billion dollar organizations dedicated to silencing anyone who says anything (even only perceived to be) bad about you, it's more than a little silly to try and still hide behind the "victim" card.
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The only one playing the overly sensitive victim card are people like you who whine about how an article by the ADL is "silencing" you.
 
sangha said:
The only one playing the overly sensitive victim card are people like you who whine about how an article by the ADL is "silencing" you.
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The ADL is well known for using its innumerable political connections and immense wealth to shut down organizations that believe things it doesn't happen to agree with.

The fact that such an "attack dog" organization deliberately aimed at limiting public discourse would even exist in the first place, let alone do so completely free of any sort of public oversight or administrative checks and balances, is more than disturbing enough on its own. That they would now apparently set their sights on fundamentally altering the teachings of religions that they dislike is nothing short of overtly frightening.

They are little more than fascistic bullies; a bunt instrument used by the political Left in this country to force the cultural mainstream to tow whatever line they, and they alone, determine to be most appropriate.
 
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Gathomas88 said:
The ADL is well known for using its innumerable political connections and immense wealth to shut down organizations that believe things it doesn't happen to agree with.

The fact that such an "attack dog" organization deliberately aimed at limiting public discourse would even exist in the first place, let alone completely free of any sort of public oversight or administrative checks and balances, is more than disturbing enough on its own. That they would now apparently set their sights on fundamentally altering the teachings of religions that they happen to disagree with is nothing short of overtly frightening.

They are little more than fascistic bullies; a bunt instrument used by the political Left in this country to force the cultural mainstream to tow whatever line they, and they alone, determine to be most appropriate.
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The ADL is an extremist organization, but that doesn't mean it has "silenced" anyone. They can't force anyone to do anything.

Stop playing the victim card.
 
Since it's less than half of the population it's not a real problem, eh?
 
sangha said:
The ADL is an extremist organization, but that doesn't mean it has "silenced" anyone. They can't force anyone to do anything.

Stop playing the victim card.
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Whoever said that I was playing the "victim" card in the first place? I was pointing out the latent stupidity of the heavily biased ADL trying to pretend like basic Christian beliefs (and even the Gospels themselves) are somehow indicative of any sweeping degree of latent anti-Semitism in American society.

I was also pointing out the irony of such a powerful and radically intolerant organization as the Anti-Defamation League acting like Jews are some sort of vulnerable minority which often experiences prejudice in modern culture. By and large, they are not. As a matter of fact, in a lot of ways, they have turned the table in recent decades, with many Jewish organizations opting to actively go on the offensive against groups harboring belief systems which they happen to dislike.

I'm sorry, but if certain Jews dislike the biblical account of the crucifixion, that is simply too bad. I'm not going to change what I believe just because someone else might not agree with it.
 
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Gathomas88 said:
Whoever said that I was playing the "victim" card in the first place?
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That was me. I said it because you're whining about being silenced even though no one is being silenced.

I was pointing out the latent stupidity of the heavily biased ADL trying to pretend like basic Christian beliefs (and even the Gospels themselves) are somehow indicative of any sweeping degree of latent anti-Semitism in American society.

I was also pointing out the irony of such a powerful and radically intolerant organization as the Anti-Defamation League acting like Jews are some sort of vulnerable minority which often experiences prejudice in modern culture. By and large, they are not. As a matter of fact, in a lot of ways, they have turned the table in recent decades, with many Jewish organizations opting to actively go on the offensive against groups harboring belief systems which they happen to dislike.

I'm sorry, but if certain Jews dislike the biblical account of the crucifixion, that is simply too bad. I'm not going to change what I believe just because someone else might not agree with it.
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And you were also whining about being silenced, even though no one is being silenced by the ADL.

Stop pretending that you didn't try to play the victim card, and failed

Gathomas88 said:
Sorry guys, but when you've got entire multi-billion dollar organizations dedicated to silencing anyone who says anything (even only perceived to be) bad about you, it's more than a little silly to try and still hide behind the "victim" card.
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sangha said:
That was me. I said it because you're whining about being silenced even though no one is being silenced.

And you were also whining about being silenced, even though no one is being silenced by the ADL.

Stop pretending that you didn't try to play the victim card, and failed
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If you say so. They're the ones whining here, not me.
 
Gathomas88 said:
If you say so. They're the ones whining here, not me.
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Of course not. You never whined about anyone being silenced! :roll:

Gathomas88 said:
Sorry guys, but when you've got entire multi-billion dollar organizations dedicated to silencing anyone who says anything (even only perceived to be) bad about you, it's more than a little silly to try and still hide behind the "victim" card.
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sangha said:
Of course not. You never whined about anyone being silenced! :roll:
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Predatory lawsuits, multi-million dollar smear campaigns, and lobbying for the enactment of "hate speech" laws which make it blatantly illegal to express unpopular opinions on certain subjects do not qualify as attempts to "silence" voices which contradict one's worldview?

Since when? :roll:

The simple fact of the matter is that the ADL is not only pissing and moaning over matters which are ultimately irrelevant, but actively trying to force its views on the rest of civil society in the process as well. It is an organization full of hypocritically self-righteous bullies with an ideological agenda to push, nothing more.
 
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Gathomas88 said:
Predatory lawsuits, multi-million dollar smear campaigns, and lobbying for the enactment of "hate speech" laws which make it blatantly illegal to express unpopular opinions on certain subjects do not qualify as attempts to "silence" voices which contradict one's worldview?

Since when? :roll:
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So now you admit that you were playing the victim card!! :lamo
 
sangha said:
So now you admit that you were playing the victim card!! :lamo
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Calling a spade a spade hardly makes one a "victim."

It is blatantly obvious what the ADL is attempting to do here. They are running a deliberate campaign to try and reshape the concept of "anti-Semitism" in the American cultural mainstream into something more in line with their ethnocentric ideological agenda. They are basically redefining terms so that virtually any criticism of Judaism whatsoever is considered to be taboo.

In and of itself, this is only a minor issue. However, when one considers how well connected the ADL happens to be, and how it has made a habit of lobbying for state and federal laws which would actually explicitly forbid speech of which they happen to disapprove, it becomes far more troubling.

They quite literally want to tell people how to think.

In essence, the ADL is a borderline fascistic organization of authoritarian extremists and "thought police" wannabes. Their ideological goals are fundamentally anti-liberal and intrinsically dangerous to the long term viability of free speech, religious freedom, and civil discourse as general concepts in our society. They should be singled out as such whenever necessary.
 
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Gathomas88 said:
Calling a spade a spade hardly makes one a "victim."
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And saying that the ADL has silenced someone is a lie

It is blatantly obvious what the ADL is attempting to do here. They are running a deliberate campaign to try and reshape the concept of "anti-Semitism" in the American cultural mainstream into something more in line with their ethnocentric ideological agenda. They are basically redefining terms so that virtually any criticism of Judaism whatsoever is considered to be taboo.

In and of itself, this is only a minor issue. However, when one considers how well connected the ADL happens to be, and how it has made a habit of lobbying for state and federal laws which would actually explicitly forbid speech of which they happen to disapprove, it becomes far more troubling.

They quite literally want to tell people how to think.

In essence, the ADL is a borderline fascistic organization of authoritarian extremists and "thought police" wannabes. Their ideological goals are fundamentally anti-liberal and intrinsically dangerous to the long term viability of free speech, religious freedom, and civil discourse as general concepts in our society. They should be singled out as such whenever necessary.
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That's just more whining and playing of the victim card.
 
Gathomas88 said:
Maybe I'm confused, but who said that most of the people polled even did blame the Jews as "a whole" ethnic group for the death of Jesus?
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You're very confused. The phenomenon is called the the "Jewish deicide." The Gospels of Matthew and John (the worst) both have strong veins of antisemetism running through out them, and have influenced many centuries of Christian violence against Jews.

The worst is the one mentioned by Reza Aslan, Matthew 27:24-25 - aka the Blood curse - "When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. 'I am innocent of this man’s blood,' he said. 'It is your responsibility!' All the people answered, 'His blood is on us and on our children!'"

It wasn't until the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) that Pope Paul VI issued a mea culpa-esk declaration called the "Nostra Aetate."

True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ;(13) still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures. All should see to it, then, that in catechetical work or in the preaching of the word of God they do not teach anything that does not conform to the truth of the Gospel and the spirit of Christ.
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...

Or were you under the belief that the victims of Christianity have only been limited to LGBTs, scientists, women, blacks and the handicapped?
 
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brothern said:
You're very confused. The phenomenon is called the the "Jewish deicide." The Gospels of Matthew and John (the worst) both have strong veins of antisemetism running through out them, and have influenced many centuries of Christian violence against Jews.

The worst is the one mentioned by Reza Aslan, Matthew 27:24-25 - aka the Blood curse - "When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. 'I am innocent of this man’s blood,' he said. 'It is your responsibility!' All the people answered, 'His blood is on us and on our children!'"

It wasn't until the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) that Pope Paul VI issued a mea culpa-esk declaration called the "Nostra Aetate."
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First off, if we're speaking historically here, no one has been especially fond of the Jews. They've been persecuted by everyone from Roman pagans to Communist atheists. Trying to blame the Gospels for anti-Semitism is simply nonsense.

Secondly, it was never Church doctrine that "all Jews" were to blame for the death of Christ. That was a folk teaching and popular misconception at best.

This isn't to say that the Jewish religious and political hierarchy in Jerusalem didn't, in fact, play a major, and possibly even central, role in bringing about Christ's death. The fact that they did is more or less undeniable if one goes by the scriptures. However, that does not imply guilt on the part of the whole race.

Such an idea frankly wouldn't even make sense. Christ was a Jew, and so were all of his Apostles.

...

Or were you under the belief that the victims of Christianity have only been limited to LGBTs, scientists, women, blacks and the handicapped?
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Do tell. This ought to be absolutely classic. :roll:

Frankly, I'm still wondering what any of this has do with the OP. The purpose of this thread was not to provide misanthropes a stomping ground in which to rant about all of the imagined slights they happen to hold against Christianity.
 
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