Spain’s Jewish Problem

From the desk of Soeren Kern on Wed, 2008-12-31 11:04

spanish-chronicles.jpg

Many Spaniards thought Spain had solved its “Jewish problem” in 1492, when by the stroke of a pen, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella ordered the expulsion of an estimated 800,000 Jews from the country, and thus put an end to the largest and most distinguished Jewish community in Europe.
 
But now, more than 500 years later, Spanish anti-Semitism is on the rise once again. According to a recent study published by the Pew Research Center, nearly half of all Spaniards have negative views of Jews, a statistic that marks Spain as one of the most anti-Semitic countries in Europe. According to Pew, 46 percent of Spaniards hold negative opinions of Jews, up more than double from the 21 percent of Spaniards with such views in 2005.
 
Spain is also the only country in Europe where negative views of Jews outweigh positive views; only 37 percent of Spaniards think favorably about Jews. By comparison, 36 percent of Poles have negative views of Jews while 50 percent have positive views; in Germany, 25 percent negative versus 64 percent positive; in France, 20 percent negative versus 79 percent positive; and in Britain, 9 percent positive versus 73 percent favorable. (According to Pew, 77 percent of Americans have favorable views toward Jews, compared with 7 percent unfavorable.)
 
Pew’s latest research about Spanish anti-Semitism corroborates the findings of other, similar surveys. For example, a report about European anti-Semitism published by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League says that 54 percent of Spaniards believe that “Jews have too much power in international markets.” And 51 percent of Spaniards believe that “Jews are more loyal to Israel than to this country.”
 
The survey data on Spanish judeophobia raises many questions, including one that seems never to have been asked: How many contemporary Spaniards have actually ever met a Jew? Not very many, it would appear. In fact, Spain today has one of the smallest Jewish communities in Europe; the country has only 12,000 Jews out of a total Spanish population of 42 million, which works out to less than 0.05 percent.
 
By contrast, in France, which with 500,000 Jews has the third largest Jewish population in the world (after Israel and the United States), attitudes towards Jews are relatively positive when compared with those in Spain. (Of course, it is entirely possible that Spaniards are just being more honest than other Europeans about their genuine feelings towards Jews, thereby skewing the statistics and masking the true extent of the problem on other parts of the continent. After all, there are good reasons why more than one quarter of French Jews want to leave France.)
 
So what explains the dramatic increase in Spanish anti-Semitism since 2005, especially considering that the only exposure most Spaniards have ever had to Jews is through television?
 
Pew, in a politically correct sleight-of-hand, says the blame lies with “those who place themselves near the right end of the political spectrum.” But most professional observers of contemporary Spanish politics lay the blame squarely with Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who took office in 2004, and since then has managed to drive Spanish-Israeli relations to their worst point since bilateral diplomatic ties were established in 1986.
 
Zapatero, who makes no secret of his postmodern dislike of Zionism, is well known in Spain for his anti-Israel and anti-Jewish outbursts. At a dinner party the Moncloa Palace (the Spanish White House) in 2005, for example, Zapatero addressed his guests by launching into a tirade of anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric that ended with the phrase: “It is understandable that someone might justify the Holocaust.”
 
Zapatero has also sought to restore Spain’s traditionally strong ties with the Arab world by ingratiating himself with Israel’s enemies. During the Second Lebanon War, for example, Zapatero participated in an anti-Israel rally where he wrapped himself in a Palestinian kaffiyeh (scarf) and gratuitously accused Israel of using “abusive force that does not protect innocent human beings.” Just for good measure, Zapatero then dispatched his foreign minister to Syria, a move the Israeli foreign ministry said proved that the Spanish government was “closer to Hezbollah terrorists than to the Israeli government.”
 
Zapatero, who refuses to visit Israel (even as the two countries commemorated 20 years of diplomatic ties in 2006), also refers to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a “cancer” that is metastasizing into all the other conflicts in the region. As a disciple of postmodern moral equivalency, Zapatero naturally believes the “cancer” is Israel, not Islamic terrorism.
 
As if that were not enough, Spanish anti-Semitism is also being stoked by the non-stop anti-Israel rhetoric of Spain’s leftwing intellectual and media elites, most of whom are enthusiastic sycophants of Zapatero and his pro-Arab, pro-Islam worldview. Indeed, Spanish radio, television and print media, much of which is directly or indirectly controlled by the Socialist government, is notoriously biased against Israel. As most Spaniards do not speak foreign languages, they have little or no access to alternative sources of information, which goes a long way toward explaining Spanish attitudes towards Jews, especially of the Israeli variety.
 
Add to this the Spanish media’s bizarre obsession with neo-conservatism, which in Spain has become a pejorative term denoting a conspiracy to promote Jewish domination of the world. Many ordinary Spaniards, who otherwise show little interest in foreign affairs, seem to have deep-seated opinions about those Jews Frum, Kristol, Pearle, Podhertz and Wolfowitz, et al.
 
Zapatero and his cabinet ministers are now playing the neocon card to explain to the Spanish public why the Spanish economy is in a freefall. Although analysts had warned for many years that the Spanish housing bubble was unsustainable, Zapatero said those fears were overblown. But now the bubble has burst and Spain’s unemployment rate is skyrocketing to the highest levels in Europe. Nearly three million Spaniards are now without work and some analysts expect that number to double by 2010 to reach a staggering 18 percent jobless rate. Spanish voters are looking for someone to blame.
 
Zapatero, in a classic display of hands-on economic crisis management, says the blame for Spain’s problems lies with “the neo-conservative model based on capitalism without borders nor limits nor ethics.” Translated into regular English, that’s postmodern Zapatero-speak for “the Jews are to blame.”
 
But just as Spaniards get smug about their perceived racial superiority, along comes a new study which implies that many Spanish anti-Semites actually have Jewish blood. An examination of the genetic signatures of the Spanish population shows that 20 percent of contemporary Spaniards have Jewish origins. As it turns out, far more Jews than previously thought did not comply with the order to leave Spain back in 1492 and simply converted to Catholicism instead.
 
Many of those conversos tried to blend in by adopting surnames that indicated trades or professions. One such Sephardic name is Zapatero, which means shoemaker.
 

 
This article was first published by Pajama’s Media on December 29, 2008
 
Soeren Kern is Senior Fellow for Transatlantic Relations at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group

Absurd

Submitted by marcfrans on Fri, 2009-01-16 18:22.

@ Tancred

Perhaps you do not excuse muslims, but you certainly make UNREASONABLE demands on contemporary jews. It may well be that some individual jews may have "profited" from past subjugation of people in Spain by the Moors.  But, most jews at the time likely suffered as much as anyone else from such subjugation.  And NO jews alive today have (nor had) anything to do with subjugation of the Spanish by the Moors many centuries ago. 

Your demand for "acknowledgement" of past sins by possible (unlikely though) ancestors, is just unother example of the destructive tendencies of the current naive-left ruling cultural orthodoxy in Europe which (1) preaches absurd forms of victimology and (2) is (mentally) unable to hold contemporary INDIVIDUALS responsible for their own actions. 

It would be absurd for contemporary "native" Spaniards to hold anyone (today alive) responsible for the actions of the Moors (and their 'collaborators') centuries ago.  If it comes to blaming people for injustices in the past of other peoples, then there must be a long list of people in line ready to blame the Spanish for what 'they' did to others in the past.  That list is very long, and it can start with the creators of the Brussels Journal who might still remember the "Spanish Fury" with the Duke of Alva (Egmont and all that...).

But, to be clear, I do NOT blame contemporary Spaniards for the 'Spanish Fury' in the Low Countries (and for centuries of "subjugation"), but I certainly DO blame them for electing (and re-electing!!) a creature like Zapatero to be their current Prime Minister.  

Ubersturmbahnführer Zapatero

Submitted by George2 on Fri, 2009-01-16 12:30.

Zapatero: “It is understandable that someone might justify the Holocaust.”

 

What do National Socialism and the Spanish Socialist Workers Party have in common?

 

Socialism.

@Tancred RE: "Jewish history in Spain"

Submitted by Kapitein Andre on Fri, 2009-01-16 06:35.

If one follows your logic, one could accuse Jews of facilitating the persecution of early Christians in the Imperium Romanum, before of course, Constantine decreed that it be made the official religion. However, this extricates both the Romans and Muslims from their responsibilities, namely to protect minority religious communities from both the "tyranny of the majority", of the authorities themselves, and intra-minority sectarian strife. Not only were the Muslims and Romans to blame for Christian woes in their respective times and locales, but the Jews suffered also. Was it not enough for the Romans to ethnically cleanse Israel/Judea? Moreover, you forget that Visigothic Iberia was not particularly hospitable to the Sephardim.

I no way do I excuse muslims

Submitted by Tancred on Fri, 2009-01-16 16:25.

I no way do I excuse muslims for their centuries of conquest, genocide and theft.

What you have to appreciate is that whilst the Moors were the oppressors the jewish community were their right hand men.

It is natural therefore for Spaniards to feel bitterness towards people who profited from their subjugation. The Visigoths were a Germanic ruling caste - the native Spaniards were the real victims and had no say in their fate or the role of jews in Iberia.

If the Jewish people acknowledged that history they would be well on the way to forgiveness for their hand in around 700 years of enslavement.

Its a long time to be under someone heel when you think about it.

Jewish history in Spain

Submitted by Tancred on Thu, 2009-01-15 12:29.

To understand the low opinion Spaniards have about Jews you need to understand the role that Jews played in the subjugation, persecution and exploitation of the native Iberian population by Muslim invaders following the conquest of Spain.

Jews fulfilled the roles of administrators, moneylenders and traders for the Moors, as to allow the native Christian population to hold those positions would have been to risk losing their stranglehold upon them.

The Jews profited greatly from that association and, not surprisingly, the Spaniards have not forgotten the centuries of enslavement, suffering and loss they experienced as a result.

Perhaps some apologies and restitution is in order and then the Spaniards would not feel so negatively towards Jews.

After all Jews should well understand how it feels to be the victims of religious and racial bigotry and be prepared to acknowledge the role of their forbears in the conquest and subjugation of the Spanish people.

RE: "Spain’s Jewish Problem"

Submitted by Kapitein Andre on Thu, 2009-01-15 10:00.

Kern: But just as Spaniards get smug about their perceived racial superiority, along comes a new study which implies that many Spanish anti-Semites actually have Jewish blood. An examination of the genetic signatures of the Spanish population shows that 20 percent of contemporary Spaniards have Jewish origins. As it turns out, far more Jews than previously thought did not comply with the order to leave Spain back in 1492 and simply converted to Catholicism instead. Many of those conversos tried to blend in by adopting surnames that indicated trades or professions. One such Sephardic name is Zapatero, which means shoemaker.

 

I.  The Sephardic presence in Iberia precedes the Roman conquest. Whereas the Ashkenazim can in the main be traced to both migrants and refugees from Judea following "contact" with the Romans, no such satisfactory explanation exists for this seemingly "indigenous" branch of Jewry.

 

II.  Even admitted Zionists are unsure of Jewish genetics despite the sheer volume of research. The only conclusions that can be drawn is that the Ashkenazim, Mitzrahim and Sephardim share a degree of common ancestry originating in the Levant. But who else can boast that?

 

III.  The key is to remove the thorny issues of religion and time. The Hebrews were but one of a number of Semitic peoples, and were themselves members of the Canaanite ethnic group. However, the Phoenicians - whose DNA is very similar if not a perfect match to the contemporary inhabitants of Israel and Lebanon - established a trading empire and colonies throughout the Mediterranean, including many on the Iberian coastlines. The Punic people of Carthage were certainly descendants of Phoenicians. The Etruscans were likely Semitic in origin. Therefore, it is entirely possible that Semitic peoples co-existed in Iberia with the Mediterranean and "Celtic" tribes. Given the vast opportunity for admixture, it is not surprising that the Iberians are a Mediterranean-Semitic mix. This should put to flight concerns about crypto-Jewish or converso/maranno ancestry.

 

IV.  Negative connotations of Jews tend to focus on the Ashkenazim, who often bear little resemblance to their other co-religionists. Indeed, the Ashkenazim have tense relations with the Mitzrahim and Sephardim, and seem to comprise the vanguard of that ideology that the Islamic countries find so unpalatable - Zionism.

 

V.  Genetic studies also link the Israelis and Palestinians to the same ancestors, despite European and Arab admixture, respectively. Anyone familiar with the various peoples of the Levant, including the Druze, Lebanese Christians and Bedouins (many of whom claim descent from the Hebrews), can dispell the notion of a nation of fair European Westerners struggling against swarthy hordes of Muslim Arabs.

 

VI.  The issues raised by Mr. Kern bring to mind the anti-Greek prejudice in Turkiye.  The "Turks" are primarily descended from the indigenous Mediterranean peoples of Anatolia, rather than the Seljuk Turks, who were more Iranic than Mongol by the time they arrived in Asia Minor. Here also, two sides divided by all manner of issues are nonetheless very comparable at the level of DNA.

 

VII.  All manner of Jews changed their surnames to blend in with the Christian majority. Even though many identify various surnames - particularly Germanic and Slavic - with Jewish ancestry, there are no guarantees as the intent was not to be conspicuous. One can find seemingly Jewish names such as Rosenberg and Hoffman among the higher echelons of the NSDAP - and no, these were not descendants of converts.

@ Capo

Submitted by Atlanticist911 on Tue, 2009-01-06 16:48.

I think I like you, Capo'. Now go to the head of the class. ;-)) 

"concrete proof" (2)

Submitted by Atlanticist911 on Tue, 2009-01-06 12:54.

I can well imagine great actors the likes of David Garrick, down to the time of  Sir John Gielgud, saying precisely the same thing about William Shakespeare.

concrete proof (3)

Submitted by Capodistrias on Tue, 2009-01-06 16:26.

@Atlanticist911
To Have Been or Not To Have Been? So that is the question? (Sorry, I had to beat Sagunto to the deed.)

@Anglicus
Concrete proof? Someday a bit of crumbling cathedral gargoyle will likely fall on your head, but in the meantime, instead of waiting around, get thee to a library or decent bookstore, your personal library is evidently inadequate for your inquiring mind.

who is this jesus guy

Submitted by anglicus on Sun, 2009-01-04 22:27.

I'm still waiting for concrete proof that a person named Jesus ever existed. There is no mention of this event by any Roman commentator of the time, although they had plenty to say about the annihilation of the Druids. The four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John weren't written for at least three centuries after the alleged crucifixion of said Jesus and exonerated Pontius Pilot's role in the alleged crucifixion, which in Roman occupied territories was very common in that period.

Western Civilization...

Submitted by Sonja on Sat, 2009-01-03 14:36.

Romans and Hebrews are quite self-centered and will always believe themselves to be the originators of Western Civilization. Do you really believe that Celts and Saxons and Norsemen were nothing more than "barbaric cavemen" up until the day Bibles were first being handed out?

Didn't the Romans invent the Republic (and the Greeks, democracy) long before Jesus was born?

I find it appalling that our own mythology and folklore have been swept away in favor of "Judeo-Christianism," which only served the Holy Roman Empire...and the "money-exchangers" in the Temple.

I'll bet most kids today don't even know what a Celt or a Saxon or a Norseman is. I bet they couldn't even name a single Greek god. Perhaps you Bible-thumpers think that's a good thing.

"Judeo-Christianism"

Submitted by Armor on Wed, 2009-01-07 02:05.

Sonja: "I'll bet most kids today don't even know what a Celt or a Saxon or a Norseman is. I bet they couldn't even name a single Greek god. Perhaps you Bible-thumpers think that's a good thing."

In public libraries, books about the Vikings have been taken out and replaced by new books about Africa and the muslim world. At the same time, the comics sections have been expanded to better care to the tastes of African and Arab readers.

barbarians ??

Submitted by Spyridon29 on Sat, 2009-01-03 22:46.

It is rather ridiculous to say that today's Civilization is a product of one ethnic group, or religion.
- Even Greeks never hesitated to attribute certain parts to other nations (never mind the the "barbarians" name , used as/when convenient...)
- Mythology may mirror the psyche of a people much better than a forced Religion..
- Our Christian brain tends to forget the 14th and 15th centuries (similar to Islamist 15th century = now)
Although, we should always remember, that in this 21st century, borders only demarcate tax territories, and hardly separate people, due to faster chains of communication.
Have a Happy New Year (Christian or not)

spyridon29

john

Submitted by valknot on Thu, 2009-01-01 01:35.

Spain can solve the problem by doing what Israel does with the Palestinians, expel them at the point of a gun.

Why is it that supporters of

Submitted by LEL on Sat, 2009-01-03 01:35.

Why is it that supporters of the so-called palestinians feel the need to simply make things up? That is because their position has no legitimacy. Exactly when have palestinians ever been expelled at all, let alone at the point of a gun? The only people who have been forcibly expelled have been Jews from Gaza.

Well, I can help author

Submitted by Monarchist on Wed, 2008-12-31 21:26.

Well, I can help author to understand why some leftists are obsessed with neocons. This is because neocons are ideologically very close and this is internal leftist competition for power and money. They fail to find any other field to argue, so we witness internationalists (many Jewish) fencing with Jewish nationalists. If the latter would not fight in conservative disguise, I would say 'who cares'!

@KO
Sorry but western civilization is NOT founded on Hebrew. True Roman Catholic Church holy book is the Bible (partly in Hebrew), however western civilization this is something more than RCC. Western civilization is founded on Greek and Roman foundation, so wisely explored by St. Thomas Aquinas.

Also those Jews who honestly followed teachings of Moses became Christians after Christ came. The rest were mostly Judaists and if you read the Bible then you should know something about treatment of early Christians by Judaist Jewry. Christianity and Judaism are two completely different religions, the difference is crucial because civilizational. Of course we know that later the Jews became minority in European countries and often Christian rulers 'take care of them'.  They were in every major country but never really assimilated by great numbers. Atheist Jews organized communist revolution by great number, something so very against all rules of western civilization.

My message is clear, if American Protestants want to build some Judeo-Protestant civilization in the US, this is lesser evil. However hands out of Europe! Future of this continent is the RCC. Big NO to ecumenism and multiculturalism! Good Catholic should pray about those people conversion, Pope BXVI already updated words of old prayer. Till this happen military conflicts in this region are not our problem.

Jesus Was a Jew, Not a Catholic

Submitted by new europe on Fri, 2009-01-02 17:24.

Monarchist seems to forget that the greatest achievements in European history came after the Protestant Reformation broke the tyrannical yoke of the Roman Catholic Church. Had it not been for folks like Luther or Calvin translating the Bible into vernacular languages and making the Word of God available to the common person, and thus unleashing the greatest spiritual revival the world has ever seen, Europe would probably still be stuck in the dark ages. Protestant Christianity, not Roman Catholicism, is also what made the United States great.

It is undoubtedly true that Greece and Rome contributed a lot to Western Civilization. But they were pagan societies with moral values that were anything but those that later defined Western Civilization. Monarchist frets about the persecution of early Christians by Jews, but conveniently forgets that his beloved Romans fed thousands of Christians to the lions.

What Monarchist fails to understand is that the spiritual roots of Western Civilization are clearly Jewish. The basic moral code of Christianity is based upon the Ten Commandments, which is Mosaic. And it is Christianity in particular that made Western Civilization great. As Europeans abandon their Judeo-Christian roots for the false religion of secular humanism, it comes as no big surprise that European Civilization is in terminal decline.

Monarchist also says he hopes that the people of Europe are converted to the Roman Catholic system. But the Bible teaches that the people of Europe (and all other people for that matter) should be converted to Jesus Christ.

Roman Catholicism, like Judaism, is a religious, works-based system. In fact, there are many similarities between the Roman system of today and the Judaic system of Jesus’ day. The pompous religious hierarchy in Rome is not much different from the Pharisees in Jerusalem. Jesus Christ hated religion (He warned against religiosity, and not only against the Judaic variety, over and over), because religion in and of itself cannot change the condition of the human heart, and thus it cannot provide anyone with eternal salvation.

Religion deceives many people into thinking that by being a member of a religious system, or by doing good works, that they are on good terms with God. But the Bible teaches that absolutely no one (not even the Pope) can be on good terms with God apart from having a saving faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible warns that on Judgment Day, there will be multitudes upon multitudes of people who claim to be Christian, but who were never truly saved. In Matthew 7, the Bible says Jesus will tell them: “I never knew you; depart from me.” It is all about relationship, not religion.

I pray that Monarchist, for his own sake, is truly born again, and not simply a member of a religious system. And I also pray that the people of Europe abandon all false religious systems, including that of secular humanism, and are converted to a true saving faith in Jesus Christ. In addition to the guaranty of eternal life, the Bible teaches that true Christianity is also the only weapon able to defeat false religious systems like Islam.

As far as the Jews are concerned, the Bible promises blessings to those who bless the Jewish people and curses to those who curse the Jewish people. So beware to those Europeans who insist on their mindless anti-Semitism. The Bible teaches that sooner or later, everyone who bashes the Jews will pay a price, either in this world or in the next. Could Europe’s maltreatment of the Jews during its recent history explain why Europe is in so much trouble today? If Europe is under a curse for the way it has treated the Jews, then the Bible teaches that reaching out and loving God’s Chosen People is the only way to restore blessing.

Finally, if Monarchist reads his Bible as much as he suggests, he will know that the Bible teaches that when Jesus Christ returns, He will rule and reign over the whole earth, not from Rome and not from Mecca, but from Jerusalem.

@new Europe

Submitted by Monarchist on Fri, 2009-01-02 18:52.

Which Protestant sect is supposed to represent Christ in your opinion? Religious fanatics like Luther or Calvin seemed to be rather servants of satan himself. This is up to Vatican to interpret the Bible, Protestants think that every person even if illiterate yesterday may interpret the Bible and they later make ridiculous claims. Blind reading of the Bible lead them too often to open denial of science, rejection of evolution etc. If Copernicus would live in a Protestant country he would be burned!

Your claim to reject religion is well known for us Catholics. Numerous Protestant theologians whom sold their soul to Marxism tried to sell this idea. This is the first step to atheism and rejection of God. It lead also to horizontal Christianity, rejection of God and changing the church into charitable organization. I recommend professor Michal Poradowski book "The Church threatened from within", this great study of Protestant sociology and Marxist infiltration of the RCC often via Protestantism.

Protestantism to defeat Islam? Where are those Protestant in Europe, they all became atheist, this is final outcome of this heresy. The same will be in the US, already we hear about liberalism and progressive ideas. While RCC stand firmly spreading true message of the Christ.

So dear friend, we need to pray for your soul, because in your childish protest you have abandoned true message of the Christ that Vatican provide to all members of the RCC( which is the only church created by Christ).

@Monarchist

Submitted by new europe on Fri, 2009-01-02 20:58.

It is quite funny that Monarchist should mention Copernicus, especially since the Roman Catholic Church persecuted Galileo for trying to prove the Copernican theory that the earth revolves around the sun. Galileo was eventually forced to recant his ideas and he spent the last years of his life under house arrest on orders of the Roman Inquisition. Galileo was not “rehabilitated” until 1992. So who is denying science here?

Moreover, it was Roman Catholic priests, not Protestant theologians, that sold their soul to Marxism with the so-called "Liberation Theology" that has caused so much havoc in Latin America.

The main point of my earlier post, however, was that the Jewish contribution to Western Civilization, especially in terms of its moral and spiritual makeup, is indisputable and should not be underestimated. Europeans would be wise to rediscover their Judeo-Christian roots before Islam takes over their continent.

But then again, once things get really bad in Europe, Europeans, be they Roman Catholic or Protestant, will always find an open door in America, as they have for centuries.

@new Europe

Submitted by Monarchist on Fri, 2009-01-02 22:45.

You need to study more Galileo case before you will be competent to comment. Vatican never stand against Copernican theory, Copernicus himself was a Catholic priest and his book was even dedicated to Pope. Problems of Galileo started when he mixed theology and science, this is not very professional. Vatican never opposed any of his scientific claims, just on the field of theology. To the end of his days, Galileo works were financed by the church, so he could not complain.

I will just ask why all those Marxist theologians somehow always refer to Karl Barth who was a Protestant Pastor in Switzerland?

You are just another person who have problems to differ pagan Jewish religion (Judaism) and foundation of Christianity (Mosaism). Judaists did always oppress Mosaists, despite common national heritage. Of course you are also an American. I belong to those people who know how ecumenical nonsense started. It started in the US in the Interfaith Movement. Protestant immigration were lacking of pastors and thus they accepted help of Jewish rabbis. Later this Interfaith Movement pushed for religious syncretism. Today political correctness add fuel to fire.

Hebrew Foundations

Submitted by KO on Wed, 2008-12-31 23:34.

Happy New Year, Monarchist! By saying that "those Jews who followed Moses became Christians," you seem to agree that the foundation of Christianity, and thus the West, is Hebraic, vide the great Peter and Paul. Vide Christ himself: "Every jot and titel of the Law shall be fulfilled." I submit that the RCC is the most outstandingly sucessful of all the Jewish sects. The Platonicization of Hebrew theology began in Alexandria 200 years before Christ and paved the way for Augustine and Aquinas. At that time, Jews were more likely to proselytize than they later became; the Church renewed that trend in Judaism, while what we now call Judaism more or less abandoned it.

You probably don't have radio broadcasts in your area inviting you to worship Rabbi Yeshua, the Messiah, but they are quite inspiring.

@KO

Submitted by Monarchist on Thu, 2009-01-01 10:18.

Happy new year to you too. Christianity is founded largely on Mosaism, this is a fact. However it have nothing to do with some other ancient Jewish beliefs and customs, later collected in Talmud. This is Judaism, which always stand in opposition to Christianity. Following this logic I reject claims that Christians have much in common with Judaists and their civilization. Also I think that this would be exaggeration to call western civilization based on Hebrew foundation. This would be also very misleading term.

In opposition to what you write, RCC is not any Jewish sect but universal church created by Christ himself. On other hand, Judaism is clearly brilliant example of Jewish sect.

Here is for example quote from a the Bible when Christ criticize Judaist Jewry (in opposition to Mosaist Jewry)

Joh 5:46 esv (41)I do not receive glory from people.(42)But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.(43)I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.(44)How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?(45)Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. (46) If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. (47)But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?" (1)After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. (2)And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. (3)Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. (4)Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

Mosaist v. Judaist?

Submitted by KO on Thu, 2009-01-01 18:41.

Monarchist: Thank you for your interesting reply. I have never encountered the distinction you make between Mosaist pre-Christianity and talmudic Judaism proper. I will have to explore that. There is another passage when Christ tells the parable of Lazarus and Dives. He says that the people have Moses to teach them, and if they do not believe him, they would not believe if one rose from the dead. That also supports the idea that Moses' teachings are consistent with Christ's, that if obeyed they are sufficient for salvation, and that established Judaism does not obey them. Based on Scripture and church history, however, I still don't think it an exaggeration to say that Western civilization has Hebraic as much as Greco-Roman and barbarian foundations. That is not to say that Western civilization is Jewish or Hebraic any more than to say a son is his father (except in theology).

If the purpose of the distinction is merely to justify an all-encompassing dislike of Jews, I don't think it succeeds. The Talmudic Jewish culture is highly permeable to Mosaic principles of charity, direct relationship to God, and moral equality. The leftism of Jews, in my opinion, owes more to what you refer to as the Mosaic inheritance than to the Talmudic inheritance. On the other hand, perhaps obedience to a human-generated body of commentary at the expense of more directly obtained divine revelation fosters a preference for anthropocentric solutions to human ills, which is the essence of leftism.

@KO

Submitted by Monarchist on Fri, 2009-01-02 18:27.

Talmud concentrate on success of Jewish nation, Christianity is universal. Talmud is very materialistic and believer want to have God blessing to run happy life on earth. While Christianity have its eschatology. Judaism created sacral civilization where every aspect of life is regulated while Christianity created western civilization where separation of the state and the church is something natural.

LOL

Submitted by Ronduck on Thu, 2009-01-01 19:37.

Zapatero has also sought to restore Spain’s traditionally strong ties with the Arab world...

Is he referring to the 800 year Muslim occupation of Spain?

Obscure poll results

Submitted by KO on Wed, 2008-12-31 20:24.

These polls about attitudes towards Jews seem quite inscrutable.  If someone reveres the Hebrew foundations of Western civilization, considers the Jews an essential population of the West, admires Jewish writers, soldiers, and scientists, condemns Jew hatred and the mass executions and petty executions it inspires and has inspired, and cherishes Jews as well-behaved, loyal, and productive fellow citizens, yet deplores the leftist proclivities of Jews en masse and considers that a population that voted 80% for Obama for president of the U.S.A. would not be automatically welcome in a country dedicated to the preservation of the West, does that person have a positive or a negative attitude towards Jews?  Favorable or unfavorable?  The respondent to the questions behind these numbers is probably left to guess which kind of anti-Semitism the pollster is seeking to uncover, and then either to confess or conceal his negative views accordingly.

A conservative may consider the majority of Jews to be renegades, but by no means all.  When you read about a yeshiva student in Jerusalem grabbing a policeman's gun and climbing on top of a bulldozer to kill the Arab who is terrorizing the citizens, you know that faithful Jews remain.  Also, any of R.G. Cohn's cultural and political commentary is educational for conservatives.  (E.g., The Promise and The Snake, Authenticities, Meditations.)

Takuan Seiyo and Lawrence Auster and R.G. Cohn, all outstanding defenders of the West with Jewish background, recognize that there is a Jewish Problem, though it is not the problem of the Jew-haters.  It is the problem of Jews en masse supporting left-liberal (or right-liberal) politics that destroy the nations in which Jews live.  In this, though, Jews are no different from the majorities in all Western countries.

Zapatero's antisemitism thus seems idiotic. If there were a sizable population of Jews in Spain, they would be the staunchest and most effective supporters of his socialist, antinationalist, multiculturalist, Eurabian agenda.