Roots of Anti-Semitism
On behalf of everyone of Jewish descent, I wish to thank Larry Stammer for his outstanding article “Good Friday Renews Focus on Roots of Anti-Semitism” (April 14), and to The Times for publishing this expose of the origins of prejudice and hatred on the front page where it belongs to be every year.
Unknown to many Christians and certainly to all anti-Semites, the Gospel of John was written 100 to 150 years after the death of Jesus. This was a time when the primarily Jewish leaders of the fledgling Christian religion decided to devote their major efforts to converting the all-powerful Roman Empire to Christianity, rather than continuing their relatively unsuccessful efforts at converting all Jews (Jews accounted for almost 10% of the population of the Roman Empire at that time).
To counter the problem of telling Romans that their regional leaders and army killed Jesus, the writer(s) of the Gospel of John shifted the entire blame from Rome onto the Jews, thus facilitating the task of converting Rome to the ensuing Roman Catholic Church and Holy Roman Empire. The writer(s) even had Pontius Pilate “wash his hands” of the whole affair, a Jewish ritual of expiation and certainly not one a Roman leader would perform.
Someday Christian youth may be taught the historical derivation of the Gospels, and of the Old and New Testaments too. When that day occurs, all the world will witness the second coming of Jesus’ real message to all of us--simply to love thy neighbor (and thy world) as you love yourself and as you profess to love God.
SID TURKISH
Beverly Hills
* I must admit that when I first read your headline and article, I was angry. Upon reflection, however, my anger turned to a deep sadness; a sadness born of the realization that our society continues to slide into the abyss of fabricated controversy in order to “sell” rather than rising to the occasion of peace and love that is the real focus of the Good Friday through Easter celebration.
Good Friday is the start of the celebration of the cornerstone event of all Christian faiths. Yet all your paper can write about is controversy. Is there no one on your staff who has the guts to find something good to say about a truly spiritual event?
J. DARRYL NYZNYK
Torrance