Jews Should Be Portrayed as Christ-Killers

There was a lot of criticism of Mel Gibson's film Passion because many people believed that its portrayal of Jews would promote and encourage antisemitism. One aspect of the controversy which did not get quite so much attention as it should have was that there were some who agreed that the portrayal of Jews in the film would be highly negative and inflammatory - and that this is the way things should be.

Mark Landsbaum made this argument in the Baptist Press:

As any Christian with a casual familiarity with the Gospels is aware, Jesus' death was predestined by God and directly resulted from the plotting and insistence of Jews and Jewish leaders, including Judas Iscariot, the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, King Herod, high priests Annas and Caiaphas, and ultimately was carried out on orders from the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who unsuccessfully tried to persuade the Jewish mob that there was no reason to kill Him.

One might imagine contemporary Jews could be a tad sensitive about their ancestors' roles in the plot and murder, even though Jesus and His followers also were Jews. ...

In some ways, not much has changed in 2,000 years. Paul told the saints at Corinth, "We preach Christ crucified ...," but that "... to the Jews [it is] a stumbling block."

Not every Christian agrees with Landsbaum's description of who did what to whom, thus demonstrating that this isn't simply a matter of Jews vs. Christians but, rather, a matter of Jews vs. a particular conception of Christianity. Landsbaum of course portrays it superficially as being Jews vs. Christians but we should keep in mind that evangelicals like him don't generally acknowledge the validity of any sort of Christianity outside of their own. Maybe that's why he doesn't acknowledge that many other Christians don't continue to blame Jews for the crucifixion of Jesus.

Moreover, we also see Landsbaum resurrecting the old canard that Jews today should be particularly sensitive when it comes to the relations with Christians because, after all, their ancestors were responsible for the death of Jesus Christ — indeed, for killing God. Subltely, but oh so clearly, the accusation of Christ-killer is brought out once again.

 

Christian Right & Christian Nationalism:

• Religious Right News
• Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany, and Christian Nationalism
• Christian Anti-Semitism, Persecution of Jews
• Religion in America