I wouldn’t bet on it. There were outbreaks of anti-semitism in many of the formerly communist countries when the government’s grip loosened. Poland saw it (and it’s not like there are many Jews left there after WWII), Russia saw it, etc. Why do you think American Jewish groups are still trying to help Jews leave Russia? Because they still face anti-semitism – by Christians.
You seem to be looking at Christians in U.S. cities and generalizing from there. But there is a reason folks like Matt Hale and other hate groups do their recruiting in rural areas…
Why the rural areas? Because they’re uneducated, irrational hicks like Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel (sorry to those of you that don’t watch the Simpsons). All the anti-Semitic groups have to say is that there were Jews at Ruby Ridge, Jews burned down the Waco compound, and Jews want to take your guns away. And I wouldn’t exactly call all of the Russians Christian (no, I’m not turning into ARG on you), because, IIRC, the communist governments in Eastern Europe outlawed the Orthodox Churches. That means they’ve only had 8 years or so to recoup. I would say anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe stems from the same thing that brought us Nazi Germany: People are poor and they want to blame someone. And I was unaware that there were American Jewish groups helping Jews leave Russia. Where are they puttin the refugees? Here or in Israel?
“There are many sweeping generalizations that are always true” -Space Ghost
So why wouldn’t you call them Christian? If they say they are Christian, why should I argue?
Oh, yeah. Because the government outlawing them definitely made them all go away. [/sarcasm] Come on!
Which doesn’t change the fact that the “people” in question are Christians.
Both.
What you said, in case you forgot, was “But it seems that Christians have seen the light on that subject.” (“That subject” being anti-semitism.) My point is that many Christians have not seen the light. But you seem to be trying to make excuses. “Oh, well, the Russians aren’t really Christian.” “Oh, well, the Eastern Europeans are anti-semitic because of other reasons.” The fact remains that there are still a fair number of Christians who are anti-semitic, for whatever reason.
Mr. Sparkle: Mohammed did not teach that only he was the true messenger of God. He taught that he was the Seal of the Prophets and thus the final messenger of God. His teachings also inlcuded that Moses and Jesus were prophets and that other humans recorded their messages incorrectly.
Please check almost any reputable book on Mohammed and Islam for verification of my assertion. Of course, I’m ruling out the rabid anti-Islam texts here.
FWIW: One may take a Bible, or any other religious text, into Saudi Arabai. The key point is it must be for one’s own use as proselytizing (sp?) away form Islam is illegal there.
Two links may help here: http://www.state.go (check for country notes) and http://www.embassy.org (click on foreign embassies and then click on Saudi Arabia–the Saudi embassy site has some rather outstanding links also).
You’re right, I was making excuses. I’m sorry. As you pointed out, I was over-generalizing for Christians in America. To be perfectly honest, I was unaware that there was a strong ant-Semitic sentiment in Eastern Europe. I just don’t understand why there will always be someone somewhere that hates the Jews for no reason. It’s not like they’ve acted like Christians or Muslims in the past, or are wrongfully grouped with Satanists the way that pagans are.
“There are many sweeping generalizations that are always true” -Space Ghost