Pittsburgh synagogue

[brian]

I wonder how much of is based on the fact that Hitler needed an "other" and Europe in the 1930s was largely homogeneous and the Jews were really one of the only options (and conveniently some had quite a bit of personal wealth that could be seized to aid the war effort).

Of course, anti-Semitism predates Hitler by thousands of years, but modern anti-Semitism seems based less on religious conflict and more on "racial" arguments made by the Third Reich (of course despite the fact that Jews aren't a race at all).

[The Sybian]

I wish I knew why anyone hated anyone based only on their religion or the color of their skin or anything other than their individual character.

Why do so many people hate black people? Or Latinos? Or gays? Or women?

It seems as counter-productive and self-defeating to me as sticking my dick in a meat grinder.

Ignorance and taught to hate by their parents, friends, talk radio moron...

One aspect of the genius of Howard Stern, was giving airtime to hatemongers like "KKK Guy" Daniel Carver and the Westboro Baptists Church people decades before they became famous. While I understand the need to not give hateful people a platform to spread hate, Howard gave them long segments of non-confrontational opportunities to spew their idiocy, and it made them seem like clueless fuckwits. In an argument, they might persuade some people to take their view, but put on display as a person in a long, free-form segment, Daniel Carver ain't persuading anyone of anything.

If I grew up in a shitty family in shitty circumstances, and had my parents and friends' parents preaching "Jews are the devil" and blaming our shitty circumstances on the Jews, I'd believe it. Especially if I never actually met a Jew. Fear is a strong motivator, especially to uneducated or unintelligent people. Teach them Jews are ruining their lives, and they'll believe it without any actual proof.

I know it's cliche, but it's true; if you put a bunch of 4 year old kids in a room, no matter their race, religion, nationality or languages they speak, they will all play together and not know or care that the other kids are different. Racism isn't natural, it's learned.

[bfj]

“Wake up white people”.

I agree with you about it being taught, but what can be blamed on the Jews? If somebody from middle America is raised not knowing a Jew, what do their parents tell them the Jews do to keep them down? Or does it really just get passed down from great great grand pappy the KKK member who really believed that Jews are Satan? I guess that’s what it is. Nobody ever stops and asks “why exactly do I hate Jews and what have they done to harm me”?

[Steve of phpBB]

I really don't think the "killing Jesus" angle is the main source of anti-Semitism. I think it's the Jews' historic and traditional separateness from the main population of the places they've lived, at least in Europe. This has been both self-imposed and imposed by the authorities. As the "other", they are an easy target when a leader wants to give his followers someone to unite against.

Plus, I have read that the Jews weren't traditionally allowed to own property in these European countries, so they ended up in professions like banking and merchant sales. No one likes their creditors. (I don't know how true or valid this argument is, but I've seen it often.)

Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism discusses anti-Semitism at length. Probably too much length.

[Steve of phpBB]

“Wake up white people”.

I agree with you about it being taught, but what can be blamed on the Jews? If somebody from middle America is raised not knowing a Jew, what do their parents tell them the Jews do to keep them down? Or does it really just get passed down from great great grand pappy the KKK member who really believed that Jews are Satan? I guess that’s what it is. Nobody ever stops and asks “why exactly do I hate Jews and what have they done to harm me”?

These people are told that the Jews are harming them by keeping them down. Financially, it's about the Globalists and the Banks. Morally or socially, it's about Hollywood.

[Joe K]

I wish I knew why anyone hated anyone based only on their religion or the color of their skin or anything other than their individual character.

Why do so many people hate black people? Or Latinos? Or gays? Or women?

It seems as counter-productive and self-defeating to me as sticking my dick in a meat grinder.

Ignorance and taught to hate by their parents, friends, talk radio moron...

One aspect of the genius of Howard Stern, was giving airtime to hatemongers like "KKK Guy" Daniel Carver and the Westboro Baptists Church people decades before they became famous. While I understand the need to not give hateful people a platform to spread hate, Howard gave them long segments of non-confrontational opportunities to spew their idiocy, and it made them seem like clueless fuckwits. In an argument, they might persuade some people to take their view, but put on display as a person in a long, free-form segment, Daniel Carver ain't persuading anyone of anything.

This presupposes that when people hear hateful bigots getting airtime, they’ll actually reject their views. That didn’t work out so well with Trump in the 2016 Election. To use an even more recent example, Brazil just elected a straight up fascist as President in Bolsonaro. He has praised extrajudicial killings and threatened ethnic cleansing of Brazil’s indigenous peoples. I was reading how a media outlet there used to give him a lot of airtime when he was a relatively obscure politician, thinking that by doing so they were exposing the awfulness of the Brazilian far right. And now the guy is head of one of the five most populous countries on Earth and will likely do tremendous damage to the world’s ecosystem.

[mister d]

I feel like way too much knowledge of history or general wordliness is being applied to people who would hate Canadians or Scandinavians or Australians tomorrow if they were told to.

[Steve of phpBB]

I feel like way too much knowledge of history or general wordliness is being applied to people who would hate Canadians or Scandinavians or Australians tomorrow if they were told to.

I think when it comes to murderous racial hatred, it's not that simple. Politically, lots of Republicans will hate whoever their chosen leaders tell them to hate - remember Freedom Fries? But I think for murderous hatred, it really is a fundamental us vs them mentality, and Canadians/Scandinavians/Australians are "us".

[degenerasian]

I think you guys are digging a little too deep here.

Let's start with a simple premise. Everyone hates everyone. A caveman hates another caveman. At some point people begin to like each other and they create groups. But this caveman group still hates the next caveman group on the other side of the world (2 miles). Then over centuries people become civilized (or conquered) and there is less hate. The west has made incredible strides over the last 100 years but that inherent hatred and fear is still there for a lot of people.

You guys dog on white people but they are actually amazing and driving this forward. Yes there are still fears and hatred but everything takes time and can't be forced. It may take a few more generations. Yes it can still suck to be black, jewish, asian, hispanic etc.. in America. But the positives exponentially outweigh the negatives.

Article on Jews in China

If Asians ruled the world we'd still be in the stone age. Asians HATE EVERYONE including each other. The stuff I hear among Asians would make you shudder. China the middle kingdom, only cares about itself. I'm convinced that if China's ruling communist party ever fell (like previous Chinese dynasties), the country would split into 5 or 7 pieces and fight again. Especially now that President Xi has a lifetime appointment and everyone hates him.

[Pruitt]

But we aren’t marginalized or ghettoized here. So what are we the scapegoats for? What are Jews being blamed for that makes people hate Jews?

The synagogue I used to attend has Baltimore County cops out front. Fully armed. But, there are 20 ways in and out of the buildings around the synagogue one could use to gain access.

WRT what Shirley said, I read that the cops he shot were responding to the shooting, not on site protecting. My buddy who runs a security company told me his phone has been ringing off the hook from local synagogues today hiring him to staff all services this weekend.

My kids go to/work at a Jewish day camp and there are armed police at the entrance to the camp all summer. I do worry about them during the summers.

"Marginalized?" definitely not.

"Ghettoized?" definitely yes.

70% of American Jews live in 8 cities. In Canada there are 400,000 Jews. 70% live in Toronto or Montreal. These are certainly not ghettos like there were in Europe, but for many of our countrymen, we are as different and as exotic as say, Sri Lankans and El Salvadoreans. There are people in our countries who will never meet a Jewish person, and whose only exposure comes via media portrayals. And that is precisely why when Trump retweets tweets that have hashtags like #burnthejews, or images of Hilary along with piles of money and Magen Davids it is so egregious and inflammatory.

And as Degen reminds us, people are prone to hate anyone who is different. Add in the history of anti-semitism that is a thread through European history and there you have it.

My neighbourhood is filled with Jews of all stripes. Synagogues, kosher stores, schools, community centres. And I worry about where the next attack will be. And I fear for my neighbours who dress in traditional Orthodox garb.

[GoodKarma]

If I grew up in a shitty family in shitty circumstances, and had my parents and friends' parents preaching "Jews are the devil" and blaming our shitty circumstances on the Jews, I'd believe it. Especially if I never actually met a Jew. Fear is a strong motivator, especially to uneducated or unintelligent people. Teach them Jews are ruining their lives, and they'll believe it without any actual proof.

What Syb says here can't be understated. Throughout human history any group of "others" as compared to ourselves is most often viewed as threat, be it real or imaginary, and held up as the reason for whatever suffering we experience (again, real or imaginary) so that we do not have to accept responsibility for our own shortcomings or do any work ourselves.

[sancarlos]

Yeah, the "other" thing is a big factor. Especially when all you have to go on is what you're told, not what you've personally experienced. I think racism is most common, ironically, among people who don't even know people from the group they hate. Lots of racism and jew-hating in the rural areas where the only non-white non-Christian persons they know are Latino farm workers. I have a semi-distant relative who posts memes about immigration, even though she lives in rural Saskatchewan and has likely never seen a non-European immigrant.

[mister d]

And if she doesn't do her part being racist and posting memes her rural town will look just like Toronto someday. Which would be bad.

[degenerasian]

Yeah, the "other" thing is a big factor. Especially when all you have to go on is what you're told, not what you've personally experienced. I think racism is most common, ironically, among people who don't even know people from the group they hate. Lots of racism and jew-hating in the rural areas where the only non-white non-Christian persons they know are Latino farm workers. I have a semi-distant relative who posts memes about immigration, even though she lives in rural Saskatchewan and has likely never seen a non-European immigrant.

And if she doesn't do her part being racist and posting memes her rural town will look just like Toronto someday. Which would be bad.

ha

you should tell her she has nothing to fear, nobody in their right mind is immigrating to rural Saskatchewan.

[A_B]

Yeah, the "other" thing is a big factor. Especially when all you have to go on is what you're told, not what you've personally experienced. I think racism is most common, ironically, among people who don't even know people from the group they hate. Lots of racism and jew-hating in the rural areas where the only non-white non-Christian persons they know are Latino farm workers. I have a semi-distant relative who posts memes about immigration, even though she lives in rural Saskatchewan and has likely never seen a non-European immigrant.

And if she doesn't do her part being racist and posting memes her rural town will look just like Toronto someday. Which would be bad.

ha

you should tell her she has nothing to fear, nobody in their right mind is immigrating to rural Saskatchewan.

Isn't that the problem?

[degenerasian]

Yeah, the "other" thing is a big factor. Especially when all you have to go on is what you're told, not what you've personally experienced. I think racism is most common, ironically, among people who don't even know people from the group they hate. Lots of racism and jew-hating in the rural areas where the only non-white non-Christian persons they know are Latino farm workers. I have a semi-distant relative who posts memes about immigration, even though she lives in rural Saskatchewan and has likely never seen a non-European immigrant.

And if she doesn't do her part being racist and posting memes her rural town will look just like Toronto someday. Which would be bad.

ha

you should tell her she has nothing to fear, nobody in their right mind is immigrating to rural Saskatchewan.

Isn't that the problem?

Definitely.

[brian]

Jesus Fucking Christ on a cracker (no pun intended). But seriously. These fucking numbskulls. These fucking assholes. The absolute fucking gall.

[bfj]

Jesus Fucking Christ on a cracker (no pun intended). But seriously. These fucking numbskulls. These fucking assholes. The absolute fucking gall.

Jews who believe Jesus was the Messiah. SMMFH.

[Rex]

Isn’t there a shorter word for that?

[A_B]

Jew-ish?


(Ht: Peter Sagal)

[Pruitt]

Jesus Fucking Christ on a cracker (no pun intended). But seriously. These fucking numbskulls. These fucking assholes. The absolute fucking gall.

I know you guys get it, but this is so, so offensive that it is hard to put into words.

[rass]

The apparent spark for the worst anti-Semitic massacre in American history was a racist hoax inflamed by a U.S. president seeking to help his party win a midterm election. There is no political gesture, no public statement, and no alteration in rhetoric or behavior that will change this fact. The shooter might have found a different reason to act on a different day. But he chose to act on Saturday, and he apparently chose to act in response to a political fiction that the president himself chose to spread and that his followers chose to amplify.

As for those who aided the president in his propaganda campaign, who enabled him to prey on racist fears to fabricate a national emergency, who said to themselves, “This is the play”? Every single one of them bears some responsibility for what followed. Their condemnations of anti-Semitism are meaningless. Their thoughts and prayers are worthless. Their condolences are irrelevant. They can never undo what they have done, and what they have done will never be forgotten.

Trump’s Caravan Hysteria Led to This

[Joe K]

The Jews for Jesus guy literally prayed for the GOP to win elections:

[Pruitt]

Isn’t there a shorter word for that?

"Christian?"

[tennbengal]

The apparent spark for the worst anti-Semitic massacre in American history was a racist hoax inflamed by a U.S. president seeking to help his party win a midterm election. There is no political gesture, no public statement, and no alteration in rhetoric or behavior that will change this fact. The shooter might have found a different reason to act on a different day. But he chose to act on Saturday, and he apparently chose to act in response to a political fiction that the president himself chose to spread and that his followers chose to amplify.

As for those who aided the president in his propaganda campaign, who enabled him to prey on racist fears to fabricate a national emergency, who said to themselves, “This is the play”? Every single one of them bears some responsibility for what followed. Their condemnations of anti-Semitism are meaningless. Their thoughts and prayers are worthless. Their condolences are irrelevant. They can never undo what they have done, and what they have done will never be forgotten.

Trump’s Caravan Hysteria Led to This

Don't tell degen.

[Steve of phpBB]

So after attending a vigil at our local synagogue last night, today I sent a letter to my extended family, most of whom at least lean Republican, begging them not to vote Republican this year.

Probably not a good idea. I guess we'll find out come the holiday season.

[The Sybian]

I really don't think the "killing Jesus" angle is the main source of anti-Semitism. I think it's the Jews' historic and traditional separateness from the main population of the places they've lived, at least in Europe. This has been both self-imposed and imposed by the authorities. As the "other", they are an easy target when a leader wants to give his followers someone to unite against.

Plus, I have read that the Jews weren't traditionally allowed to own property in these European countries, so they ended up in professions like banking and merchant sales. No one likes their creditors. (I don't know how true or valid this argument is, but I've seen it often.)

Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism discusses anti-Semitism at length. Probably too much length.

During the Middle Ages, Jews were brought into European cities specifically to be money lenders, as it was considered a sin to make money off interest under the Christian beliefs of the day, yet they needed bankers in their society. Yeah, everyone hates their creditors, plus they considered money lending a sin, so of course they hate Jew and viewed them as evil. I believe this is where all of the stereotypes of Jews as money grubbers, cheap etc... stem from.

Alternative theory, we are The Chosen People, and y'all are just haters. Everyone hates the favorite child, and when God chooses a favorite child, it's that much worse.

[Steve of phpBB]

I really don't think the "killing Jesus" angle is the main source of anti-Semitism. I think it's the Jews' historic and traditional separateness from the main population of the places they've lived, at least in Europe. This has been both self-imposed and imposed by the authorities. As the "other", they are an easy target when a leader wants to give his followers someone to unite against.

Plus, I have read that the Jews weren't traditionally allowed to own property in these European countries, so they ended up in professions like banking and merchant sales. No one likes their creditors. (I don't know how true or valid this argument is, but I've seen it often.)

Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism discusses anti-Semitism at length. Probably too much length.

During the Middle Ages, Jews were brought into European cities specifically to be money lenders, as it was considered a sin to make money off interest under the Christian beliefs of the day, yet they needed bankers in their society. Yeah, everyone hates their creditors, plus they considered money lending a sin, so of course they hate Jew and viewed them as evil. I believe this is where all of the stereotypes of Jews as money grubbers, cheap etc... stem from.

Alternative theory, we are The Chosen People, and y'all are just haters. Everyone hates the favorite child, and when God chooses a favorite child, it's that much worse.

In all honesty, I don't think the Jews' describing themselves as Chosen helps matters. But yeah. I was just reading Wikipedia about prewar Hungary. Jews were about 5-6 percent of the population but an astonishing percentage of bankers, doctors, artists, factory owners, landowners, etc. It was their Numerus Clausus law passed in 1920 that forced my grandfather to come to the US.

[The Sybian]

In all honesty, I don't think the Jews' describing themselves as Chosen helps matters.

Dude, it's in the BIBLE!

[degenerasian]

Hated everywhere, even at Miss Earth!

[Pruitt]

Man, the Steelers are a truly class organization.

[brian]

Man, the Steelers are a truly class organization.

This is pretty cool too.

[mister d]

I’m calling bullshit given they visited Trump a year ago.

[rass]

I forgot I was rooting for the Yankees this season. Damn.

[mister d]

I don’t know if I mentioned it here or offline but this is absolutely the least I’ve wanted one of my teams to win, it that makes sense.

[bfj]

Man, the Steelers are a truly class organization.

Very classy and kind. I mean, fuck the Steelers, but that was very classy.

#itsstillsteelersweek

[HaulCitgo]

In all honesty, I don't think the Jews' describing themselves as Chosen helps matters.

Dude, it's in the BIBLE!

Zero white folks in my church and the pastor will gladly use the pulpit for her political beliefs but even she readily acknowledges that Jews are the chosen people. I've always thought that very odd but people seems to clap and shout amen.

[A_B]

I’m calling bullshit given they visited Trump a year ago.

Fuck off.

[mister d]

“Now it’s close to home” isn’t good enough, my man.

[A_B]

“Now it’s close to home” isn’t good enough, my man.

Community matters, my man.