Semitism and Anti-Semitism

Alot has been said about the people called Jews. They seem to be the archetypal people, distinct and so strongly identified in Western history.

When we have this strong distinction between Jew and non-Jew we can write a history of these people and see all the things that have happened "to" them.

It's a mixed history of great ups and downs.

The Jews are so strongly identifed there are even words for the like and dislike of them. Prosemitism and Antisemitism. There are few people who can boast that!

Prowelsh, Anti-welsh; Protibetans, Antitibetan. Don't work so well.

There are special laws surrounding all this also. Its a very well defined thing this Jewish.

Of major concern is the negative attitude that is recorded regarding the "Jew". I did a little reading on the theories about why such negativity exists. One Rabbi argued that it was because the Jews gave us the Western notions of morality and justice and people resent being told what is right and wrong.

No doubt the place the Jews hold in history for the Abrahamic religions - Judeism, Christianity and Islam!

Are these Jewish people really so different. They seem to relish this differentiation from other peoples, this individuality. One Jew I met seemed to wallow in the weight of this identity. Being Jewish must be hard when it is such an enormous weighty inheritance you gain.

What makes a Jew different from a gentile (the Jewish name for non-Jew)? And why do the Jewish make such a distinction between themselves and others?

In the West with the birth of Humanitarianism the Jewish attitude seems a little old fashioned. Jesus you might argue began it when he fought his own prejudices to help the gentiles. He realised that God was not just for the Jews but for the gentiles also. God was God of all peoples and nations. A big problem for the Jews who had held onto the idea that God was theirs and for that they were different and privileged. For that one wonders whether they aided the demise of Christ? We know any other nation of rulers would have done the same - treason they call it, denouncing the primacy of the ruler and the ruling.

The Jews suffer from just one thing, the same thing that all nations suffer from - self importance. They may believe they are unique and special, but so does everyone else! Maybe there is a uniquely indulgent way they do it, I don't know. A lot of nations believe that God is on their side - its not just the Jews. Some like the Russians and Nazis states didn't believe in God, but no-one believes that God is not on their side.

Unless the primacy of Jews is objectively shown to the nations of the world, unfortunately its in their interests to let go of this distinction I believe and join the human race. The same goes for all other peoples, but the Jews seem the historical archetypes so I discuss them for everyone.