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From: fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann)
Newsgroups: net.religion.christian,net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: Historical Persecution of Jews
Message-ID: <1117@unc.unc.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 17-Mar-86 20:30:48 EST
Article-I.D.: unc.1117
Posted: Mon Mar 17 20:30:48 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 18-Mar-86 20:16:44 EST
References: <852@leadsv.UUCP> <532@mhuxm.UUCP>
Reply-To: fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann)
Organization: CS Dept, U. of N. Carolina, Chapel Hill
Lines: 61
Xref: lsuc net.religion.christian:384 net.religion.jewish:1906
Summary: 

In article <532@mhuxm.UUCP> abeles@mhuxm.UUCP (J. Abeles (Bellcore, Murray Hill, NJ)) writes:

>	The real question is "Why are Jews chosen to be the scapegoats?"
>	Is is because we seem to be more financially successful than the
>	average?  Is that even true, or is it a distortion of statistics?

No, this cannot be the reason.  The European royalty and nobility
were always much richer than any Jews, yet these people were honored,
rather than despised.

>	Is it because we are better educated than the average?

No, the Christian clergy was always better educated than the laity,
yet the common people honored and respected them.

>	Jews have been viciously persecuted in virtually all
>	of the European countries in which they have resided.
>	There have been many other identifiable ethnic groups
>	which were not similarly persecuted.  Oh, yes, they
>	may have been second-class citizens in a foreign culture;
>	that's different.

Jews were rarely persecuted for being an identifiable ethnic group.
The Nazi period was the big exception, of course, but generally,
Jews who converted to whatever religion was locally dominant
(whether Islam or Christianity) were well accepted.  Especially
when the conversion was seen as a sincere act of faith, rather
than a cynical career move.

>	Personally, I believe that one should not discount the influence
>	of the Christian Churches.  After all, during the Dark Ages the
>	only functioning institution was the Church (to some approximation).
>	And, the Church was virulently anti-Jewish during that time all
>	the way up to the sixties.

Christian churchs were not so much anti-Jewish as anti-dissent
of any kind.  Indeed, they often treated gentile dissenters
much more harshly than Jews.  For instance, the Christian world
would not tolerate Islam at all.  In France, the Catholic
massecre of the Hugonauts was as bloody as any anti-Jewish pogram.
But after that, the Protestants (for the most part) jut stayed
out of France completely, while the Jews, would always return.
Likewise for Catholics living in Protestant countries.
If we Jews suffered more, it is because we wouldn't give up.

Gentiles avoided this kind of persecution by going with the flow.
Peasants were quite willing to accept whatever religious denomination
the aristocracy dictated for them.  Aristocrats often chose their
religion on political grounds.  Even today, I've run into several
fellows of Catholic background who switched to a mainstream Protestant
church upon moving to the deep South.  Their explanation:

	"When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

Think about your own experiences.  In junior high school, how were
non-conformists treated?  Were they respected for their independence
of judgement, or were they ridiculed and tormented?  Jews faced
the same persecution faced by all non-conformists, Christian or
otherwise.

	Frank Silbermann