[Vision2020] Not in Our Town (Denver)

Mon, 15 Mar 2004 10:47:55 -0800

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Greetings:

I'm continually updating my film review of Gibson's horrid film and I've 
appended a story from the Denver Post below.  Was there any connection 
between these swastikas on the Denver synagogue and the Denver Pentecostal 
church marquee "Jews Killed Lord Jesus"???  See the picture for yourself at 
www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/madmax.htm.  But thank God for the outpouring of 
support from the Denver community.  Some Denver Christians skipped church 
to help wipe off the hate.

I was also shocked by two local responses to my piece with regard to 
anti-Semitism, and here is the new paragraph I've added:

"Two responses to an earlier draft of this essay were quite chilling: one 
said that Jewish critics are just whiners if they had never actually been 
harmed, and one friend actually wrote "But Nick, didn't the Jews kill 
Jesus"? I had to remind him that the Romans killed Jesus and that the 
Gospel writers most likely fabricated the Jewish trial and the mob. He, 
too, was unrepentant saying that his Irish ancestors had been persecuted. 
My response was that I would not countenance any equality of outrage until 
I see Irish cemeteries and Irish churches defaced with anti-Irish graffiti."

Some film historians are saying that Gibson's film is most anti-Semitic 
since a German silent movie of the Passion in 1917.

I've also made a new link to a short piece by a friend of mine who is a New 
Testament scholar.  He has traced the most offensive anti-Semitic phrase 
"His blood [will] be on us and our children!" (Matt. 27:25) to the exact 
same phrase in the Septuagint, the very poor Greek translation of the 
Hebrew Bible.  Matthew is notorious for pasting in all sorts of Old 
Testament passages to make sure that every single prophecy is 
fulfilled.  For Matt. 27:25 this most likely means that this is formulaic 
rather than historical.

Gibson did bow to the critics and he deleted 27:25 in the English 
subtitles, but it remains the Aramaic.  Subtitles are done country by 
country, so who is to say that this phrase, the most favorite of all those 
who have called the Jews "Christ killers" through the centuries will not be 
printed in many other foreign languages--Arabic, to mention the most likely 
candidate!

The Denver Post
jim spencer
Show of love washes away signs of hate
By Jim Spencer
Denver Post Columnist
Tuesday, March 09, 2004 -
Cher Connolly knelt at the brick wall and scrubbed away the hate.
Hearing that vandals had spray-painted Nazi swastikas on a Denver synagogue 
scared Connolly. She wondered what kind of community she lived in.
Sunday morning, the 15-year-old Arvada girl found out.
"I feel glad so many people showed up," Connolly said as she gave way to 
another person anxious to wash away the prejudice.
Folks in Denver made a statement Sunday. Hundreds of them - all ages, 
sizes, colors and creeds - laid hands on symbols of racism and murder with 
a power that would have made a faith healer proud.
Children with towels. Senior citizens with brushes. Parents with rubber 
gloves. Grandparents with sponges. Jews, Christians, non-churchgoers.
They bellied up to the walls at BMH-BJ Congregation with cans of graffiti 
remover, containers of acetone and an endless supply of elbow grease. They 
erased a message from the purveyors of pogrom and sent back a loud, clear 
reply:
Not in our town.
Esther Pershing skipped services at Mississippi Avenue Baptist Church on 
Sunday to answer a higher calling.
"I came because the Christian message is love," the 37-year-old woman said. 
"Christ's love extends to all. Christians should stand against something 
like this."
So should anyone with common decency.
Synagogue members discovered the swastikas Friday as Jews prepared for 
Purim, a celebration of the defeat of anti-Semitism.
On Sunday, a group of citizens coalesced to assure that victory. They 
turned a community's embarrassment into inspiration. Neither religion nor 
politics could separate them.
A letter of support from a self-deprecating "loudmouth Baptist" preacher 
promised daily prayers to make sure the hatred of Jews, which is coming 
back in Europe, finds no support here.
Conservative Colorado Senate President John Andrews and liberal Denver 
state Sen. Ken Gordon stood shoulder-to-shoulder against the vandals.
Shirley Coen of New Community Christian Church shook a can of graffiti 
remover as she walked around the synagogue. Her husband, Cleo, carried a 
bucket of supplies.
"I thought we got rid of Hitler 60 years ago," he said.
The lunatic fringe will always be with us.
"I'm here because this made me sad," said Shirley Coen. "Since 9/11 (the 
country) has learned about pulling together."
Letting shared values overwhelm differences was what this was about.
A woman walked through the crowd with a stuffed boar's head hoisted above 
her. A handwritten sign on the animal read, "Neo-Nazis are pigs."
"That's not going to help," someone said to her. "The message is love and 
peace."
That was the antidote to images of hate and war that some youngsters were 
forced to confront for the first time.
Seven-year-old Olivia Arbess and her 6-year-old brother Max go to synagogue 
at BMH-BJ Congregation. They stood in the crowd Sunday, towels at the ready.
"I got out an eyewitness book about World War II," said their mother, Sarah 
Arbess. "I showed them pictures of Nazi Germany, Hitler and Auschwitz. I 
told them Hitler's people had no tolerance for Jewish people. I showed them 
the yellow badges Jews had to wear."
After hearing the stories, Olivia balked at coming to a synagogue activity 
Saturday.
"What if the bad people are in there?" she asked her mom.
"They aren't," her mother assured her. "This was an act of cowardice."
An act that failed.
"We have no clue who did this," said Rabbi Daniel Cohen of BMH-BJ Congregation.
The FBI has met with the head of the synagogue council, Cohen said.
The rabbi also wondered about the ability of Mel Gibson's new hit movie 
"The Passion of the Christ" to provoke anger against Jews. The movie 
portrays Jews as the people responsible for Jesus' tortuous crucifixion.
But anti-Semitism existed long before Mel Gibson. And the antidote is the 
same as it's always been:
The resolve of people united by simple human compassion.
"Most people are good," Cohen said. "I was really overwhelmed by the turnout."
It was awesome. A few hundred good folks took less than an hour to remove 
every swastika and Nazi symbol from the synagogue. Lines backed up wherever 
the building was defaced. People rubbed the walls long after the images of 
hate disappeared.
Nine-year-old Raleigh Jonscher wiped off what he called "evil." He wore a 
Cub Scout uniform.
"I don't think it's right," the young Jewish boy said of the vandalism.
The Protestant president of the Colorado Senate couldn't have agreed more.
"This has no place in our community," Andrews said before scrubbing off one 
leg of a swastika. "Love is stronger than violence."
On Sunday in Denver, it sure was.
Jim Spencer's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays in The Denver 
Post. Contact him at 303-820-1771.

Nicholas F. Gier
Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, University of Idaho
1037 Colt Rd., Moscow, ID 83843
http://users.moscow.com/ngier/home/index.htm
208-883-3360/882-9212/FAX 885-8950
President, Idaho Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/ift/index.htm

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Greetings: 
I'm continually updating my film review of Gibson's horrid film and I've
appended a story from the Denver Post below.&nbsp; Was there any
connection between these swastikas on the Denver synagogue and the Denver
Pentecostal church marquee &quot;Jews Killed Lord Jesus&quot;???&nbsp;
See the picture for yourself at
<a href="http://www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/madmax.htm" eudora="autourl">www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/madmax.htm</a>.&nbsp;
But thank God for the outpouring of support from the Denver
community.&nbsp; Some Denver Christians skipped church to help wipe off
the hate. 
I was also shocked by two local responses to my piece with regard to
anti-Semitism, and here is the new paragraph I've added: 
&quot;Two responses to an earlier draft of this essay were quite
chilling: one said that Jewish critics are just whiners if they had never
actually been harmed, and one friend actually wrote &quot;But Nick,
didn't the Jews kill Jesus&quot;? I had to remind him that the Romans
killed Jesus and that the Gospel writers most likely fabricated the
Jewish trial and the mob. He, too, was unrepentant saying that his Irish
ancestors had been persecuted. My response was that I would not
countenance any equality of outrage until I see Irish cemeteries and
Irish churches defaced with anti-Irish graffiti.&quot; 
Some film historians are saying that Gibson's film is most anti-Semitic
since a German silent movie of the Passion in 1917. 
I've also made a new link to a short piece by a friend of mine who is a
New Testament scholar.&nbsp; He has traced the most offensive
anti-Semitic phrase “His blood [will] be on us and our children!” (Matt.
27:25) to the exact same phrase in the Septuagint, the very poor Greek
translation of the Hebrew Bible.&nbsp; Matthew is notorious for pasting
in all sorts of Old Testament passages to make sure that every single
prophecy is fulfilled.&nbsp; For Matt. 27:25 this most likely means that
this is formulaic rather than historical. 
Gibson did bow to the critics and he deleted 27:25 in the English
subtitles, but it remains the Aramaic.&nbsp; Subtitles are done country
by country, so who is to say that this phrase, the most favorite of all
those who have called the Jews &quot;Christ killers&quot; through the
centuries will not be printed in many other foreign languages--Arabic, to
mention the most likely candidate! 
 
The Denver Post 
jim spencer 
Show of love washes away signs of hate 
By Jim Spencer 
Denver Post Columnist 
Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 
Cher Connolly knelt at the brick wall and scrubbed away the hate. 
Hearing that vandals had spray-painted Nazi swastikas on a Denver
synagogue scared Connolly. She wondered what kind of community she lived
in. 
Sunday morning, the 15-year-old Arvada girl found out. 
&quot;I feel glad so many people showed up,&quot; Connolly said as she
gave way to another person anxious to wash away the prejudice. 
Folks in Denver made a statement Sunday. Hundreds of them - all ages,
sizes, colors and creeds - laid hands on symbols of racism and murder
with a power that would have made a faith healer proud. 
Children with towels. Senior citizens with brushes. Parents with rubber
gloves. Grandparents with sponges. Jews, Christians,
non-churchgoers. 
They bellied up to the walls at BMH-BJ Congregation with cans of graffiti
remover, containers of acetone and an endless supply of elbow grease.
They erased a message from the purveyors of pogrom and sent back a loud,
clear reply: 
Not in our town. 
Esther Pershing skipped services at Mississippi Avenue Baptist Church on
Sunday to answer a higher calling. 
&quot;I came because the Christian message is love,&quot; the 37-year-old
woman said. &quot;Christ's love extends to all. Christians should stand
against something like this.&quot; 
So should anyone with common decency. 
Synagogue members discovered the swastikas Friday as Jews prepared for
Purim, a celebration of the defeat of anti-Semitism. 
On Sunday, a group of citizens coalesced to assure that victory. They
turned a community's embarrassment into inspiration. Neither religion nor
politics could separate them. 
A letter of support from a self-deprecating &quot;loudmouth Baptist&quot;
preacher promised daily prayers to make sure the hatred of Jews, which is
coming back in Europe, finds no support here. 
Conservative Colorado Senate President John Andrews and liberal Denver
state Sen. Ken Gordon stood shoulder-to-shoulder against the
vandals. 
Shirley Coen of New Community Christian Church shook a can of graffiti
remover as she walked around the synagogue. Her husband, Cleo, carried a
bucket of supplies. 
&quot;I thought we got rid of Hitler 60 years ago,&quot; he said. 
The lunatic fringe will always be with us. 
&quot;I'm here because this made me sad,&quot; said Shirley Coen.
&quot;Since 9/11 (the country) has learned about pulling
together.&quot; 
Letting shared values overwhelm differences was what this was 
about. 
A woman walked through the crowd with a stuffed boar's head hoisted above
her. A handwritten sign on the animal read, &quot;Neo-Nazis are
pigs.&quot; 
&quot;That's not going to help,&quot; someone said to her. &quot;The
message is love and peace.&quot; 
That was the antidote to images of hate and war that some youngsters were
forced to confront for the first time. 
Seven-year-old Olivia Arbess and her 6-year-old brother Max go to
synagogue at BMH-BJ Congregation. They stood in the crowd Sunday, towels
at the ready. 
&quot;I got out an eyewitness book about World War II,&quot; said their
mother, Sarah Arbess. &quot;I showed them pictures of Nazi Germany,
Hitler and Auschwitz. I told them Hitler's people had no tolerance for
Jewish people. I showed them the yellow badges Jews had to
wear.&quot; 
After hearing the stories, Olivia balked at coming to a synagogue
activity Saturday. 
&quot;What if the bad people are in there?&quot; she asked her mom. 
&quot;They aren't,&quot; her mother assured her. &quot;This was an act of
cowardice.&quot; 
An act that failed. 
&quot;We have no clue who did this,&quot; said Rabbi Daniel Cohen of
BMH-BJ Congregation. 
The FBI has met with the head of the synagogue council, Cohen said. 
The rabbi also wondered about the ability of Mel Gibson's new hit movie
&quot;The Passion of the Christ&quot; to provoke anger against Jews. The
movie portrays Jews as the people responsible for Jesus' tortuous
crucifixion. 
But anti-Semitism existed long before Mel Gibson. And the antidote is the
same as it's always been: 
The resolve of people united by simple human compassion. 
&quot;Most people are good,&quot; Cohen said. &quot;I was really
overwhelmed by the turnout.&quot; 
It was awesome. A few hundred good folks took less than an hour to remove
every swastika and Nazi symbol from the synagogue. Lines backed up
wherever the building was defaced. People rubbed the walls long after the
images of hate disappeared. 
Nine-year-old Raleigh Jonscher wiped off what he called &quot;evil.&quot;
He wore a Cub Scout uniform. 
&quot;I don't think it's right,&quot; the young Jewish boy said of the
vandalism. 
The Protestant president of the Colorado Senate couldn't have agreed
more. 
&quot;This has no place in our community,&quot; Andrews said before
scrubbing off one leg of a swastika. &quot;Love is stronger than
violence.&quot; 
On Sunday in Denver, it sure was. 
Jim Spencer's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays in The
Denver Post. Contact him at 303-820-1771. 
<x-sigsep></x-sigsep>
Nicholas F. Gier 
Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, University of Idaho 
1037 Colt Rd., Moscow, ID 83843 
<a href="http://users.moscow.com/ngier/home/index.htm" eudora="autourl">http://users.moscow.com/ngier/home/index.htm 
</a>208-883-3360/882-9212/FAX 885-8950 
President, Idaho Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO 
<a href="http://www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/ift/index.htm" eudora="autourl">www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/ift/index.htm</a></html>

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