I realize that I am treading potentially shark-infested waters, and that even by broaching the subject, I may be lacing up my meat-flavored swim trunks.
Even so, after reading some of the discussion going on at Thinklings and Jen's, I have to ask what constitutes anti-Semitism?
Some things are obvious, and I'm not discussing those matters.
Are the New Testament Gospel Accounts anti-Semitic simply because they tell of a Jewish mob moving in cooperation with a Roman government to execute an itinerant Rabbi, who by coincidence happens to be the Messiah of the Jewish people? Are the NT epistles Anti-Semitic simply because they exhort Christ-followers to witness first to the Jew and then to the Gentile (which too many Christ-followers aren't doing either of)? Is it anti-Semitic to ask this question?
Is it anti-Semitic to reason that Jews today who reject the Messiahship of Jesus from Nazareth could in fact be held responsible for that decision by God? Is it Anti-Semitic to reason that it is exactly this type of denial that fulfills the prophetic words of self-condemnation found in Matthew 27:25? Is it anti-Semitic to reason that this is possible?
Is it anti-Semitic to state that written in the Tenakh itself (in Nehemiah), Israel has in its history disagreed with, disobeyed, and even killed its own prophets -- and paid significant historic consequences for doing so? And if in fact that has occurred, it might be reasonable to think the same thing occurred most recently, most dramatically, and most consequentially with Jesus of Nazareth? Is it anti-Semitic to even consider those possibilities?
I'm not being a smart-aleck. I really am struggling with this. I read about this movie coming out that tells of the crucifixion of Jesus, and that Jewish people and anti-defamation groups are already in an uproar. At the same time, I see more Christian cooperation than ever before (in my short time on this earth), and in amidst at least the orthodox derivations, a genuine love and concern for Jewish people, and a desire to be sensitive to their long history of oppression without compromising the actual message of the cross. I recognize that a large part of the world is ardently and vociferously anti-Semitic. But an comparably large part is respectful and even reverent, recognizing common origins and similar desires to know God and follow Him.
Not terribly long ago, my denomination came under fire for being insensitive (which some could extend to mean "latent anti-Semitism") because of deliberate efforts to evangelize the Jewish person. Why does the Jewish person get to define this as anti-Semitism?
Why is that what is an intended expression of love and care being instead received as a message of hatred and intolerance?