This is not about Israel or what is going on in Israel right now. I am wanting to know why so many people have hated Jews in the past and even now you find so many people that feel this way. Please do not post if you are going to give me that crazy "Jews run everything" crap. The Jewish people I actually know (which isn't many here in Kentucky) are among the kindest people I have met. I just do not get why people in this day and age still have a problem with them.

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Up there in the immensity of the Cosmos, an inescapable perception awaits us. National boundaries are not evident when we view the Earth from space. Fanatical ethnic, religious or national chauvinisms are a little difficult to maintain when we see our planet as a fragile blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars. -Carl Sagan

It has been long asserted by many Christians (historically) that the Jews are guilty of killing Jesus Christ.

The Romans were only the 'tool' of the crucifiction. The order to do so allegedly came from the Jewish patriarchs.

This 'root' of anti-semitism goes way back and can be seen throughout the medieval era when 'anti-semitism' was extreme in Europe.

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[I]Remember what the dormouse said, 'feed your head'. [/I]

So some Christians support Israel because they feel it is the key to the 2nd coming while others are pissed because they blame Jews for killing Jesus. I give up.

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Up there in the immensity of the Cosmos, an inescapable perception awaits us. National boundaries are not evident when we view the Earth from space. Fanatical ethnic, religious or national chauvinisms are a little difficult to maintain when we see our planet as a fragile blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars. -Carl Sagan

Yes it is confusing and not very consistent, but that has everything to do with different Christian sects in their modern context - mixed up with 2000 years of history. Various groups and peoples do like to 'cherry-pick' their facts.

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[I]Remember what the dormouse said, 'feed your head'. [/I]

One theory I heard was that centuries ago, Christians weren't allowed to lend money for interest, so the Jewish People handled most of the major fanancial institutions of Europe. Nobody really likes bankers and lenders.

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Yes, the little green fist up there is a symbol of Earth First! No, I'm not an eco-terrorist, nor do I agree with eco-terrorism...I just thought it looked cool.

I was forced to go to a church as a child that set itself apart because it didn't allow instruments to be used for hymns. Some verse said something about making music with your heart which they saw as making it yourself rather than with a tool.

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Up there in the immensity of the Cosmos, an inescapable perception awaits us. National boundaries are not evident when we view the Earth from space. Fanatical ethnic, religious or national chauvinisms are a little difficult to maintain when we see our planet as a fragile blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars. -Carl Sagan

This is part of the "2000 years of history" that I alluded to above. Yes, the medieval/rennaissance era saw the Jews serving as pretty much the only source of banking in Europe and as such, people tend to resent moneylenders as well as the materially successful. The Jews were often both.

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[I]Remember what the dormouse said, 'feed your head'. [/I]

This is a bit of an exaggeration. According to "A Distant Mirror" many of the Italian magnates loaned money at interest to other members of the aristocracy and royalty in France England and Spain. The Visconti were the most prominent and powerful of these magnates.

It is true that in many places Jews were forbidden to enter most professions and guilds and many times could not own farmland and so ended up as moneylenders and merchants. The Jews were preferred as financiers because when their credit began to run low the christian rulers could encourage pogroms which included the burning of financial records. Voila! The King is suddenly debt free!!

I have heard it argued that very early in chrisitan history there were bad feelings between the chistians (recent jews) and those who remained jewish for a couple reasons.
Christianity was struggling to establish itself as a legitimate religion rather than just a cult or jewish splinter movement and so differences between christians and jews tended to be emphasized and early christians vilified jews as a way of differentiating themselves.
In very early days of christianity jews were being persecuted heavily by the romans because of various revolts and disobediance. Another good reason for members of a fledgling religion in the middle east to make it clear they had nothing to do with the jews.

This rocky beginning of relations between the two religions has been a convenient political tool for leaders of christian countries ever since. Every time a religious or political leader needed a scapegoat to deflect blame for their own incompetance or tyrranical behavior the Jews were the time honored solution.

Yes, I was over-simplifying the issue for the purpose of replying to the thread question. That some non-Jewish banking began to rise in the late 13th century doesn't detract from the principle points regarding the Jews.

Btw, the first non-Jewish banking families began in the late 13th century with the Bardi and Peruzzi (who were bankrupted in the 14th century by the defaults Edward III of England).

The reason for the rise of Italian banking is twofold. First and foremost, the 13th century saw a sharp rise in anti-semitism, including the expulsion of Jews from many western nations (notably, England in 1290). Secondly, the Florentines were vested with the right to collect Papal taxes (and thus the source of their capital). Thus, when the Jews were expelled from England, there was an opportunity for the Florentines to fill it.

The Visconti were rather late interlopers into the game - indeed, they were rather 'opportunists' in filling the vacuum left by the bankrupting of the Bardi and Peruzzi banking families (of Florence). They are much more contemporary with the Medici family.

And the reason that it is Italian banking families that were able to engage in the game despite the religious prohibition against usury (the German Fruggers family got into it later on - 15th & 16th century) was probably because the doctrinal authority of the Church in Italy at that time was virtually non-existent. This period co-relates with the pre-reformation Church which was horribly corrupt in the 14th and 15th century and thus powerless to actually enforce their own religious laws.

Yes, this was common practice. Similarly, the mercantile Jews were an excellent source of 'extra-legal' taxes that could be levied upon them at will by the Western monarchs (which was little more than blackmail or a protection racket).

However, late-medieval and rennaissance Kings were NEVER debt-free. Eliminating one debt still left many others. I believe the monarchs of France defaulted on their debts about a dozen times between 1300 and 1789 (Spain and England defaulted slightly less often).

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[I]Remember what the dormouse said, 'feed your head'. [/I]