The following is not the most pleasant story. I'm sorry....
I learned a lot of new things at my mechanic's garage a few days ago. While I was waiting to have a new compressor installed, I went across the street to a well-known bakery and bought a cake for the guys who work at the shop. I took it back to the waiting room and invited them to partake. One in particular was very taken with the treat and came back for seconds. This time, he sat at a stool and began to pontificate. As a pleasant way to break the ice, he asked me if I ate meat and when I replied that I did, he told me I was a murderer and that the first commandment is, "Thou shalt not kill." He asked, "If you were starving, would you kill a cow?" "Yes, I would. I wouldn't like to, but I would." Then, I said that the first commandment is not, "Thou shalt not kill," but is, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." The man informed me that he didn't believe in the Bible anyway (so why quote it to me?) because it was written by the Roman Catholics. He strengthened his position and further added a great deal of credibility to his argument (not) by stating that his father was a pastor and his mother went to church all the time. I replied, as gently as I could, "Uh, the Bible was written in Hebrew and Aramaic and then translated into Greek. The Roman Catholics had nothing to do with it. It was written mostly, by Jews."
"Oh, the Jews," said he. They don't do anything! They kneel at the wall for 23 hours a day and don't work."
"I don't think they kneel at the wall and if they do, it wouldn't be for such a long time."
"Jews don't work," said he.
"I think most Jews work. I think you're painting them all with the same brush."
(I'm sensing just a bit of antisemitism here.)
"They all hated Jesus and killed him," he continued, maybe to prove to me that he wasn't painting them all with the same brush (LOL!)?
"Sorry, that isn't true at all. All of His followers in the beginning were Jewish...and so was He. The Jews that wanted Him condemned were the Sanhedrin (the high priests) because He called them hypocrites and pointed out (on several occasions) their many failures. He had thousands and thousands of followers who were Jews. His Jewish followers didn't want him to be killed."
Again he 'quoted' the Bible telling me about a story in which many scrolls were thrown into a fire and people were running and saving them and flapping their arms around from the heat.
"I'm not totally sure, but I don't believe that's a story from the Bible, at least one I've never heard," I said.
"Well, you must be stupid!" By now, he was shouting and waving his arms erratically over his head.
One part of my brain was saying, "Please Father, get him out of here. Send him back to work." Another part was saying, "He's completely gone...forgive him (which of course, I did). Alas, I could feel my blood pressure rising!
He finally left when I turned my back to him and looked out of the window. I should have done that much earlier, obviously.
Why am I telling you this story? I guess, just to relieve that 'pressure' by sharing it with all of you, to demonstrate that a little knowledge is, as they say, a dangerous thing (as if we didn't already know) and to remind us all that antisemitism (in fact, anti anyone that is different from ourselves) is very much alive and well on planet Earth.
I learned a lot of new things at my mechanic's garage a few days ago. While I was waiting to have a new compressor installed, I went across the street to a well-known bakery and bought a cake for the guys who work at the shop. I took it back to the waiting room and invited them to partake. One in particular was very taken with the treat and came back for seconds. This time, he sat at a stool and began to pontificate. As a pleasant way to break the ice, he asked me if I ate meat and when I replied that I did, he told me I was a murderer and that the first commandment is, "Thou shalt not kill." He asked, "If you were starving, would you kill a cow?" "Yes, I would. I wouldn't like to, but I would." Then, I said that the first commandment is not, "Thou shalt not kill," but is, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." The man informed me that he didn't believe in the Bible anyway (so why quote it to me?) because it was written by the Roman Catholics. He strengthened his position and further added a great deal of credibility to his argument (not) by stating that his father was a pastor and his mother went to church all the time. I replied, as gently as I could, "Uh, the Bible was written in Hebrew and Aramaic and then translated into Greek. The Roman Catholics had nothing to do with it. It was written mostly, by Jews."
"Oh, the Jews," said he. They don't do anything! They kneel at the wall for 23 hours a day and don't work."
"I don't think they kneel at the wall and if they do, it wouldn't be for such a long time."
"Jews don't work," said he.
"I think most Jews work. I think you're painting them all with the same brush."
(I'm sensing just a bit of antisemitism here.)
"They all hated Jesus and killed him," he continued, maybe to prove to me that he wasn't painting them all with the same brush (LOL!)?
"Sorry, that isn't true at all. All of His followers in the beginning were Jewish...and so was He. The Jews that wanted Him condemned were the Sanhedrin (the high priests) because He called them hypocrites and pointed out (on several occasions) their many failures. He had thousands and thousands of followers who were Jews. His Jewish followers didn't want him to be killed."
Again he 'quoted' the Bible telling me about a story in which many scrolls were thrown into a fire and people were running and saving them and flapping their arms around from the heat.
"I'm not totally sure, but I don't believe that's a story from the Bible, at least one I've never heard," I said.
"Well, you must be stupid!" By now, he was shouting and waving his arms erratically over his head.
One part of my brain was saying, "Please Father, get him out of here. Send him back to work." Another part was saying, "He's completely gone...forgive him (which of course, I did). Alas, I could feel my blood pressure rising!
He finally left when I turned my back to him and looked out of the window. I should have done that much earlier, obviously.
Why am I telling you this story? I guess, just to relieve that 'pressure' by sharing it with all of you, to demonstrate that a little knowledge is, as they say, a dangerous thing (as if we didn't already know) and to remind us all that antisemitism (in fact, anti anyone that is different from ourselves) is very much alive and well on planet Earth.
Interesting story,unfortunately many people share the same ideas,
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