In a message dated 2/13/2004 2:28:49 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: However, your view seems to me to be a bit of a simplistic one. Political winds change, different groups with different opinions move in and out of power. Just because one set of leaders allows a practice to be legal, does not mean that the next group of leaders will accept this. Yes it did build to the breaking point, in much the same way as what happened to the aristocracy in France. Revolutions have a tendency to be grotesquely violent. (This is one reason democracy is so important.)
The question then becomes, was this done on purpose to build support for the persecution, or was the persecution a result. One describes a dastardly plot, the other simply history. But knowing which it was is really not important to understanding the beliefs and feelings of the common gentile at the time. They _were_ getting screwed, and they knew (at least in part) who was doing it to them. This was not a case of blind racial hatred of the sort you get from modern skinheads, and it was not the racial superiority white slave owners felt. It was a class of people who felt they had been wronged by another class. In their simple ignorance they attributed the wrong-doing to a race, or religion, rather than to individuals. Humans can be very dumb and very horrible in this way. Once again this is the most absurd line of reaoning possible. The jews were hated and the whole jewish banker thing was just an excuse for most people. By the way no one was getting screwed. The jews did not loan money at outragous interest rates. They were the necessary glue of international commerce. They were able to do this because jews were widely dispersed spoke the same language and felt a sense of community that allowed for safe and fair trade. Now why was this? Because jews were intrinsically smarter about money more greedy. Here is another explanation. The jews never assimilated because the christians would not allow them to. They spoke the same language and maintained the same customs because they were excluded from the larger christian society. Look at history. Whenever jews were allowed to assimilate they did so. Not all but many. In the process they either converted or lost there attachment to ancient rituals. The sense of community did not disappear because there was and is always a place where jews were persecuted for being jews. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
