Suchergebnisse

Why I have written this book -- The domain of Islam and the domain of war -- Jihad and genocide: the case of the Armenians -- The Nazi-Muslim connection and Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem -- On jihad, oil, and anti-semitism -- Iran: apocalyptic nuclear genocide? -- The fruits of rage

Sacrificial religion, especially the sacrifice of the first born, is crucial for understanding the continuities and discontinuities between Judaism and Christianity. Human sacrifice was prevalent in the ancient Middle East, even among the Hebrews as late as 500 B.C.E. In the Aqedah (Gen. 22: 1-19), God's command that Abraham sacrifice Isaac is only averted when Abraham demonstrates unquestioning obedience. Because of that obedience, God accepts an animal surrogate and bestows His election on Abraham and his progeny. The sequence is reversed in Christianity. Jesus is first identified with the surrogate, the Passover lamb that redeems Israel's first born, and later becomes himself the sacrifice. By his unquestioning obedience on the cross, Jesus becomes the perfect Isaac. Early Christianity regarded Jesus as the only perfectly obedient human being and also the perfect human sacrifice. As such, Christ brings to manifest expression much that remained latent in Judaism. The author believes that this spells out the difference between the two traditions.

Rubenstein reviews GENOCIDE IN RWANDA: COMPLICITY OF THE CHURCHES? Edited by Carol Rittner, John K. Roth, and Wendy Whitworth.

The anti-Christian elements in Nazi ideology obfuscate a view of the Holocaust as a modern holy war. That view is not linked with the concept of apocalyptic messianism or the notion that holy war attempts to enforce religious beliefs. This war's objective was the elimination of those who did not share the majority's symbolic universe, an objective wherein religion played a major role—as is the case in Bosnia today. European history is replete with attempts to reduce those who do not share the common religious or cultural identity in the heart of Christendom, attempts to defame, baptize, or expel the disconfirming other. Although systematic extermination constitutes a discontinuity with the past, and although the Nazi state was hostile to Christianity, the Holocaust was a holy war that benefited those for whom the guarding of the Christian symbolic universe as the cornerstone of civilization depended on the elimination of Jews and the defeat of bolshevism.

Suggests that the anti-Christian elements in Nazi ideology obfuscate the view of the Holocaust as a modern holy war, one that is not linked with the concept of apocalyptic messianism or the notion that holy war attempts to enforce religious beliefs. This war's objective was the elimination of those who did not share the majority's symbolic universe, an objective wherein religion played a major role -- as is the case in Bosnia today. European history is replete with attempts to reduce those who do not share the common religious or cultural identity in the heart of Christendom. Although systematic extermination constitutes a discontinuity with the past & the Nazi state was hostile to Christianity, the Holocaust was a holy war that benefited those for whom the guarding of the Christian symbolic universe as the cornerstone of civilization depended on the elimination of Jews & the defeat of bolshevism. Adapted from the source document.

Argues that "liberation theology is profoundly anti-American and pro-Marxist."