Latin dominated the era in which Jesus lived because it was the language of the Romans, whose empire practiced extortion, i.e., taxation, once its legions had conquered someplace like Israel. Being a Roman citizen was a privilege reserved to a few, and most people in the Roman Empire were slaves. The Jews didn't like the Romans, nor did indigenous folks in the other conquered provinces. Moreover, amomg the indigeneous peoples, the Romans had an especial dislike for the Jews.

Some historians, while acknowledging the fine work of barbarian tribes like the Visogoths and Vandals, attribute part of the downfall of Rome to the enormous expense and effort required to keep the Jews under their iron grip. Pontius Pilate was not sent to rule Israel because he was Mr. Nice Guy. He routinely crucified anyone who disputed Rome's rule. Nobody debated capital punishment in those days.

Israel was such a pain to their Roman conquerors and governors that Emperor Hadrian tried to erase its name by changing it to Palestine, referencing the Philistines. The forefathers of today's Arabs, who currently lay claim to the land, were busy worshipping a Moon god called Allah, doing so hundreds of years before Mohammed came along and picked him out of the crowd of local pagan gods.

Gibson, a devout Catholic who belongs to a group within the Church that adheres to strict Biblical interpretation and rejects many of the changes that have taken place in recent times, has poured his own money and talent into the film. In an August 11 statement, the ADL states that it "unambiguously portrays Jewish authorities and the Jewish mob as the ones responsible for the decision to crucify Jesus." This, worries the ADL, will unleash anti-Semitism.

In the interest of full disclosure, way back in the days of the Civil Rights struggle, I briefly worked for the ADL. And I do mean briefly. Even as a callow youth, I found myself disenchanted with the organization, though it must be said it did keep track of some very unpleasant people who gratuitously hated not only Jews, but Blacks, Catholics, and probably people who were not their immediate kinfolk.

There are, I'm told, some people who still speak ill of the Jews, but I suspect that only the Hebrew knights of the ADL really care any more. The truth is American Jews have melted into the vast tapestry of the population. Their children are quite likely to marry out of the faith and, for many, explaining why their kids get gifts Christmas morning is mostly answered with a shrug.

Experience demonstrates that Jews have a right to worry about anything that might instruct or inflame hated toward them. Despite heroic efforts to secure peace with the Arabs who call themselves Palestinians, the suicide terror bombings continue. The world takes note, but most particularly, Jews everywhere in the world take note.

It's not nice to hate Jews. Jesus was a Jew, and so were all of his apostles. When he preached, he preached to Jews. Most theologians agree that, were it not for Saul of Tarsus, an unusual combination of Jew and Roman citizen, there probably wouldn't be a religion called Christianity. Jews had already been around for well over a thousand years by then and, while they hoped a messiah would show up, getting nailed to a Roman cross pretty much limited one's options. A practical people, they found it hard to believe, as Saul preached in their synagogues, that Jesus was the Son of God. According to the Gospel accounts, they routinely ran Saul/Paul out of town.

It is a source of constant amazement to those who are not Christian that so many Christians seem to miss the main point of their faith. If one believes that Jesus was the Son of God who died to take on the sins of mankind, what the Jews reportedly did is of no importance whatever. Here's the equation: no Jesus, no crucifixion, no Christianity. All involved, therefore, had to be acting out the will of God. Even the Pope would tell you that.

As Gene Edward Veith writes in the August 16 edition of World Magazine, "The blame game, though, completely misses the point…according to Christianity, Christ's crucifixion is one of the best things to ever happen…the importance of the cross is that, with His sufferings, Jesus atoned for the sin of sinners from 'all tribes and peoples and languages'. Pulling onto Him all the punishment that they deserve so that they can have free forgiveness and everlasting life."

The Gospel accounts of those last hours reflect the politics of the time when they were written. The nascent Christian church was trying to gain followers during the final years of the Roman Empire and there's little doubt the writers found it convenient to shift the blame away from the Romans who did the judging, scourging, and killing of Jesus. It is a bit too convenient that the name of the most famed betrayer in history is "Judas."

Will Mel Gibson's film foster anti-Semitism? As far as I can tell, the Jews who saw the film or read the script came away convinced it casts Jews in a bad light and, given Gibson's theology, it probably does. A group of friends to whom I posed this question quickly began to discuss the film's potential at the box office instead. There's your answer. For many, probably the majority, the "issue" wasn't even worth contemplating.

Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, Communications Director of the American Policy Center, and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly column, "Warning Signs," posted on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center (www.anxietycenter.com). A compilation of his past columns, entitled Warning Signs, is published by Merril Press. In addition to Warning Signs, Caruba is the author of A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam and The United Nations vs. the United States, both of which are available from the National Anxiety Center, 9 Brookside Road, Maplewood, New Jersey, 07040.

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