“There’s an awful lot about Pharisees in there,” Buttigieg told The Washington Post this week, referring to the New Testament while discussing Pence. “And when you see someone, especially somebody who has such a dogmatic take on faith that they bring it into public life, being willing to attach themselves to this administration for the purposes of gaining power, it is alarmingly resonant with some New Testament themes, and not in a good way.” “The Bible is full of — it talks about this,” he said. “It talks about hypocrites. It talks about Pharisees.”
Political correctness is always a problem. As it happens I am impressed with Mayor Pete but Maybe the Mayor does not know that I am a Pharisee.
How would Mayor Pete Buttigieg feel if I told him I was “fagged out” from hard work? ” Maybe Mayor Pete is ignorant … just like any white guy who uses the N word or straight guy who talks about fags.
My wife and I named our son, Hillel, after the great Pharisee Hillel. We chose that name out of wonder that Hillel and his followers had the courage to use nonviolence to resist the barbaric occupation of Judea by Rome.
Around Easter, the TV is full of the “Jesus story. modeThe priests in the videos wear Talit, the modern striped prayer shawls and yarmulke. Leaving aside the historical inaccuracy, the implication os the same as what used to be more explicit at Oberammgau.
Hillel’s heritage survived the destruction of the Temple and led to the creation of what is now the rabbinate. Those Pharisees founded modern Judaism. The Pharisees were also the target of Paul and his followers as they evangelized in the name of Jesus. That evangelism was built on demeaning and denigration of the Jews. As Mathew says of the Jews in the Christian Bible, “you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”
Now the Mayor has described Vice President Mike Pence as a “Pharisee.” That’s strong words in Christendom cuz, you know, the Pharisees killed Jesus. Yep, and millions of Jews have been slaughtered in retribution for that biblical act. Until recently, you could go as a tourist to Germany any Christmas season to see the Pharisees kill Jesus at Oberammergau. The play has been cleaned up and now pins the death on the Romans. Thank God!
The problem here is that the Gospels are antisemitic. Whoever wrote the first drafts, the compilers of the Christian bible had a major goal to become the state religion of Rome. The Christians could hardly do that if they did not blame the Jews for killing Jesus. Even in the most liberal of modern Christian sects, Jesus is painted as being an accommodationist, giving unto Caesar and supporting Claudias Lysisas, a local Tribune when the Jews were less kindly to the occupation. After all, wasn’t Claudius one of Jesus’ children too?
Christianity’s roots .. at least based on the story in the Roman Bible, were in occupied Judea. That was a bloody occupation. The Jews resisted. Two major wars were fought. The Jews lost. Rome, the empire that became Christian, won. The winners write the history books .. in this case the “New Testament.”
But Mayor Pete may need to read some more and learn that it was the Pharisees who led the resistance. The Pharisees were not the priests of the New Testament; in fact, these priests were likely not even authentic hereditary Cohaneem. Under Roman rule, the priesthood was selected by the Roman-appointed ruler .. in this case, Herod. The Pharisees, scholars learned in the Torah, taught passive resistance … ignoring the occupying barbarians because the barbarians would otherwise kill us. Not at all a Christian attitude. The more militant Jews, often reviled as zealots or Sicarii, strongly opposed the Roman occupation of Judea and attempted to expel the Romans. That effort failed in 70 CE when the Romans under Vespasian destroyed the Temple.
Sadly, Buttigieg is not able to apologize, Instead, Chris Meagher, Buttigieg’s national press secretary, said in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that “Pharisee” is a common expression for hypocritical leaders. “The Mayor expressed his concern about the hypocrisy on the part of evangelical leaders. “He invoked this Biblical reference since it is commonly used to show skepticism of hypocritical establishment leaders. That was the way he intended it.”
I really like Mayor Pete but he needs a sit-down. He is not a F—. Corrie Booker is not a N—. But, I am a Pharisee.
I thought you were Cro Magnon?
My ancestors were.
Let us hear it for the Sadducees! For the Essenes! The Zealots!!!
And the Pharisee’s invited the Romans into Israel and opened the gates of Jerusalem to the troops of Pompey. Okayed the desecration of the temple, as the Sadducees were killed.
Not all four books of the bible are anti Semitic in fat three were written for Jewish audiences. Though facts such as the Romans killing Jesus seem to be overlooked by Christians and they cannot really explain why if the Jews wanted to kill Jesus they would simply have stoned him. Not as dramatic as a crucifixion although at least on historical Jesus was crucified Hmmm could part of his story found its way into the gospels? Only there is no report from the Romans that he raised from the dead. So no good news there.
The books that form the new testament were all written well after Jesus (though the older brother of Jesus James died in 66 in the build up to the Jewish revolt) and well before Christianity became Rome’s religion. Though many passages were added or changed in the interim, and after until they were codified.
And you’re part, Maori, too, right?
Not exactly but I do share some genome with the Maori, presumably a common ancester