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Anti-Semitism


             Anti-Semitism developed and changed throughout history, and had an influence on the Roman Catholic Church. Anti-Semitism began even before the Christian church. Pagan's hostility toward the Jews stemmed from their rejection of pagan idol worship. They also refused to worship the Emperor, which made people doubt their loyalty to the Empire. It was easy for the Christians to just blame things on Jewish people. This came from a misunderstanding the Jews traditions and different interpretations of the Gospels. In the book, Racial and Ethnic Groups, by Richard Schaefer, the Christians called the Jews "Christ-killers". The Gospels blame the Jews and seem to excuse the Romans. Pilate "washed his hands" and proclaimed he was "innocent of the blood" while the people (Jews) answered "His blood be on us and our children"(Mathew 27: 24-25). They thought all Jews took part and were responsible for the crucifixion of Christ, since it seemed in that passage, that all the Jews were taking responsibility. There was even a legend that Jews sacrificed Christian children at Passover. This may have started from a misinterpretation of the Bible record of Passover, when the first born of every household was killed. The Jewish children are spared. Many things like this made the Christians angry towards Jews over many years.
             The Romans considerd the Christians to be a sect of Judaism. Because the Jews were rebellious the Emperors did not like them. This resulted in poor treatment of the Christians as well. The Jews were allowed to practice freely while Christianity was considered illegal. This resulted in the persecution of Christians. After the Romans rejected the Christians, the Christians turned around and did the same to the Jews. As it said in The Jesus connection, the Romans had a "Christian Problem", which was then changed into a "Jewish Problem" for the Christians. The Christians were harsh to the Jews, as the Romans were to them.


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