‘Hate has no place in our community’
Dear Times-Standard, This week is Spring Break for our local schools. Americans call it Spring Break instead of Easter Week because the U.S. has a First Amendment to the Constitution that bans the establishment of religion. Easter is the holiest day of the year for Christians as it marks the resurrection of Jesus and provides the foundation for the faith. Some scholars will note that it occurs in the Spring around the same time as preChristians celebrated spring fertility rituals. This could be why bunnies, baby chicks, and painted eggs are often part of the ritual.
There is also a dark side to Easter as some Christians continue to blame, attack, and murder Jews for the crucifixion of Jesus. This year someone named Robert Forest is publishing a poem in local newspapers that blames Jews for murdering Jesus. This is unfortunate as Christians have been murdering Jews because of this every year for a thousand years dating back to the First Crusade of 1095.
Some readers may be unaware of this history. When the poem refers to “Evil schemes ... to slaughter/The holy Man/They hated,” and refers to the Jewish people as “criminal” and “murderers” (twice) and “perverse” and “torturers,” this is very strong language that incites violent hate crimes. The Catholic Church renounced this legacy of hatred publicly in its Nostra Aetate document of 1965 (https://bit.ly/2Vk5JVi).
It was brought to our attention that the Times-Standard and Sacramento Bee (among others) distributed this harmful literature as an advertising insert during Passover and Easter. Passover is also a holy day for our Jewish friends and neighbors. Hate has no place in our community and we ask you to join us in condemning hate speech and hate crimes. In California, hate crimes are a serious matter as we are the nation’s epicenter with over 1,063 in 2018 according to the FBI (https://ucr.fbi.gov/hatecrime/2018/). Some readers will remember the horrific Poway synagogue shooting following the Easter holiday last year.
It is valuable to be aware of Robert Forest’s perspective. Many Christians, as in Mel Gibson’s 2004 film “The Passion of the Christ,” emphasize the persecution and suffering of Christ described in the Gospel of John. In “World Religions” at Humboldt State University we contrast this perspective with the Sermon on the Mount, where teachings include “Love your neighbor.” (Matthew 5:43.)
As we grapple with a global pandemic, let’s work together to educate and inform to encourage peace and kindness. What the Passover, Easter, and May Day festivals share in common for both Christians and non-Christians is a spirit of renewal and hope that we survived the winter flu season and that better times are ahead and that each of us has the potential to be a better person this year and to serve our community with love and humility.
Signed,