Today’s Jesus and Mo strip, called “theme”, came with an email note:
Here’s a theological article by Howard Jacobson on the theme of Jesus and Judaism, if you’re interested. It’s quite long, but a good read.
The article is about the ambivalent relationship Christians have to Jews: Jesus was a Jew, but because Jews are blamed for his death, they’ve been demonized for two millennia. It is a good read; the author is British writer Howard Jacobson.
Sadly, now that Moses has come to join the boys during the lockdown, Mo is expressing some typical anti-Semitic tropes, even questioning whether Jesus was a Jew. Jesus settles the issue.
Sadly, Jews have been blamed for the spread of the coronavirus, but so have Muslims. In times of stress like this, minority populations are always singled out for extra opprobrium. Let’s hope Mo stops virus-blaming Moses!
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Ah, yes, I believe Professor Friedman has also provided a disquisition on the topic:
Reminds me of the old joke:
If Jesus was Jewish, why did he have a Puerto Rican name ?
Another old joke:
What are the three proofs that Jesus was Jewish?
1. He went into the family business.
2. He lived with his mother until he was 30.
3. His mother thought he was God.
This one is depressing (esp. when one thinks of Jews blamed and killed during plague outbreaks) but really good!
Mo, you’re such an asshole!
Reminds me of when Archie Bunker was told that Jesus was Jewish, to which he responded, “Only on his mother’s side.”
Howard Jacobson is a very good writer, and his article is worth reading; his Channel 4 prog might well be worth watching. But his argument is based on the assumption that Jesus was a real person, who actually lived and preached and died, just as the Gospels tell us (even though their accounts are mutually contradictory).
Despite the fact that most Brits are now non-believers, and indeed that Jacobson himself appears to be a cultural Jew only, it still seems one step too far for the UK media to address the hypothesis that the Jesus character of the Gospels (and the churches) is a humanised version of a wholly mythical original. Channel 4 ought to be the place to find such a treatment, but I guess that as a publicly funded service they feel they have to watch their step. Pity.
Well that popped Mo’s bubble…😜
Well actually Jesus isn’t Jewish, he’s a ?Graeco-Roman? invention.
The same way Fu Manchu isn’t Chinese and Zorro isn’t Mexican…
😎
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