Pat Robinson Attacks Judaism Through Mel Gibson’s "The Passion"
Rev. Pat Robertson, 700 Club’s founder, has used Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic exposition “The Passion of the Christ” as a basis for collaboration with some of the most offensive organizations dedicated to attacking the Jewish faith and deceptively targeting vulnerable Jews, according to New York-based talk show host, Rabbi Tovia Singer.
New York, NY (PRWEB) March 29, 2004 -- As worldwide Jewry is still reeling
from Gibson’s stinging blockbuster film of graphic violence and gratuitous
bloodshed which portrays the Jews as conspiring, blood-thirsty Christ-killers,
the Rev. Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcast Network (CBN.com) has launched a
stunning assault on the Jewish faith. Even the Pope has refused support of such
an anti-Semitic portrayal of the Christian Bible.
“It is hard to believe
that anyone would be using a vast media empire to attack Judaism at a time when
Jewish communities are feeling intensely vulnerable. But, that’s precisely what
Robertson’s organization is doing,” says Rabbi Tovia Singer, the New York-based
radio show host of Israel National Radio who was formally thrown off New York’s
WMCA for being “too Jewish.” Singer is also the founder Outreach Judaism, a
counter-missionary organization which fights against Christian
missionaries.
“This unwelcome development is particularly shocking given
that people like Robertson are zealously defending Mel Gibson’s film against the
charge of promoting anti-Semitism. Robinson’s CBN.com is collaborating with some
of the most offensive organizations dedicated to attacking the Jewish faith
while deceptively targeting vulnerable Jews for conversion to Christianity,”
says Rabbi Singer.
One example, a misleading article prominent on
Robertson’s CBN.com makes the stunning claim that the Jews manipulate their
Sabbath services so that temple worshipers reject Jesus. The article “The
Passion According to Isaiah” was authored by Jews for Jesus, an aggressive
fundamentalist Christian mission devoted to drawing Jews into the church.
“This is a serious charge against Judaism for which there is not a
single shred of evidence to support it. The absurdity of this claim lies in the
fact that the reading of verses from Isaiah predates Christianity by two
centuries. What motive did Jews have for preventing worshipers from converting
to Christianity, when at the time the custom to read from the Prophets was
created, Christianity and Jesus didn’t even exist?” asks Singer.
The
website asserts that a portion of Isaiah, used as a front-piece to Mel Gibson’s
“The Passion,” was withheld from the ears of congregants because of what “Jews
might think” of the passage. In essence, The Jews are charged by the 700 Club’s
founder for conspiring to manipulate the synagogue service in order to prevent
uneducated Jews from believing in Jesus. “In fact,” states Singer, “only a very
tiny portion of the Book of Prophets is even read in the
synagogue.”
“This preposterous claim not only slanders the Jewish faith,
but an affront to any Jewish organization that has presented Robertson any
recognition,” states Singer. “Most Jews do not realize that the ultimate goal of
fundamentalists like Pat Robertson is a 100 percent Christian America, which is
why he supports predatory cults that seek to destroy the Jewish faith. Doesn’t
he understand that militant Islam is a far greater danger to America than
Judaism?”
While Andy Rooney said God had spoken to him, saying “that both
Pat Robertson and Mel Gibson strike me as wackos,” Singer is more concerned with
what danger their misleading and slanderous propaganda posses to the Jewish
people. “If either Pat Robertson or Mel Gibson ever wish to be regarded as a
friend of the Jews,” declares Singer, “they must abandon their obsession with
converting them.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/3/prweb114956.htm