Rev. Pat Robertson, 700 Clubs 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 Gibsons stinging blockbuster film of graphic violence and gratuitous bloodshed which portrays the Jews as conspiring, blood-thirsty Christ-killers, the Rev. Pat Robertsons 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, thats precisely what Robertsons organization is doing," says Rabbi Tovia Singer, the New York-based radio show host of Israel National Radio who was formally thrown off New Yorks 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 Gibsons film against the charge of promoting anti-Semitism. Robinsons 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 Robertsons 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 didnt even exist?" asks Singer.
The website asserts that a portion of Isaiah, used as a front-piece to Mel Gibsons 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 Clubs 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. Doesnt 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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