A lot of killing is done in the name of religion and who's interpretation of God is correct. I'm personally of the opinion that our relationship with our Creator or God is unique to ourselves. A church isn't how that path is made, and they don't have the power to absolve us from any sins they claim we made against God.
I may offend with that opinion, but I'm just being honest. Reading The Bible and being preached to in a church are two different things. But, I find the story of Jesus fascinating, just as I do the story of the Roman Catholic Church and the people who get blamed for the death of Jesus.
There has been a love/hate relationship with the Jewish people through the years. It can be easy to start hating the Jews because sometimes they pull out the "we have suffered more than anybody" card, and it gets old after a while. I'm not saying the Jews haven't suffered, because they clearly have. WW2 Is only one instance.
I also believe some of that hate is thrown at them over the idea that they killed Jesus. That is an outright lie. Now, the story tries to frame it that way, especially when we get to the story of the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate. He gave the Jewish people the choice, and they chose to free Barabbas, the known terrorist at least as the Romans saw him. To the Jews, he was a hero.
Jesus going around claiming He was God was enough to offend a lot of people, especially when it's somebody performing miracle after miracle. But the Jews were fighting for their own cause, and preaching love of your fellow man isn't likely to win the hearts and minds of the people who want to fight.
Sure, they chose the terrorist, but they weren't the ones making the legal decision. It matters not what Pontius says in this story. The story cleverly tries to shift the blame from the Romans to the Jews, when the Romans were the ones who held all the power.
Yet, people still want to hate the Jews for killing Jesus. It wasn't like every Jew in the world was there at that moment and took a vote, nor was it that they ran the government that was intent on putting him to death.
What's interesting is what happened after that day. While the Jews were scattered, the Roman Empire may have fallen, but it didn't die completely. It became the Roman Catholic Church. The Pope became it's figurehead leader, called the Vicar (stand in) of Christ. By who's authority? Where did Jesus say that man speaks for Him?
So, the very government that authorized the killing of Jesus is the one in charge of officially speaking for Him. Interesting how that happened. Maybe, as the story goes, He had to die for our sins, but I find the whole story fascinating. The Jews get blamed, and the government responsible for nailing Him to the cross essentially takes over as official spokesman.
And, through the years, how much killing have we had in His name? Would Jesus approve of that? Not the Jesus I read about in The Bible. This is one reason I don't believe in the church as spokesman for Jesus. They can relate His story, but our relationship with God is our own.
Nobody on Earth can broker that relationship. It is up to us by trying to live as good and righteous a life as we can, filled with love and respect for others. None of us are perfect. I know I'm not.
