Jews for Jesus´ sign is controversial..British Jews want it taken down

[Nambe]

LONDON, July 31 (JTA)

British Jews are furious about a new Jews for Jesus advertising campaign.

The advertisements, which hit Britain in July, show a group of fervently Orthodox Jews at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. One of them is wearing a bright red Jews for Jesus T-shirt. The ad´s slogan urges, "Think for Yourself."

The ads have appeared in two national newspapers and on four billboards in Jewish areas of London.

The Board of Deputies, the umbrella organization that represents most British Jews, has complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about the campaign. ---

[thebigidea]

1. wow, reminds me of "Life of Brian"

BRIAN: "You're all individuals!"

CROWD: "Yes! We're all individuals!"

[Wonder]

2. yup that would certainly stir up some contravercy

not that I disagree with the message, even the anti-zionist jewish groups might agree with that sign.

[TennesseeWalker]

3. Freedom of Religion

Too bad if anyone gets upset. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, etc. means having to put up with things you don't agree with all the time.

If you're going to talk the talk, you gotta walk the walk.

[dfong63]

4. if the shoe fits?

i think their objection is pretty lame.

"This advertisement is clearly based upon the principle that the majority of Jews are unable to ‘think for themselves´ — i.e., believe in Jesus," the board´s director general, Neville Nagler, wrote in the complaint.

so they CLAIM it is "clearly based on" something - but to me, the only thing that's clear is that no objective support is presented to support that claim. ie, "I don't like something, so I will try to associate it with something else that is clearly offensive to some principle that no one will dare oppose."

[donco6]

5. I think I'd be more upset by the Christian contention . . .

. . . that everyone who doesn't believe in Jesus is going straight to hell.

[chesley]

6. Why?

If you don't believe it, why should you care if they do. Ignore them if you disagree.

[donco6]

14. So, what you're saying is that . . .

. . . you wouldn't mind if, during your eternity in heaven, you could see the smoke rising from the eternal fires of hell, knowing that perhaps friends, neighbors, relatives, were down there burning in fire forever - and that WOULDN'T BOTHER YOU?

That's pretty damn scary.

[AndyTiedye]

9. If Heaven Is Really Full of Sanctimonious Gits who think like that...

...then perhaps I will go to Hell and fix the air conditioning.

[IndianaGreen]

7. Jews for Jesus is a Christian cult, its missionaries wear tefillin

For a Jew to believe in Jesus is "theologically without foundation. You have Jews, and you have Christians. You can´t dance at both weddings."

There are a whole raft of registered charities who specialize in targeting Jews for conversion, he said.

Proselytizing of Jews is bad manners, but it is also anti-Semitism of the worse kind. These people prey on assimilated Jews, Jews in Name Only (JINO), and pry them away from their roots and convert them to a radical rightwing version of Christianity. Their ultimate goal is the destruction of Judaism by converting the Jews to fundamentalist Christianity. One can only speculate on what their goal would be once the fundies achieve global power, perhaps murdering all those unbelievers that refuse to belief in such "obvious" truths.

Jews for Jesus is a Christian cult, its missionaries wear tefillin, but their message is the same that one hears from the likes of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.

[Rainydaze]

8. At the synagogue,

they have a derrogatory name for the jews for jesus folk.
We call them christians. At least when not calling them Meshugga.

[donco6]

15. Hee! We say meshugana

Same thing. Both true.

[robcon]

10. That's not anti-semitism, IndianaGreen

You wrote "Proselytizing of Jews is bad manners, but it is also anti-Semitism of the worse kind. These people prey on assimilated Jews, Jews in Name Only (JINO), and pry them away from their roots and convert them to a radical rightwing version of Christianity.

You've described the actions of numerous proselytizing groups, e.g. Mormons, Jehovah's witnesses, Lubavitchers, etc. Is it anti-semitism when the Lubavitchers try to convert non-observant Jews to orthodox Judaism? None of these efforts are directed against Jews, it's just trying to convert them. Harmless activity, unless the proselytizer is obnoxious.

Calling that anti-semitism is over stating the case by a lot. Calling it "anti-semitism of the worst kind" is a convenient memory lapse about WWII.

[IndianaGreen]

12. The Lubavitch do not proselytize!

proselytize

1 : to induce someone to convert to one's faith

The Lubavitch only ask people if they are Jewish. If they answer in the positive, they talk to them to see if they want to live according to the Halacha, Jewish law. That is not proselytizing, anymore that it is to ask a Methodist if they wish to attend the Presbyterian church.

The Lubavitch are trying to stem the tide of assimilation, the biggest threat to Judaism since the Third Reich.

[donco6]

16. Well, you have to admit,

It's a lot like a Klan march in Skokie.

[Rhiannon12866]

17. Thank you so much for clarifying this

It made no sense to me and I had no idea what this was about. Yes, I would be offended. Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and their right-wing ``Christian'' ilk scare me to death. They are among the most prejudiced people on the planet. ``Christian,'' my a**!:grr:

What do they wear?:shrug:

[bluestateguy]

11. "Jews for Jesus"

Makes about as much sense as a "Reagan Democrat"

[IndianaGreen]

13. History of Jews for Jesus

Messianic Judaism is Evangelical Christainity proselytizing to the Jews. The founder of Jews for Jesus, a deceptive proselytizing technique, was Martin Rosen, a former Jew who converted to Evangelical Christianity in the mid-1950's. Rosen was ordainded as a Baptist minister in 1957 and was assigned to serve the American Board of Missions (missionaries) to the Jews. In this capacity Rev. Rosen became sensitized to the theological vulnerability of many American Jews. When approaching those who knew little about Jewish belief, Rosen represented himself as an 'authentic Jew', Moishe Rosen. Yet even the most assimilated Jews resisted formal conversion out of Judaism.

"By 1970 Rosen had developed a solution to his dilemma. Dov Aharoni Fisch writes:

(Rosen was able to) synthesize a new missionary ideology, based on his earlier successes in confusing youn Jews from non- observant homes by asserting that it was he who was the authentic Jew, not their rabbis. Summoning all of ...marketing skills, he decided to send forth individuals portraying themselves as 'Jews made kosher by Jesus'. Preying on the lack of Jewish knowledge...Rosen would claim that his movement was not less Jewish than the typical Reform of Conservative Jewish temple . To help reinforce this deception, Rosen's evangelists occasionally would wear yarmulkas (skullcaps) or other Jewish symbols . (Dov Ahroni Fisch, Jews for Nothing, p.26)

"Over the last 20 years, Rosen's fledgling efforts have grown into a full-blown missionary effort called Messianic Judaism. Misleading advertisements are targeted at Russian, Iranian, Israeli, and other immigrant Jews arriving in America, as well as toward the alienated and intermarried among native-born Jews. Free admission is offered for 'High Holiday Services', 'Passover Seders', ...and other recruitment events." (Preserving Jewishness in Your Family, Alan Silverstein, pp.2-3)

"Jews for Jesus and other groups like them exist and are a threat to Jewish identity. They are dying to drag Jews into their ranks. Jews for Jesus is a well funded missionary machine actively recruiting Jewish people. They spend millions of dollars each year to win converts.

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/1551/history/histj4j.htm

[roguevalley]

18. I despise people running around trying to convert other

people who have their own philosophy. The graveyards of
the world are filled with people who are dead from religious
intolerance. I think the Christians trying to convert Jews
are the worst. They are just the worst.