I had never heard of the term "blood libel" before yesterday

[cherish44]

I found out what it meant though and obviously thought it was a very inappropriate if not bizarre phrase for Sarah Palin to use in her video. Don't get me wrong I thought her speech was extremely self-serving and just plain bad but I do believe she probably had no clue what blood libel is. She probably read a draft of the speech and said "well that's a fancy-pants scary sounding thing, I'll use it!" I mean it's possible she's just ignorant and shallow rather than an evil overlord. Doesn't excuse it but there you go.

[SoCalDem]

1. She's a part of that wacko Dominionist church..she probably knew what it was

that said, she did NOT write that speech

[Goblinmonger]

14. I guess I can add Dominionist to the list of Christian sects that I can mock.

Sometimes it's hard to keep track of those things.

[SoCalDem]

16. or not.. your choice

:P

[ejpoeta]

2. i agree with you. i have never heard of it either. one thing i have learned thrrough my life

is not to use words i don't know what they mean. I am sure she didn't write that and whoever did should be fired. they should have made sure of it's meaning before using it.

[WinkyDink]

4. Perhaps she knows more history than you?

[cherish44]

6. I'm sure it's possible she knew what it meant

but I don't see anyone who knew the meaning of that phrase would use it in the context she did. Seems improbable. But then she says a lot a bizarre things so who knows...

[GoCubsGo]

11. More like...

"Perhaps her speech writer knows more history..." If she wrote that herself, then I'm the Queen of Sheba. I doubt Palin ever heard the term before she spewed it, either.

[WinkyDink]

3. "Blood libel" is simply NOT a phrase one pulls out of a hat. SHE KNEW.

Sorry. Just because you were unaware of this historic phrase doesn't mean she was.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. When I first learned about the meaning of "blood libel" years ago,

I couldn't believe that the concept was accepted as fact, that in some populations, it STILL is seen as fact.

[Vickers]

7. I had never heard it either, and so I googled it and lo and behold

it is like dog whistle heaven.

No fucking way she pulled that one out of her ass.

[mucifer]

8. It's weird I'm Jewish and I know about the belief by some that we make matzoh

from the blood of Christian babies. I just don't remember ever hearing that the term for that is "blood libel".

[WolverineDG]

9. I'm Christian, & didn't know what that meant

I have, of course, heard the lie about Jews killing Christian kids at Passover, but only when studying history. I never heard that particular term until yesterday. Sounds to me like it's one of those "dog whistle" code terms the extreme fundies use amongst themselves.

dg

[Ichingcarpenter]

10. I first heard the term last month about The Carthaginians.

I first heard the term last month about The Carthaginians.

I was taking a Yale iPod University course on the Punic Wars.
He discussed how the Romans used it against Carthage then
discussed its origins which went to early Jewish writers on their adversaries the Phoenicians. As you know Carthage was a Phoenician colony. Then he explained how it was used in the Crusades in their quest for Jerusalem,
in killing the Jews and Moslems in that city.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Carthage

Blood libels in the modern world North America,

Accusations of ritual murder have gradually disappeared from mainstream Christianity, and some child martyrs have been removed from the official Catholic calendar of saints. In the modern world, only radical groups and individuals advance accusations of ritual murder and blood libels.



One claim states that physicians in the People's Republic of China who perform abortions consider the fetus a delicacy and eat it.<2> The story, reported from Hong Kong by Bruce Gilley, was investigated by Senator Jesse Helms, and gruesome artwork reminiscent of traditional depictions of blood libel was featured in several pro-life campaigns. The only use for "human fetal tissue" is in the medical research field, particularly stem cell research.


Another contemporary blood libel in the United States alleges, falsely, that both neopagans and Satanists use human blood, sexual abuse, or ritual murder, especially of children, in their rituals. Often Satanism, all of the diverse neopagan religions, the role playing game Dungeons & Dragons, and sometimes Roman Catholicism and liberal or non-fundamentalist Christian denominations, are portrayed as expressions of one monolithic and ancient global conspiracy of Satan-worshippers. Mike Warnke, William Schnoebelen,Lawrence Pazder and Michelle Smith] Jon Watkins, Bill Pricer, and Ken Wooden are some of the voices of these libels.



http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Blood_libel
[/IMG

[poverlay]

12. I had never heard it before either.. However I'm sorry to disagree with you, I think that as

Dumb as a post about most important things, this is exactly the sort of thing someone of her ilk would know about. Of course that is imo..

[cherish44]

15. I just don't get the context of that phrase in her speech

"Blood libel" seems to decribe a very certain dispicable act (accusing Jews of murdering Christian children for their blood to make matzos)...maybe it can be used to describe a broader idea but it seems everywhere I've looked it up it says it means that particular thing. I"m thinking..."WTF does that have to do with what the Tuscon shootings?" Anyway I'm not saying it's impossible she knew the meaning of it but I just find it such a weird thing to say if she did in fact know....

[frazzled]

13. Well, then, a service has been done

People learned something about history, and something that is useful to know even in the political context today. (No, I'm not talking about Sarah Palin, but about myths that persist in some parts of the world even today; about sensitivities of particular cultural groups; about how we got to where we are.) It's always useful to learn something new. So I guess, in a way, Sarah Palin did everyone a favor.

[cherish44]

17. well that's true I did learn something new

and I guess I can thank Sarah Palin for that one thing