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| Pastor Tupirani da Hora Lores of the Geracao Jesus Cristo church, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
In a chilling reminder of how inter-religious rivalry can result in hatred so intense that one side advocates (and often practices) genocide against the other, a pastor in the Geracao Jesus Cristo church sect in Brazil is advocating another Jewish Holocaust! The Geracao Jesus Cristo Church is a radical, Christian evangelical sect in Rio de Janeiro.
In a service in which the congregation joined in by echoing his words, Pastor Tupirani da Hora Lores called upon God to:
...destroy the Jews like vermin... Massacre the Jews, God, hit them with your sword, for they have left God, they have left the nations... They contrived, went with prostitutes, and when they were told to repent they said they’d do it but they lied...
God, what you have done in World War II, you must do again, this is what we ask for in our prayers to you: Justice, justice, justice!
Calls for these genocides by Christians are doubtless inspired by the frequent endorcements of genocide in the Bible and by William Lane Craig's spirited defence of genocide when God commands it.
The history of Christian hatred and antisemitism goes back to the early history of Christianity and led to frequent genocides and pogroms throughout the Middle Ages. It was give an added impetus by the writing of the founder of Protestantism, Martin Luther, who inspire racist bigots such as John Calvin. In his book On the Jews and Their Lies Luther had this to say, amongst many other viciously anti semitic things:
Accordingly, it must and dare not be considered a trifling matter but a most serious one to seek counsel against this and to save our souls from the Jews, that is, from the devil and from eternal death. My advice, as I said earlier, is:
- First, that their synagogues be burned down, and that all who are able toss sulphur and pitch; it would be good if someone could also throw in some hellfire...
- Second, that all their books-- their prayer books, their Talmudic writings, also the entire Bible-- be taken from them, not leaving them one leaf, and that these be preserved for those who may be converted...
- Third, that they be forbidden on pain of death to praise God, to give thanks, to pray, and to teach publicly among us and in our country...
- Fourth, that they be forbidden to utter the name of God within our hearing. For we cannot with a good conscience listen to this or tolerate it...
He who hears this name [God] from a Jew must inform the authorities, or else throw sow dung at him when he sees him and chase him away.
It's not hard to see where these neo-fascist Christian fundamentalists get their antisemitism and hate from. It's not from the Bible!
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