The selective biases of the Judeo-Christian religions.

[_Cooper]

It is readily apparent that the Judeo-Christian religions create their own reality. Christians and Jews are actually some of the most racist people on the planet. The bigotry shows through in their actions and in their doctrinal focus.

For instance the Judeo-Christian religions express horror at the holocaust as all people should. However there is nary an inkling of horror at the ethnic cleansing that occurred at the same time in China and Korea by the Japanese. What of the Slavs who were also killed by the millions at the hands of the Nazis. Why are six million Jews more valuable than in excess of 20 million of these other peoples? Where is the outrage, the monuments on the Mall in Washington, D.C., the documentaries, full-length movies, and publications? The holocaust has been drummed into the minds of the world’s citizens but most people today are very unaware of the similar horrors that were visited upon many other ethnic groups using equally heinous methods. What of the ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia? This has slipped into the recesses of history although it happened within the last decade. Could it be because the victims were largely Muslim and thus somehow less valuable than the Christians who were perpetrating the crimes? Why is a Christian more valuable than a Muslim? A brief review of the ethnic cleansing listed in the following link indicates that the Judeo-Christian religions are incredibly ethno-centric in their knowledge, media coverage, and views of ethnic cleansing.

http://en.allexperts.com/e/e/et/ethnic_cleansing.htm

If it affects those with a Judeo-Christian bent then it receives massive amounts of coverage. If not then it receives a few brief news spots and then disappears into the cracks of history.

The racist nature of the Judeo-Christian religions finds its roots in the ethnic cleansing taught in the Torah and Bible. The recent celebration of the Passover is a prime example of the racist teachings of Judaism and Christianity. The Passover at its core is the reflection upon the murder of the first born of the Egyptians. It contains and element of freedom from slavery under the Egyptians but that is also another reflection on the racist teachings of the Torah and Bible. The Torah and Bible provide detailed rules on slavery as it is commanded by god. So it is acceptable for the Jewish and Christian peoples of antiquity to own slaves but if anyone enslaves the Jewish peoples then they will be subject to mass murder? That is nothing more than racism at its worst.

The teachings of Judaism and Christianity reach all new lows with the conquest of Canaan. The Israelites of course commit genocide by massacring all of the men, women, children, and animals of many Canaanite towns. I fail to see how this is any different than the holocaust yet these hideous genocidal acts are lauded and honored by Jews and Christians alike. Why are some acts of genocide to be abhorred and others revered? Some argue that the Canaanites were wicked. Who made that judgment? All that we have is a record written by the Israelites. The Israelites would likely be biased in their estimation of the Canaanites. Then some argue that these are the words of god. However the only “proof” that we have that god spoke these words are the words written by the same Israelites in the Torah/Bible. That is circular logic and completely inadmissible as evidence.

Some may use the argument of distance into the past i.e. that the butcher of the Canaanites happened 3000 years ago. However my question in return is why does that make any difference? At what distance into the past does genocide become something to be celebrated and who decides when that should be? Then there is the problem of the future. The Judeo-Christian religions are waiting for the day in the future when the gentiles will be subjected to genocide at the hand of god. These “gentiles” will be utterly destroyed before the Messiah comes. So genocide was a good thing in the very distant arbitrarily determined past but only if you were not Jewish or Christian, is a bad thing 60 years ago although we somehow forgot about the Chinese, Koreans, Slavs, etc, and genocide will again be a good thing in the future but only if you are not Jewish or Christian. Maybe I am missing something here but I fail to see why this is not blatantly and disgustingly racist.

Most people in the United States are aware of the holocaust but very few are aware of the other acts of ethnic cleansing. The link provided is actually quite obscure as are the publications listed therein. A comparison of the news presented by the U.S. networks reveals a very interesting pattern. For instance terrorist acts that occur against Christians or Jews receive more coverage than terrorist acts committed against other religious or ethnic groups. For instance the deaths of a few Christians or Jews invariably receive some type of coverage especially if the deaths occur in Western Europe or Israel. If those of another religion or ethnic group are killed the coverage is less. Some regions of the world do not even seem to exist to Christians and Jews. Deaths that occur in Africa and certain parts of Asia are often not even a blip on the radar scope. For all of the Judeo-Christian rhetoric about equality it is evident that peoples of color are not valued as highly as those of European descent.

I wish that Judeo-Christian religions and humans in general were as egalitarian as we might hope however there are mountains of evidence that indicate this is not the case. I am confident that if one were to run a detailed study on millions of people in the Western world the above mentioned biases would be overwhelmingly confirmed. If asked to name those groups who have suffered ethnic cleansing in the past century the vast majority of Westerners would name the Jews in the holocaust but would be very unaware of the ethnic cleansing that occurred among the Slavs and Chinese even though the number of deaths in both cases was much larger. This does not even touch on the ethnic cleansing that took place in more obscure places among those that are derogatorily referred to as “the seed of Cain”. Many Westerners would be hard pressed to locate Africa and Asia on a map let alone discuss the hundreds of thousands that have been killed and the millions displaced by religious and ethnic conflict.

Furthermore a problem of ethnic cleansing on the American continents is often overlooked in spite of the millions of deaths here. The Native Americans had only been here for 12,000 years or so and they obviously did not worship our make-believe god so why not kill them and run them off of our...uhmmm...their land. So anybody that does not believe in the Bible and is standing in the way of our political and economic goals should be cleansed? The sad thing is that many people still cannot see this pattern of abuse even when it is staring them in the face. The conquest of the Americas is incredibly similar to the conquest of Canaan in the Torah/Bible.

Unfortunately Islam and the Eastern religions suffer from similar racist teachings, hence the problems between the Sunnis and Sheas, the Japanese exterminating Chinese and Koreans during WWII, etc. The problem seems to go even deeper than religion and likely has evolutionary roots. However I believe we will only overcome racism and bigotry when the racist handbooks that masquerade as the Torah and Bible are consigned to the rubbish heap. Until we as a species can see the truly bigoted nature of the teachings contained within these religious documents we will have difficulty seeing bigotry and racism in the world around us.

[_marg]

Very interesting post. I wish I knew more about history to comment further.

With regards to "Japanese exterminating Chinese and Koreans during WWII", I rememember someone pointing this out to me, but forget the details. In that link on ethnic cleansing I couldn't find mention of it, did I miss it?

Do you have any insights or comment on whether or not a factor of media coverage in the States and Canada, being pro Jewish might have to do with Jewish ownership of newspapers, or other media, or pressures put upon them or journalists?