On Sep 22, 2010, at 12:16 PM, Wojtek S wrote:
>
> In my view, it is the biblical "Jesus vs.Barabbas" phenomenon - a
> charismatic figure stirring up mob's expectations but not being able
> to deliver, and the mob turning in anger against him and going for a
> common thug.
> (PS. I am not interested in pursuing this metaphor any further.)
You may not be interested, but the fact remains that you are repeating the basest antisemitic slander--what you call the "mob" is in the Gospels called "the Jews," and the gospel slanderers added that "His" blood was to be "on the head" of their descendants for all time.
The historical fact is that "Jesus" and "Bar Abbas" were one and the same person. Jesus, a notable rebel, had no legitimate father to give him a patronymic and so called himself son of the father. Bar Abbas means nothing but son of the father, and even in one of the gospels your "Barabbas" is described as a notable rebel and his full name is given as Jesus Bar Abbas.
Any opponent of antisemitism has a duty to pursue that loathsome metaphor, bring it to the dirt, and drive a stake through its undead heart.
Shane Mage "Thunderbolt steers all things." Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr. 64