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The struggle to survive, to have food, shelter and security, may be the most important driving force in all human relationships. But not far behind, and often a key element in survival, is religion and the conflicts over it.
Our times, when fanatic Islamists use murder as a means of proselytizing, underscore just how serious an issue religion is and how it is often manifested with life and death consequences.
We wince at the notion that some crazies are convinced that we, the infidels, are the source of all evil and we must be converted or destroyed to purify the world and spare the true believers from God's wrath. How can people kill in the name of God? How can they be so intolerant as to force people to shun religious beliefs cherished for as long as anyone can remember?
How can they hate, persecute, discriminate against and despise a people, simply because of who they are and how they worship the God of their ancestors?
Those questions are timely and eternal and they apply as much to the Christian treatment of Jews throughout history as to any of the terrible "religious" violence we are now enduring.
"Hatred of the Jews by many generations of Christians has become inbred to such an extent that it may be very difficult to reverse."
That's a somber thought but its author is doing his best to help readers understand the history of the hatred and, in doing so, to change hearts.
Jack A. Gellman's written a thoughtful and meticulously researched book, "A Brighter Future After 2000 Years of Christian Churches Vs. Judaism? Why Pope John II Apologizes," published by Writers Club Press.
Gellman is a successful and well-respected trial lawyer from Niagara Falls. He and his wife established the Jack and Florence Gellman lecture series at Niagara University to promote Jewish-Christian relations.
Gellman spent 15 years researching and traveling in preparation for this book, and it's written in the form of legal presentation and argument. You would expect that from a fine attorney, but don't worry, it's highly readable.
Under the heading of full disclosure Jack's a friend I've known for decades. We used to share a cocktail or two at the old Speakeasy Restaurant and discuss life and politics. When I served on the Niagara Falls City Council, I hired Jack's law firm to represent the City in the lengthy Love Canal litigation. He did a great job.
The book raises a number of critical points and issues that Gellman carefully answers and analyzes. The Jewishness of Jesus, anti-Jewish passages in the New Testament and the Christian Church's proclaimed and systematic persecution of Jews are among the points reviewed and examined with thorough documentation.
It's not a pleasant picture for Christians, especially Roman Catholics. But understanding this disturbing history and the church's leadership in creating animosity toward the Jewish people enables us to better grasp how in the 20th century of Christianity those attitudes and distorted teachings became the basis for the Holocaust.
Gellman's book does not detail the still raging controversy over the church's relations with Nazi Germany, and what church leaders did, and more importantly did not, say about the institutionalized murder of European Jews.
The Holocaust was planned and carried out in the context of historically Christian societies. The Rhineland, Bavaria and Austria, the most Catholic parts of the German empire, embraced the Nazis most enthusiastically. German bishops, for the most part, were silent throughout the slaughter.
In Poland, the most Catholic nation in central Europe, and home to millions of Jews, the invading Nazis were despised, but that didn't prevent many of the Polish people, tinged by centuries of vitriolic anti-Semitism, from helping the Nazis carry out their "final solution."
For more chilling work on the Catholic Church and the Nazis, read Garry Wills' "Papal Sin." Wills describes how Pope Pius XI wrestled with a never-delivered encyclical, aimed at denouncing anti-Semitism, that was laced with anti-Semitism.
Pius XII's papacy and the church's relations with Hitler and Germany's Nazi government remain shrouded with unanswered questions that continue to strain Jewish-Catholic relations.
A magnificent work of historical research is found in James Carroll's "Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews." Carroll's book, rich in detail, deals with the unhappy truth about Catholicism's treatment of the Jews from the perspective of a compassionate and committed Catholic.
But the place to begin in exploring this important topic is Gellman's well-organized and highly readable work. He presents the grim facts, but also finds hope and optimism for the future. Gellman praises Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II's words and works in beginning to heal centuries of hostility between the faiths. He sees the Vatican II declaration in "Nostra Aetate," inspired by Pope John, as one of the most important documents ever in admitting the church's errors and pointing to a more reasonable path.
The declaration underlines "the spiritual bond linking the people of the new covenant with Abraham's stock" and removes any blame of the Jews for Christ's execution, and expunged Catholic liturgy of such inflammatory words as "perfidious Jews."
Gellman writes, "The declaration not only officially erases 2000 years of wrongful, untrue allegations against Jews and Judaism, it holds out hope for improved, intelligent understandings in the future."
The book points to further hope Pope John Paul II fosters as he "consistently makes significant public gestures of respect for Judaism." Gellman sees the Pope's visit to a synagogue in Rome, the first ever, his denunciation of anti-Semitism and the Vatican's recognition of the state of Israel as meaningful signs of the Pope's sincere hope to bring Catholics and Jews closer together.
Jack Gellman's book provides the reader with a concise guide showing how Christian churches throughout history consciously and systematically disdained and persecuted the Jewish people.
The facts of history are indisputable and, if Gellman's case were brought before any fair-minded jury, he'd win hands down.
The apologies for 2000 years of hostility are coming now. Reading Jack Gellman's book, you'll understand why.