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Bontrager Christmas play is disgustingly anti-Semetic


ladyamylynn

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True Story......I once went to a Christmas Play at a very Fundie Pretend Baptist Church (the kind where they had weekend seminars on how to re-virginalize yourself for Christ, mentioned blood 42 times during a wedding ceremony, I counted,  and played Bible Bingo at wedding receptions)  Anywho....they wrote the play themselves which was about California TV executives who were charged with creating a new Christmas special.  Everyone on the team wanted a traditional religious show EXCEPT the "token"  Jewish employee who wanted a more secular show about Santa and Snowmen.  Well a fight ensued amongst them (think 12 angry men) and the Jewish team member stormed out of the meeting, into the street, and was instantly run over by a bus driven by.....wait for it....JESUS HIMSELF.  And the crowd went wild....I sat their in shock, not quite believing what I was seeing. I looked at the friend who talked me into going to this pay and she just smirked and said...."Oh yeah....it's like this every year"

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5 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

No but they all LOVE them some Pence. So many of them voted for Trump hoping that Pence would have a lot of influence.

Oh, definitely, I think most of my friends who didn't vote trump would have voted pence were he running for president.  Most of them were team jeb originally though...  But, no, none of my friends voted for trump in hopes of pence running the country, they were too anti trump for that.  Most voted clinton, but a few voted stein.

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1 hour ago, Tish Cook said:

True Story......I once went to a Christmas Play at a very Fundie Pretend Baptist Church (the kind where they had weekend seminars on how to re-virginalize yourself for Christ, mentioned blood 42 times during a wedding ceremony, I counted,  and played Bible Bingo at wedding receptions)  Anywho....they wrote the play themselves which was about California TV executives who were charged with creating a new Christmas special.  Everyone on the team wanted a traditional religious show EXCEPT the "token"  Jewish employee who wanted a more secular show about Santa and Snowmen.  Well a fight ensued amongst them (think 12 angry men) and the Jewish team member stormed out of the meeting, into the street, and was instantly run over by a bus driven by.....wait for it....JESUS HIMSELF.  And the crowd went wild....I sat their in shock, not quite believing what I was seeing. I looked at the friend who talked me into going to this pay and she just smirked and said...."Oh yeah....it's like this every year"

Sounds like the "G-d's Not Dead" producers could sue them for copyright infringement.

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4 hours ago, Tish Cook said:

True Story......I once went to a Christmas Play at a very Fundie Pretend Baptist Church (the kind where they had weekend seminars on how to re-virginalize yourself for Christ, mentioned blood 42 times during a wedding ceremony, I counted,  and played Bible Bingo at wedding receptions)  Anywho....they wrote the play themselves which was about California TV executives who were charged with creating a new Christmas special.  Everyone on the team wanted a traditional religious show EXCEPT the "token"  Jewish employee who wanted a more secular show about Santa and Snowmen.  Well a fight ensued amongst them (think 12 angry men) and the Jewish team member stormed out of the meeting, into the street, and was instantly run over by a bus driven by.....wait for it....JESUS HIMSELF.  And the crowd went wild....I sat their in shock, not quite believing what I was seeing. I looked at the friend who talked me into going to this pay and she just smirked and said...."Oh yeah....it's like this every year"

You know, I'd figured that I'd be able to coast through the Trump presidency on fundies' weird religion-boner for Jews and Trump's boner for the Israeli government, but if there are enough fundies out there making plays about how the world is a better place when all the Jews are dead or converted forcibly/under duress, AND there's a literal white nationalist running the White House, I'm not so sure.

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I....  there's just....  no words....!

I can't even with this bullshit!  So I'll restrict myself to sniggering at "In their Switzerland farm", and where on earth do these fools get an actual camel from???

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True Story......I once went to a Christmas Play at a very Fundie Pretend Baptist Church (the kind where they had weekend seminars on how to re-virginalize yourself for Christ, mentioned blood 42 times during a wedding ceremony, I counted,  and played Bible Bingo at wedding receptions)  Anywho....they wrote the play themselves which was about California TV executives who were charged with creating a new Christmas special.  Everyone on the team wanted a traditional religious show EXCEPT the "token"  Jewish employee who wanted a more secular show about Santa and Snowmen.  Well a fight ensued amongst them (think 12 angry men) and the Jewish team member stormed out of the meeting, into the street, and was instantly run over by a bus driven by.....wait for it....JESUS HIMSELF.  And the crowd went wild....I sat their in shock, not quite believing what I was seeing. I looked at the friend who talked me into going to this pay and she just smirked and said...."Oh yeah....it's like this every year"


95% of me is horrified by the entire plot ... 5% of me wants to go just to see Jesus full of righteous fury run over someone in a bus!
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What did I just read? Can I please have the minutes that I stared is horror at my screen back? 

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On 2/9/2017 at 7:36 AM, Lurky said:

I....  there's just....  no words....!

I can't even with this bullshit!  So I'll restrict myself to sniggering at "In their Switzerland farm", and where on earth do these fools get an actual camel from???

You can rent camels. And reindeer

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On ‎2‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 5:09 PM, GeoBQn said:

Sounds like the "G-d's Not Dead" producers could sue them for copyright infringement.

There is another one of these????  OMG

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The whole plot is like a nesting doll of antisemitism. Not just the Holocaust survivor Christmas-miracle conversion (??!!?) but also the Pharisees in the biblical story.

Are they... are they wearing a tallit (prayer shawl) over their heads like a kefiyah, and securing it with pretend tefillin??? What?

(In general, I hate depictions of New Testament stories where good ancient Jews who accept Jesus look like modern Christians, and bad ancient Jews who reject Jesus look like modern Jews.)

2016_Live_Animal_Xmas_Play_MABC_jatorner00259-Edit.jpg

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15 minutes ago, SusanAtTheLastBattle said:

The whole plot is like a nesting doll of antisemitism. Not just the Holocaust survivor Christmas-miracle conversion (??!!?) but also the Pharisees in the biblical story.

Are they... are they wearing a tallit (prayer shawl) over their heads like a kefiyah, and securing it with pretend tefillin??? What?

(In general, I hate depictions of New Testament stories where good ancient Jews who accept Jesus look like modern Christians, and bad ancient Jews who reject Jesus look like modern Jews.)

2016_Live_Animal_Xmas_Play_MABC_jatorner00259-Edit.jpg

I missed that part! Maybe next year's play will involve some happy slaves in blackface singing about how glad they are to be converted to Christianity from their heathen native religions.

On a lighter note, it amuses me that in their quest for costuming authenticity they went with gold lame fabric for one of the headpieces here. 

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That is so disrespectful. The Nazis wanted to eradicate Jews from the country, and attempted to do so by killing them. Converting them to Christianity doesn't make you the hero of the story, it makes you part of the problem. It may be less violent, but youre still eradicating the Jewish religion. The hero of the story would be someone who helped the Jews escape the Nazis, and allowed them to practice their religion in peace.

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I'll admit to writing a comment.  They wrote a response.

Quote

Anonymous February 7, 2017 at 5:01 PM

I have to ask, who approved of this story? Six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust because they were Jews (in religion and ethnicity.) The idea of a Jewish family being saved from death by "accepting Jesus as their savior" is EXTREMELY offensive to the memories of Holocaust victims and what they died for. It also recalls an ugly, anti-Semitic history of Jews being forced to convert to Christianity to avoid being murdered. The next time you want to incorporate Jews into your Christmas play, there is a synagogue in Iowa City who would be glad to talk to you and give you ideas on how not to make your story so offensive.

Bontrager Family SingersFebruary 8, 2017 at 9:37 PM

The play script was written by our pastor + a team of several others. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to explain the whole two hour play in this little blog post, so I can see how it would be easy for you to miss the story line since I only highlighted basically the changing of scenes. It is quite difficult to describe the whole story accurately in a post. Everyone that actually comes and sees the play says that the pictures/posts don't do it justice, and I completely agree. The only reason I still post about it is because there are some people who really like seeing the pictures, and we love to post about things going on in our lives. (and the play is a very big part of our family's lives in November/December =)) 
The point of the story line wasn't putting Jews down or trying to elevate or degrade certain people or religions; it was to emphasize the hope of Christmas + the joy that comes with giving that true message to others, and spreading true peace + love at Christmastime. (and all the time!) Basically this play is the biblical Christmas story. The writing team just brings in a fictional storyline, based on a certain historical time period (different from year to year) to ad interest with costuming and to pull the whole thing together. 
Also, the Jews being saved from death didn't have anything to do with them depicted as becoming Christians at the end of the play. That was a completely different part of the story and had nothing to do with their beginning as refugees.
Again, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding---that might not all make sense and it is super hard to properly outline the whole story in a post, or a blog comment. My apologies! 
Thanks for your thoughts!

 

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1 hour ago, GeoBQn said:

I'll admit to writing a comment.  They wrote a response.

Which sounds like a massive pile of backpedalling BS and I still say they can go straight to hell.  Thanks for writing to them @GeoBQn.

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On 2/9/2017 at 7:36 AM, Lurky said:

I....  there's just....  no words....!

I can't even with this bullshit!  So I'll restrict myself to sniggering at "In their Switzerland farm", and where on earth do these fools get an actual camel from???

Now I'm very curious about next years play. We shall see if they rewrite or just don't post much about it on the blog.

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Storyline?  Really was none other than using genocide as a cutesy backdrop.  Which is sick and wrong on every level.  And will not be comprehended by the Bontragers and their pals/

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3 hours ago, GeoBQn said:

I'll admit to writing a comment.  They wrote a response.

 

That response was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in my life. "Oh, it might LOOK offensive, but it's just because you don't know the WHOLE story! It's totes cool!" No. It's not. More story unnecessary. You story is about how great it is that Jews escaped the Nazis and were able to accept Jesus. No. Just no no no.

Not to mention the fact that she came across as creepily cheerful. You know the kind of person that will smile and pat your hand while telling you how fucking stupid you are? That's how she comes across. Condescending and horribly nasty, but with a sickly sweet tone and a big smile.

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 My comment was the one after GeoBQns, in which I begged them to never let Jewish people hear of this. They referred me to the answer they'd posted above.

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Quote

Also, the Jews being saved from death didn't have anything to do with them depicted as becoming Christians at the end of the play. That was a completely different part of the story and had nothing to do with their beginning as refugees.

This part in particular makes me want to have a rage-induced aneurysm. How tone deaf and ignorant can a person possibly be? It's abundantly clear we need to upgrade our education on the Holocaust in this country. Damn.

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1 hour ago, ViolaSebastian said:

This part in particular makes me want to have a rage-induced aneurysm. How tone deaf and ignorant can a person possibly be? It's abundantly clear we need to upgrade our education on the Holocaust in this country. Damn.

I'm not sure how much improved Holocaust education would help the Bontragers, since they homeschool.  They probably would react like the Duggars, who left the US Holocaust Museum DC thinking about how abortion is evil.  Somewhere on the forum is a link to an article about how many people leave the museum feeling like it reinforced their own world views.

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Wait, you're putting on a religious morality play designed for young children, but the plot is so mind-blowingly subtle and complex that you can't explain it in an (already lengthy) blog post? Yeah, sure.

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@GeoBQn Applauding you!  That answer was ridiculous though:  "Oh, I'm probably describing it wrong, if you saw it yourself, you'd think it was amazing too" - surprised she didn't offer to sell you tix for next year's at the same time, or send you a tract!

So is the schtick that every year it's the same middle of the play, the nativity, but with a different framing story every time?

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What a load of bullshit. What more to the story could there possibly have been? The plot seems pretty straightforward: Jews run to Switzerland after a kind-hearted Nazi (don't make me laugh) gives them directions, Swiss family who dresses like it's Oktoberfest all the time takes them in, tells them all about Jeebus as if they've never heard of him/Christmas before (because God forbid someone just chooses to be a religion other than Evangelical Christian because they prefer it or because it's their heritage -- it's always that they either have no idea who Jesus was or they're evil), and then hooray! They're not Jews anymore! The Nazis could have saved a bundle on their gas bill with the Bontragers' brilliant idea!

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8 minutes ago, nastyhobbitses said:

and then hooray! They're not Jews anymore! The Nazis could have saved a bundle on their gas bill with the Bontragers' brilliant idea!

It's so obvious! :smiley-signs131:

Can you even imagine what they'd do if they went to see a play the other way round?  It's Roman times, Christians are being persecuted, but some are saved by kind believers in Demeter, who tell them the story of the Eleusian Mysteries, and they convert away from Christianity.

Or even better:  Christians are being persecuted in Syria, but a kind Islamic State fighter helps them across the border into Turkey, where a kind Muslim family take them in and tell them about Mohammed, and they convert to Islam.  Everyone sings, and the curtain falls to rapturous applause. 

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1 hour ago, Lurky said:

It's so obvious! :smiley-signs131:

Can you even imagine what they'd do if they went to see a play the other way round?  It's Roman times, Christians are being persecuted, but some are saved by kind believers in Demeter, who tell them the story of the Eleusian Mysteries, and they convert away from Christianity.

Or even better:  Christians are being persecuted in Syria, but a kind Islamic State fighter helps them across the border into Turkey, where a kind Muslim family take them in and tell them about Mohammed, and they convert to Islam.  Everyone sings, and the curtain falls to rapturous applause. 

I want to write and perform the second one just to watch their heads explode.

Also, when the Muslim ban was happening (and we will make damn sure it doesn't keep happening) and they were saying "oh, Christians there are so persecuted so they get priority", I wanted to scream, because yes, there are a lot of Christians who have had to flee and/or have suffered horrific persecution (actual persecution, not just "what do you mean I can't be a dick to gay people?"), but you didn't give a flying fuck about them until you needed to justify this obviously xenophobic, bigoted policy. You probably still don't because they're not The Right Kind of Christian.

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