[ExI] Money Games

[The Avantguardian]

--- On Tue, 12/16/08, Belva Plain <sockpuppet99 at hotmail.com> wrote:

> The legend goes that in medieval Europe, due to Catholic
> church restrictions
> on the lending of money at interest--a practice condemned
> as "usury"--Jewish
> goldsmiths were some of the only people who practiced
> moneylending. As a result,
> the stereotype of the "Jewish moneylender" was
> born. Furthermore, Jews, who were
> often given surnames on the basis of their occupational
> designations, were much more
> likely to be named Goldsmith, or Goldfarb, or Goldberg,
> than people of other ethic
> backgrounds. 
> The negative association of Jews with moneylending and
> banking is long in the history of anti-semitism, ranging
> from the character of Shylock to the Protocols of the
> Elders of Zion. And, of course,
> hooked noses are anti-semitic shorthand for Jewish faces. 

Yet curiously during the middle ages, the Catholic church gave rise to the Knights-templar. An organization that had a rather colorful history including more than a little money-lending. Interestingly they were all uncircumcised non-semites of caucasian persuasion. When the Pope got jealous and started burning them at the stake, they fled several places one that was likely the Swiss Alps.  So let's not fix the blame, let's fix the problem. 

Stuart LaForge

"It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision." - Helen Keller