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Christians and Jews: A Psychoanalytical study
CHRISTIANS AND JEWS: A PSYCHOANALYTICAL STUDYRudolf M. Loewenstein began this work in France during "the wretched year of 1941"; he finished it ten years later in the United States and dedicated it to "the Christians who sacrificed themselves to defend the persecuted Jews" (1952). Loewenstein, who would become one of the founders of ego psychology in the United States, was then director of a psychoanalytic journal financed by Marie Bonaparte, with whom he began to discuss aspects of the anti-Semitic environment in France. "We are in a revolutionary period ...," he wrote. "Blood has not yet been spilled. . . . But the people need to grapple with someone, they need victims. . . . Hence, the Jews." More personal motives also compelled Loewenstein to write Christians and Jews. Born in Russia, he was a citizen of several nations before, having settled in France and identified himself entirely with the French, he suddenly found himself scorned and rejected by his adopted country because he was Jewish. He believed that psychoanalysis could contribute to some better understanding of anti-Semitic attitudes and might even offer a solution. Loewenstein began by reviewing the known causes of anti-Semitism, citing various works and historical documentation. He then offered examples from his experience as an analyst; he believed that therapy represented "a good opportunity for a kind of experimental study in the incipient and developmental stages of anti-Semitism" (p. 30). Citing Leon Pinsker, the Russian physician and author of Auto-Emancipation (1882 [1916]), Loewenstein discussed "judeophobia" as a type of demonophobia, a near-psychosis that incorporates feelings of fear, hatred, and disgust. Certain forms of anti-Semitism represent aspects of paranoia, such as xenophobia, revulsion over circumcision, and projection of self-hatred, while other characteristics, such as religious intolerance and economic rivalry, have an opportunistic appeal. Loewenstein's hypothesis, based on Gustave Le Bon's theory of collective psychology, is that anti-Semitic tendencies, latent in individuals, suddenly metamorphose in groups into violent attitudes that spread like an epidemic. Hitler's anti-Semitic laws and his persecution of Jews, for example, enabled latent anti-Semitism in individual Germans to manifest itself. The underlying mechanisms rely on irrational and absurd medieval beliefs, such as the putatively peculiar anatomy of the Jew (a hidden tail, menstrual periods in males) and his supposedly demonic character (engagement in ritual murder, sexual perversions), as well as modern beliefs (Jewish culpability in starting wars, international financial cabals, Jewish-Masonic conspiracies). Loewenstein also suggested another, more oedipal level to anti-Semitism, as reflected in Freud's Moses and Monotheism, viewing the struggle of the early Christians, with their hatred of the old religion, as a means of avoiding the "return of the repressed"—the recollection of their own revolt against imposed religion. Finally, Loewenstein questions whether the Jews do not themselves aid in perpetuating anti-Semitic reactions, in a chapter titled "On 'Jewish' Character Traits and Social Structure." Skeptical of Zionism as a political solution because it might provoke anti-Semitism, Loewenstein called for a pedagogical solution. He proposed teaching sacred history in a less anti-Semitic spirit and, always philosophical, he suggested a mutual search for understanding between Christians and Jews for the good of mankind. A courageous book, Christians and Jews, together with works by Imre Hermann (1945) and Ernst Simmel (1946), was among the earliest psychoanalytically-informed works on the subject. It is not a landmark work, however. Loewenstein's use of a medical model, with its description of symptoms, etiology, and finally treatment, is inadequate to understand the modern antipathy and negative attitudes toward Jews known as anti-Semitism. Michelle Moreau Ricaud See also: Loewenstein, Rudolf M.; Racism, anti-Semitism and psychoanalysis. Source CitationLoewenstein, Rudolf M. (1952). Christians and Jews; A psychoanalytical study. New York: International Universities Press. BibliographyHermann, Imre. (1945). Az antiszemitizmus lélektana. (The psychosis of anti-Semitism), Budapest: Bibliotheca. Pinsker, Leon. (1916). Auto-emancipation. New York, Federation of American Zionists. (Original work published 1882) Simmel, Ernst. (1946). Anti-Semitism. A social disease. New York: International Universities Press. |
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Ricaud, Michelle. "Christians and Jews: A Psychoanalytical study." International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Ricaud, Michelle. "Christians and Jews: A Psychoanalytical study." International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3435300259.html Ricaud, Michelle. "Christians and Jews: A Psychoanalytical study." International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis. 2005. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3435300259.html |
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Christians
Christians name taken by the followers of several evangelical preachers on the American frontier, notably James O'Kelley, Abner Jones, and Barton W. Stone , all of whom were antisectarian. Some congregations joined the Disciples of Christ (see Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) , a body with similar emphasis founded by Thomas Campbell and Alexander Campbell , and the name Christians continued to be applied often to members of the Disciples' church. Other congregations of Christians united as a separate body that ultimately took the name of the Christian Church; this was merged in 1931 with the Congregational churches and the merged group became known as the Congregational Christian churches (see Congregationalism ). See also Christianity . |
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"Christians." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Christians." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Christians.html "Christians." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Christians.html |
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Christian
Christian ♂, ♀ From Latin Christianus ‘follower of Christ’, in use as a given name from the Middle Ages onwards, especially as a girl's name. The name of Christ (Greek Khristos) is a translation of the Hebrew term Messiah ‘anointed’.
Variant: Christianne ♀. Cognates (masculine): Scottish Gaelic: Crìsdean. German: Christian, Karsten. Dutch: Christiaan, Carsten. Scandinavian: Christer. French: Chrétien. Spanish, Portuguese, Italian: Cristiano. Polish: Krysztian. Hungarian: Krisztian. |
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PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Christian." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Christian." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Christian.html PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Christian." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Christian.html |
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Christian
Christian. The name was originally applied to the followers of Christ by outsiders, according to Acts 11: 26 being first used at Antioch c.40–4. Tacitus reports that it was current among the people at Rome at the time of the Neronian persecution (AD 64) and it was always the official Roman designation of members of the Church; thus in times of persecution it was often the confession or denial of this name that was crucial. It was later adopted by the Church as a designation to distinguish itself from other religions.
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E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Christian." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Christian." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-Christian.html E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Christian." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-Christian.html |
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Christian
Christian and Christiana, the hero of Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress and his wife.
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Christian." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Christian." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-ChristianChristiana.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Christian." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-ChristianChristiana.html |
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Christian
Christian ♂ (German) From Latin: ‘follower of Christ’.
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Cite this article
PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Christian." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Christian." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Christian1.html PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Christian." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Christian1.html |
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Christian
Christian
•congestion, digestion, ingestion, question, suggestion
•richen • Chibchan
•Christian, unchristian
•exhaustion
•escutcheon, scutcheon
•combustion • birchen
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"Christian." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Christian." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Christian.html "Christian." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Christian.html |
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