The Plot against Baptism, Surliness on the Jordan River……………
“JERUSALEM - An environmental group on Wednesday called for a halt to baptisms in the Jordan River where tradition holds that Jesus was baptised, saying the waters there were dangerously polluted. "Friends of the Earth Middle East call on regional authorities to halt baptism in the lower Jordan River until water quality standards for tourism activities there are met," said a statement from the group. The group issued the call following media reports that Israel's health ministry had urged the tourism ministry to stop people bathing in the river, saying it posed a health risk. In recent years the flow of the river has slowed to a dirty trickle as fresh water running into the river has been replaced with sewage………Jordan and Israel each claim that the true baptismal site is on their territory, competing to build hotels and facilities to attract tourists and pilgrims. Jesus is believed to have entered the waters some 2,000 years ago to be baptised by John, who immersed his followers in the Jordan to symbolise their purification in the eyes of God….…..” M E Online
It is most likely that any baptism was on the west side of the river. Jesus and John (to use their Western aliases) were Jews, and the Jews in those days did not care much for living on the east side of the Jordan River: too many pagan Arabs. Of course, this attitude has not changed much since those days, for they still don’t like to be on the East Bank: too many surly Jordanian Arabs.
Not surprisingly, there are now some, not necessarily in the Middle East, who consider surliness to be worse than paganism. Of course modern day Israelis are not a very cheerful lot either, they probably come in third for surliness, after Jordanians and Palestinians. Modern day Israelis do not have the famous Jewish sense of humor: quasi-surly Israel could never produce anyone like the Marx Brothers or even Woody Allen. I suspect that ancient Israelites had no more sense of humor than current Israelis.
Cheers
mhg
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