Blessed Are The Binary Breakers: Combatting Antisemitism on Good Friday

The scriptures and liturgy that Christian communities read during Holy Week, the week we commemorate Jesus's arrest and crucifixion, have borne violent antisemitic fruit across the centuries. Particularly poisonous is the "Solemn Reproaches of the Cross," or Improperia, which pins the blame for Jesus' death squarely on the Jewish community. In this episode, Avery shares the alternative liturgy they wrote, with the hope that it might be a jumping off point for conversations on this topic. Rather than pretending the "Solemn Reproaches" never existed, Christians must grapple with it, guide our communities in understanding why it is so evil, and thus move towards acknowledging and dealing with our antisemitism, past and present.

Listen to the podcast episode on Spotify, Podbean, Apple Podcast, or the player below.

Find the referenced article by Amy-Jill Levine with its strategies for dealing with problematic New Testament texts here. 

Avery also published their alternative text at binarybreakingliturgy.com. 

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. "August" & "Knowing" by Jeremy SH Griffith, as well as "Gold Beamer" by Mother Hood, are also used in this episode.