american-holocaust

174 AMERICAN HOLOCAUSTFrom this perspective, the wilderness was, in fact, nothing less than anearthly representation of Hell. However, since a true Christian properlyhad to undergo a time of testing and trial prior to revelation, the image ofthe wilderness also carried with it, conversely, the sense of a place of repentance-evena place of sanctuary. As well as the preserve of dangerousand lurking beasts, then, in addition the wilderness was "the location ofrefuge, trial, temptation, and ultimate victory over Satan" for the trulysoul-purifying holy person. 77 Thus, the would-be Christian-saint and soldieralike--was drawn to the wilderness, the wilderness both within andwithout, in part precisely because it was a place of terror and temptation,and therefore of trial, and in part because it provided the only true pathto salvation. In sum, the wilderness and the carnal wild man within thewilderness-like the irrepressibly sensual wild man within the self-werethere to be confronted by the Christian, confronted and converted, domesticated,or destroyed.IVMuch of Christianity's success in establishing itself as the state religion ofEurope was due to the exuberant intolerance of it adherents. In a sense,the faith itself was founded on the idea of war in the spiritual realm-thetitanic war of Good against Evil, God against Satan. And within the faithnon-belief was equivalent to anti-belief. To tolerate skepticism regardingChristianity's central tenets, therefore, was to diminish in power the sourceof the belief itself. Non-believers, in sum, were seen as willing the death ofthe Christians' God. 78During the first centuries of Christianity's existence, when the religion'sfaithful were subject to intense persecution, Christianity often was regardedby its critics as a cult of orgiastic devil worshipers who indulged inrituals of blood-consuming infanticide and cannibalism.7 9 Once in a positionof power, however, Christianity turned the tables and leveled preciselythe same accusations against others-first against pagans whom they regardedas witches, magicians, and idolaters, and eventually against all non­Christians. And, of those who were near at hand, few were regarded asmore non-Christian than Jews.During the Middle Ages Europe's Jews lived a precarious existence,subject to constant harassment and accusation from Christian zealots.Charges against Jews ranged from the claim that they indulged in ritualmurder of Christians (allegedly using the Christian victims' blood for thepreparation of matzo, for circumcision rituals, for the anointing of rabbis,and for various medicinal purposes) to the imputation that Jews were engagedin conspiracies to buy or steal consecrated Hosts, intended for usein Catholic Communion ceremonies, in order to desecrate them and therebyto torture Christ. 80 The Jews, in the meantime, had their own popular