Religious hostility burns hottest among claimants to a shared heritage

Evidence

While some of these hostile Jewish descriptions of Christianity can be (and have been) explained as reactions to Christians’ anti-Judaism, this begs the question: what explains the virulent hostility to Judaism of so many Christians over the centuries? Why are Christians much more hostile toward Jews, with whom they have much in common, than with (say) Buddhists or animists, with whom they have much less in common? It is precisely because Christians and Jews are fighting for rightful ownership of a common spiritual heritage that their disputes can be so bitter. Each claims to be sole legitimate heir to Moses and Abraham; each claims exclusive rights to the correct interpretation of the Torah: those who are “too close for comfort” provoke “uncharacteristic and bitter fury.” When Islam steps forward as a third claimant to that heritage, the attacks from Jews and Christians will be harsh. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 158

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Freud’s ‘narcissism of minor differences’ and the vault claims in Anidjar on Islam as a split-off sibling of Judaism/Christianity rather than an alien outsider.