[image, above: Manga Messiah illustration suggests a Jewish rabbinic alliance with Beelzebub]

[image, right: Rabbis, as depicted in Manga Messiah]

"these "Manga Messiah" comic books have been distributed liberally across all the service branches and on military bases and naval vessels all over the world including the combat zones of Afghanistan, Iraq, and at many other U.S. armed forces bases in the Area of Responsibility (AOR)." - From Military Religious Freedom Foundation press release, January 7, 2012, 4:45 PM EST

Here's my extended analysis of the anti-Jewish and anti-gay themes packed into, a comic book which makes Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" look tame. Printed in 22 different languages including Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Thai, Tagalog, Russian, Spanish, French, and German,depicts the life of Jesus and portrays sinister, murderous Jewish rabbis in league with the devil and clamoring for the death of Jesus.

The 288-page full-color comic, originally conceived to appeal to preteen boys and girls, also features virulently anti-gay content. According to the publisher, millions of copies of the Manga-style religious comic have been distributed worldwide.

In 2009 I showed noted researcher Chip Berlet images from Manga Messiah. Berlet called the comic,



"[a] colorful comic training manual for motivating young leaders of the next pogrom against Jews. Not just offensive -- ghastly and horrific in content with a clear enemy scapegoat identified for venting apocalyptic religious bigotry."

Yesterday, I happened upon a blog post by a U.S. Army Sergeant named Justin Griffith, who states that in November 2011 he was given a copy of Manga Messiah by a military chaplain.

[image, below right: Manga Messiah portrays Jews mocking Jesus during his crucifixion]

Disturbed by this, because I had researched the comic and written several stories about it in 2009, I contacted Mikey Weinstein, founder and head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which fights for the freedom of worship and freedom of belief rights of U.S. armed forces members. He was also disturbed.

Weinstein sprang into action, tapping MRFF's extensive network of tens of thousands of clients in the military who have turned to MRFF over the years because of improper, ethical, or illegal religious coercion, usually from superior officers. Soon we had the answer - Manga Messiah could be found on U.S military bases around the world.

Anti Semitic themes that historically have helped incite pogroms and massacres of entire Jewish communities, from 1096 during the 1st Crusade up into the 19th Century, themes that helped feed hatred that culminated in the Holocaust as well, are now being spread widely within the United States military.

I have written an extended essay, also linked in the MRFF press release below, that explains the depth of anti-Jewish hatred to be found within Manga Messiah. And the anti-gay content? Well, for an in depth analysis see the link above. But for a start, Judas, who betrays Jesus, is pictorially presented as effeminate, and wears purple earrings.

The heavy-handed suggestion is that Judas is gay. Manga Messiah also presents him as a money manager or financier, and speculates that Judas might belong to a Jewish group of revolutionary Zealots who specialized in assassination via hidden daggers. As a gay banker-assassin who betrays God, Judas embodies a toxic concatenation of modern and historic anti-Jewish stereotypes.

Today at 4:45 PM, MRFF sent out a press release, reprinted below:

