This week is Holy Week in the Christian religion. And as I pondered over what the death of Jesus meant to me and all of Christianity, I realized that it had politics written all over it.

I watched Killing Jesus, the movie based on the book by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, and was reminded that Jesus’ persecution and execution was all due to a political conspiracy by those in power who were threatened by his message of God and love.

But I further realized that the persecution of Christians began even at the birth of Christ when King Herod heard that a child would be born according to Old Testament Scriptures and would be King of the Jews.

Just look at the events surrounding the birth of Christ.  Matthew writes (Mat 2: 1-8 KJV) that Herod was King of the Jews, appointed by the Roman Empire and was quite disturbed when he heard that three Wise Men had come to Jerusalem to seek Christ.

Herod was told by his chief priests that it was written by the prophet that a Governor who would rule Israel would come out of Bethlehem of Judaea. So Herod instructed the Wise Men to let him know where this boy was.  When the Wise Men ignored King Herod’s instructions, he sent his soldiers to kill all the boys in Bethlehem, two years old and under.  That began what is known as the Massacre of the Innocents  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_the_Innocents).

There are no records of how many children were murdered, but politics caused these babies to become the first “martyrs for Christianity.” There would be millions more even until today as the murderous Islamic terrorists ISIS continue to behead and kill Christians in the Middle East. I call this “The Politics of Evil in the name of Religion.”

So now we come to the events of Holy Week over 2,000 years ago.  On “Holy Thursday,” Christ assembled his 12 Apostles/Disciples to celebrate what the Jews call the Passover, the eating of unleavened bread and the drinking of wine.

Knowing that His time was near, Jesus prepared His Disciples for His untimely death, according to Scriptures (Luke 22: 8 – 38).  To this day and forevermore Christians all over the world shall commemorate the Last Supper by taking Communion – sacred bread and wine (or appropriate substitutes) as representations of Christ’s body and blood as instructed by the Lord Jesus Christ.

It was the politics of the day when on “Good Friday,” Christ’s own Apostle, Judas Escariot, betrayed Him; the Jewish council of elders falsely accused Him; and the Roman political leader, Pontius Pilate – Governor of Judea, sentenced Him to death.

So they crucified Jesus.  Politics at its best – or worse.

We commemorate Christ’s crucifixion and death on this “Good Friday” and His glorious resurrection on this “Resurrection Sunday” or Easter.  Thus, our Holy Week.

But I find it curious that just last week the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) condemned Israel on alleged human rights violations. Why is that curious?  Well, if you’ve been following the events in the Middle East and in the U.S., you will remember that Islamic terrorists, especially ISIS, have been quite busy beheading and murdering people, especially Christians, women and children – in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt, etc. Yet, the U.N. HRC only condemned Israel.

On March 29, 2015, Anne Bayefsky published a scathing article in FoxNews.com “UN says Israel, not Iran, North Korea or Syria worse violator of human rights.” Bayefsky says the UN ignored North Korea’s government sponsored torture, starvation, enslavement, rape, disappearances and murder and Syria’s 100,000 civilians dead, ten million displaced and chemical WMD’s. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/03/29/un-says-israel-not-iran-north-korea-or-syria-worst-violator-human-rights

The UN totally ignored Iran’s lack of freedom of speech, murder of religious minorities,  state-sponsored terrorism or pedophilia where in 2012 Iranian courts ordered more than 30,000 young girls 14 and under to be “married,”  but condemned Israel for “occupying” land like Jerusalem that it owned before Jesus was murdered.

Why? Maybe because President Barack Hussein Obama wants a partnership with Iran and has thrown our long-term partner, Israel, to the wolves.

I used to serve on the local council of Christians and Jews and am disgusted as to how our President is treating our Jewish partner in the Middle East, especially during the week most holy to both, in order to forge a partnership with radical Islamic terrorists.

This is truly politics at its worse. And the Black community has been used to keep this man in power. May Jesus have mercy on our souls.

Barbara Howard is a political consultant, radio host and commentator and motivational speaker. She is Florida State chairwoman for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and Trade & Travel goodwill ambassador to Kenya. She may be reached at bhoward11@bellsouth.net.