Oggie, I think it's pretty clear that God is not addressing anyone in the Isaiah quote; rather, someone (maybe Isaiah) is addressing God. And, yes, there are more important things to worry about than whether one song is anti-semitic, but then there are more important things to worry about than folk music - does that mean we should wind up Mudcat? The question Len Wallace asked at the start of this thread has generated well over 100 posts, so I guess some people think it's important to worry about whether a popular song is anti-semitic.

Phil Edwards: it seems to me that to be unpersuaded you have to
1. hold that the "they" who thought it was a shame he danced on the Sabbath are not the "they" who hung him on a cross, and/or
2. hold that the Jews (or some Jews) really did crucify Jesus, and/or
3. hold that no Jews crucified Jesus but that it isn't antisemitic to say anyway that they did.
Or do you hold some 4th position that I've overlooked?

Volgadon, I have no idea what you mean when you say, "It's one thing to say that the Jews killed Jesus, which is the same thing as saying that the French massacred the Hugeonots on St Bartholomew's Day...." It's my understanding that the French - at any rate, some of the French - did massacre Huguenots on St Bartholomew's Day, whereas it was the Romans (OK, some Romans) who killed Jesus. Are you really saying that telling a lie is the same thing as telling the truth?

Weelittledrummer, I've had nothing to say about Carter's intentions. Once you write a song or poem, it stands on its own - you aren't there to explain to everyone who reads it or hears it what your intentions were when you wrote it. My claim is that a reasonable person hearing or seeing those lyrics could well come to the conclusion that the "they" who said it was a shame he danced on the Sabbath were the same "they" who hung him on a cross. Forget what you know about Carter; can you not agree that a person coming across those lyrics could reasonably come to that interpretation?