Jim, I have not advocated, or even mentioned, censorship. I've explained why LotD offends me. I don't expect anyone to ban a song just because that song offends me. I hope that one day you (plural) will find that the song offends you, too, and when that day comes there will be no need to censor it, since no one will want to be associated with it.

Howard, you ask, what good is taking offense when none is intended. If, in a private conversation, you were to say something offensive to me, and if I was convinced that this was not your intention, I would not take offense. Publishing a song, singing it on stage, putting it on a CD - that's different. At that point, it stands on its own, and the author's intentions are besides the point.

I understand that most of the contributors to this thread disagree with my contention that the holy people refers to some or all of the Jews of Jesus' time (although why anyone among Jesus' contemporaries other than some of Jesus' fellow Jews would object to Jesus dancing on the sabbath is beyond me). I understand that most of the contributors to this thread can read "The holy people said it was a shame. They crucified him." and not conclude that the "they" in the second sentence refers to the holy people in the first, although this also mystifies me. You (plural) think I'm misunderstanding the words, and I think you are. I think that's about as far as we're going to get with that. So let me skip to your last couple of questions.

Taken to its logical conclusion, the "there are more important issues" argument leads us each to decide what is the single most important issue in the world, and then to devote all our attention to that - after all, if we spare even a thought for the second most important issue in the world, our conscience will remind us that there is a more important issue that we are neglecting. What we all actually do is apportion our time and efforts among a number of issues, some of great importance, some of lesser importance, maybe some of no importance at all. We all reject the "there are more important issues" argument in practice. It's a red herring.

The issue of antisemitism is of great importance to me. The origins of antisemitism lie in the lie that the Jews killed Jesus. The song perpetuates that lie - so I feel, although I know I've not been convincing. That's why I take offense, even though there are more important issues.

Jack, I agree that the people who sing LotD are not trying to express antisemitism, and I am utterly convinced that they don't see the song as anti-semitic. I'm trying to convince people that it is.