Quote:

magicjay38 said:
Moderates of all western religions are a greater threat than radical fundamentalists like Osama, Pariah and WBAM. The perpetuate the survival of the irrational belief systems upon which all 3 of the western religions are founded.

God Wrote a Book my ass!



As a religious moderate, I'd like to offer some insight regarding your comments here (keep in mind I'm only speaking for myself here).

I've never really seen the genuine core of what religion should be about as being "G-d wrote a book," or about the Bible being historically true. Even Orthdox rabbis have told me that the Torah is not a history book - it's a moral guidebook. So you wanna take that on faith, good for you. If not, that's between you and G-d.

I've always considered the point of religion, when it's practiced properly, as being a guide on how to act in a decent way towards each other. Yes, if you look through the Bible, you'll find stuff that seems harsh (although the Talmud tones some of it down, especially regarding death penalty law,) but you'll also come across some ideas and concepts that maybe wouldn't be such a bad idea to practice in your day to day life.

Miracles and supernatural aspects (or whatever else you want to call it) aside, there are some laws in the Torah that encourage people to behave in a better way towards each other and just be decent people.

Lemme give you a few paraphrased examples of some of the commandments I'm talking about, just going from memory. (These are actual commandments that the Jews were given)

Gossiping about people and spreading malicious rumors about them (even if it's true) for the sake of embarassing or harming them in some way is considered to be one of the greatest sins possible in Judaism, equivalent to murder, adultery, and idol-worship (I can go into detail and explain why, if you like).

"Do not stand idly by while your borther's blood is being shed." (Pretty self-explanatory: if you're in a position to help someone, you're obligated to do so, unless it puts you in serious harm's way somehow)

"Do not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind" (Also self-explanatory, with additional meanings of prohibitions against deliberately misleading people)

Numerous commandments about charity to the poor (Judaism considers helping a person to become self-sufficient, like giving them a job or teaching them a trade to be the highest form of charity.)

Adidtionally, many of the commandments in the Torah seem to be aimed at encouraging self-discipline while recognizing the needs people have. The laws of the Torah are a way to keep our baser instincts in check, while still acknowledging basic needs. You wanna eat? Go ahead and eat - just don't be a glutton and don't eat just anything that's put in front of you (and don't forget to say thanks for it). You want to make money and become filthy rich? Go for it - just set some of it aside to help others that aren't so fortunate (the Torah perscribes 10%), and give yourself a day off to recharge yourself and enjoy what you've worked for. You wanna fuck a beautiful woman? Fine - just get her to marry you first and join with her spiritually instead of doing something despicable like raping her.

Like I said, religion is a way of offering people with a way of life that shows them how to maintain a certain degree of self-discipline or self-control that encourages you to think of yourself and other people, without depriving yourself of basic needs.

I'm not trying to convert you or anything like that. I'm just tyring to give you a view of religion that may be different than what you apparently perceive it to be. It's less about "G-d wrote a book" and more about "Here's how we should behave towards other people so that we can all live with each other."

And again, this is my personal opinion.

"Well when I talk to people I don't have to worry about spelling." - wannabuyamonkey "If Schumacher’s last effort was the final nail in the coffin then Year One would’ve been the crazy guy who stormed the graveyard, dug up the coffin and put a bullet through the franchise’s corpse just to make sure." -- From a review of Darren Aronofsky & Frank Miller's "Batman: Year One" script