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Although it comes from Judaism I think one can easily substitute another religion and still get much out of the article.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3146936,00.html
Any reactions?
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
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cossie
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On fire! |
Location: Exiled in North East Engl...
Registered: July 2003
Messages: 1699
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... and generating predictable reactions on the reply forum.
I was, however, struck by the references to the Torah being unchangeable - a view which - it seems to me - closely parallels the inflexibility of the Christian Fundamentalists in relation to the Christian Bible.
Over the years I've drifted from committed Christianity (High Anglican / Episcopalian, and I still love the ritual!) to cynical agnosticism, driven largely by a lack of trust in the leadership of the Christian faith as a whole. But even when most active, I could never logically explain the 'time warp' in which Christianity - and to an even greater extent, Judaeism - has locked itself.
God was never an enthusiast for the big public occasion; his laws and directions have almost invariably been transmitted through human agency, and though I obviously accept the divinity of God, humanity is far from infallible. Even when transmitting the word of the Lord, prophets and priests were constrained by human limitations upon their capacity to interpret and communicate. They were, in a very real sense, children of their times; why, then, can it be wrong to re-interpret with the benefit of the advances of civilisation?
There are sound political or historical reasons for most injunctions laid upon the followers of Jehovah; homosexuality and adultery (both clearly then perceived as choices) threatened the growth and stability of the tribe; the prohibition on eating shellfish may have similar origins if it was seen as a cause of illness and death. I could go on, but I don't want to be accused of posting a dissertation!
The relevance of these activities no longer has the same significance, so why should we hold fast to concepts which are so much less relevant in our lives today? Looking at the same principle from the opposite perspective, is it God's will that man should split the atom? A commandment to the contrary would have been meaningless in the days of Moses, but it would be highly relevant today.
Which brings me, at long last, to my point. The mainstream Christian Church follows a canon embracing writings from the early days of the Jewish faith to the late first or early second centuries of the Christian era. The books comprising the New Testament were not codified until the fourth century, and even then the codification was achieved in a highly informal way. Throughout the Biblical era, God spoke on a regular basis through his priests and prophets, through Christ and his disciples, through St. Paul. Why, then, has he been silent for the last 1900 years?
Of course, he hasn't been silent; he has inspired mankind as he always did. The difference is that the religious establishment found a power base, and the maintenance of that power base depended upon the Church (or the hierarchy of other similar religions, including Islam) to insert itself between God and man. The evil done in the name of religion owes little to the love of God, but a great deal to the greed of man for wealth and power. Look at the fundamentalists of all faiths, and ask yourself what REALLY drives them.
Cossie.
For a' that an' a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man tae man, the worrld o'er
Shall brithers be, for a' that.
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13796
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There is a very useful "talkback" section at the end of that article. One can submit comments with some success 
Thus not all of the comments are "predicatble" as cossie says. At least one, now, is far less so.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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Judaism and guilt........
Now there are two words I never expected to see in one phrase......
Ohi.....
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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