(April 11, 2016 at 2:36 am)Minimalist Wrote: Rabbinic judaism, which is what we have now, dates from the destruction of the temple in 70. Prior to that it was a silly cult based on animal sacrifice.
That's not really true. Judaism was always based on the Pentateuch. What was before that was several different religious mythologies that assimilated their beliefs.
And in the ancient world animal sacrifice was not "silly". The Romans, for example, didn't care what deity you sacrificed your animals to so long as you participated in what was seen as a central part of Roman society. It was like any other social norm you can think of today. For example, punishment for adultery was seen as social norm. Now how different ancient cultures dealt with it varied greatly, but it was a norm shared across several different ancient cultures. Also in the Roman Empire it was considered impolite and anti-social to shun the gods of others: you were expected to acknowledge other people's deities, and they would acknowledge yours. This was one thing that led the Jews into trouble (and the Christians in the second and third centuries).
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
