(June 28, 2017 at 1:09 pm)KerimF Wrote:(June 28, 2017 at 11:02 am)Whateverist Wrote: I am not an expert on any of the three Abrahamic religions but it has been my perception that jews more often emphasize living a good life over a future reward in an afterlife. It seems that you see Islam and Judaism as being the most alike, but I'm not seeing that.
Can you say more about your own religious affiliation, if any?
Thank you for this interesting remark. Me too, I am not expert in Judaism. The few Jewish friends I had before they left for Israel didn't like talking about their religion. I think they have their good reasons. After all, I don't expect any other man to be as free and independent as I am.
I also tried learning about the point you mentioned above from Jews I met (as they claimed) on the internet. But again, I couldn't get clear answers.
For instance, what about the notion of 'Hell' as a torture place?
I have the impression that it was known as God's punishment by Jews before Jesus time, do you have any idea?
About my religion, I don't know what name I can call it because it has one member, me
And I don't know if I can refer to it as a religion because what I know, though not about my human living flesh, is based on reason not faith. And even if the entire world is convinced about a certain idea, said scientific and not religious, I may have my good reasons not to add it in my personal set of knowledge.
But truth be said, there is one person who already agreed with me since very long (far past) on all what I discovered about my being and the 'real' world. So, without this person, I would have no choice but seeing myself a weird being who was brought into life by mistake
(June 28, 2017 at 12:28 pm)Minimalist Wrote: And Judaism cribbed off of Zoroastrianism and before that from the Canaanite pantheon. Throw in some Hellenistic philosophy and some Roman desire for order and you get jesusism.
It's all a crock.
Anyway, where there are men, one should expect seeing a few of them on top (deceivers, if not worse) and the rest on bottom (followers).
And since a few centuries, it became possible to fool most people around the world in the name of politics and even science instead of a certain deity.
As a result,, as theists are happy with the stories they were made to believe by so-called miracles, most ordinary people are also very happy now while they hear various stories (political and scientific) they were made to believe via their electrical monitors. Therefore, the unhappy ones are those who didn't decide yet to which camp it is better for them to join
I've had a very long and satisfying discussion with Aliza who is a religious but not a fundamentalist jew on another site. I messaged her there to see if she would be interested in this thread of yours. I value her insight both for her knowledge base and for her integrity as an honest communicator. If you have any questions for her about Judaism I suggest you take advantage of this golden opportunity. I see she has already responded to you. Have fun.
