Ask Rival ANYTHING!!!

[Rival]

What attracted you to Judaism?

My personal experience led me to belief in the G-d of Israel, so led me to being Christian as that was my culture's way of worshipping Him. I had many problems with Christianity though, while still accepting G-d as real. A period of study, reflection, talking to Jews, talking to Christians, watching videos by Rabbis etc. led me to abandon Christianity and take up Noachidism.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Which school? I walked to Primary and my mom drove me to Secondary.

In primary school did you think of yourself as a smart student, a medium student, or a below average student? Did you think it mattered? Was it a big deal with students in general?

 

[Father Heathen]

My personal experience led me to belief in the G-d of Israel, so led me to being Christian as that was my culture's way of worshipping Him. I had many problems with Christianity though, while still accepting G-d as real. A period of study, reflection, talking to Jews, talking to Christians, watching videos by Rabbis etc. led me to abandon Christianity and take up Noachidism.

What sort of personal experience?

 

[Rival]

In primary school did you think of yourself as a smart student, a medium student, or a below average student? Did you think it mattered? Was it a big deal with students in general?

Um. Well there were only 12 kids in my class and we were all pretty intelligent to be honest. I always thought of myself as bad at maths and science subjects, but above average at English, history and religion.

 

[Rival]

What sort of personal experience?

Answered prayers (yup, really), a connexion that never seemed to happen with other religions (trust me, I tried them!), a sort of innate disgust of polytheism (uh, sorry!), where for example at school we had to sing this song about the Nordic gods and I sorta refused and felt really awkward about it (the song) even though no-one had taught me what polytheism or such was then (I was about 8). I always just felt attracted to the Unknown/G-d/Religion from basically being able to read. For some reason it was always Judaism (when I was 10 I declared myself Jewish simply because I did not believe in Jesus and was subsequently bullied thereafter). I know none of this will mean anything to you, which is why I never claim to knowledge or such, just my experience led me to this.

 

[Father Heathen]

Who's your avatar?

 

[Rival]

Who's your avatar?

Sue Lyon as Lolita.

 

[Reggie Miller II]

Go ahead.

Hello Rival. What is Noachide?

 

[Rival]

Hello Rival. What is Noachide?

Shalom Reggie,

A Noachide (sometimes called the Bnei Noach [Children of Noach]) or Noachides are non-Jews (that is, people who are, to the best of their knowledge, not Jewish by birth and not raised such) who accept Judaism as true. We follow the 7 Noachide Laws as given by G-d to the whole of humanity.

Universal Morality - The Seven Noahide Laws


THE 7 LAWS

1
Acknowledge that there is only one G‑d who is Infinite and Supreme above all things. Do not replace that Supreme Being with finite idols, be it yourself, or other beings. This command includes such acts as prayer, study and meditation.

2
Respect the Creator. As frustrated and angry as you may be, do not vent it by cursing your Maker.

3
Respect human life. Every human being is an entire world. To save a life is to save that entire world. To destroy a life is to destroy an entire world. To help others live is a corollary of this principle.

4
Respect the institution of marriage. Marriage is a most Divine act. The marriage of a man and a woman is a reflection of the oneness of G‑d and His creation. Disloyalty in marriage is an assault on that oneness.

5
Respect the rights and property of others. Be honest in all your business dealings. By relying on G‑d rather than on our own conniving, we express our trust in Him as the Provider of Life.

6
Respect G‑d's creatures. At first, Man was forbidden to consume meat. After the Great Flood, he was permitted - but with a warning: Do not cause unnecessary suffering to any creature.

7
Maintain justice. Justice is G‑d's business, but we are given the charge to lay down necessary laws and enforce them whenever we can. When we right the wrongs of society, we are acting as partners in the act of sustaining the creation.

 

[icehorse]

What thing(s) could you be said to be an expert at? (Or working towards expertise.)

And please, let the "offing yourself" ideas drift away. We'll all be in the ground far too soon anyway.

 

[Rival]

What thing(s) could you be said to be an expert at? (Or working towards expertise.)

And please, let the "offing yourself" ideas drift away. We'll all be in the ground far too soon anyway.

Um. I have no idea. I'm not really good at much.

 

[Rival]

You don't believe in Gay marriage?

No.

 

[icehorse]

Um. I have no idea. I'm not really good at much.

You didn't ask for advice, but this "offing yourself" talk compels me to give you some:

Think about the kinds of pursuits for which one can become an expert. It could be photography, or Chess (better yet, Go), or tennis, or banjo, or auto mechanics, and so on.

Then pick one or two of those and systematically go about becoming an expert. There are several cognitive science reasons for this:

- Performing at your current maximum skill level can produce the "flow" state which is known to be one of life's most reliable ways of creating wonderful, rich experiences.
- Becoming a true expert in "anything" will open up your world for everything.
- Pursuit of expertise encourages discipline, persistence, and yes, even faith

 

[Revoltingest]

You didn't ask for advice, but this "offing yourself" talk compels me to give you some:

Think about the kinds of pursuits for which one can become an expert. It could be photography, or Chess (better yet, Go), or tennis, or banjo, or auto mechanics, and so on.

Then pick one or two of those and systematically go about becoming an expert. There are several cognitive science reasons for this:

- Performing at your current maximum skill level can produce the "flow" state which is known to be one of life's most reliable ways of creating wonderful, rich experiences.
- Becoming a true expert in "anything" will open up your world for everything.
- Pursuit of expertise encourages discipline, persistence, and yes, even faith

Some of us are born to be dilettantes.
To go against this orientation could cause woe.
I prefer to leave expertise to those really wanting to be experts.

 

[Limo]

I'm not sure if it was you when we had tough discussion about Jesus. You were very strong Christian

I understood that according to your new belief that Jesus is neither God nor God the Son nor member of Trinity.

How do you see Jesus now ?

 

[Rival]

How do you see Jesus now ?

A dead false messiah.

 

[icehorse]

Some of us are born to be dilettantes.
To go against this orientation could cause woe.
I prefer to leave expertise to those really wanting to be experts.

One can be both (I am). I'm afraid that as an engineer, you have to admit to being an expert.

 

[Revoltingest]

One can be both (I am). I'm afraid that as an engineer, you have to admit to being an expert.

As a mechanical engineer, I was a generalist with no area of expertise.
I was good at designing systems, but not by any means an expert in system design.
Experts were useful to me though.

 

[icehorse]

As a mechanical engineer, I was a generalist with no area of expertise.
I was good at designing systems, but not by any means an expert in system design.
Experts were useful to me though.

I think you're selling the discipline of engineering short. I will stand by my claim, if you're a licensed professional engineer, you're an expert.

 

[Rival]

I think you're selling the discipline of engineering short. I will stand by my claim, if you're a licensed professional engineer, you're an expert.

I write novels. Makes me no novelist though!