Rainbow Mage
Lib Democrat/Agnostic/Epicurean-ish/Buddhist-ish
What are your thoughts on Judaism? My take personally, much more reasonable then it's sister religions. A religion that encourages intellectualism and progression of ideas.
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Judaism- The Happy Medium in the Abrahamic Religions
- Thread starter Rainbow Mage
- Start date
fallingblood
Agnostic Theist
Can you show that Islam and Christianity doesn't encourage intellectualism and the progression of ideas?
I think Judaism is just as reasonable as it's sister religions. They all have their fanatics. And they are all have a majority of non-fanatics. The difference with Judaism is that it is a relatively small religion compared to it's sister religions.
I think Judaism is just as reasonable as it's sister religions. They all have their fanatics. And they are all have a majority of non-fanatics. The difference with Judaism is that it is a relatively small religion compared to it's sister religions.
xkatz
Well-Known Member
Not to mention that Judaism doesn't place strong emphasis on "Heaven" or even an afterlife and we also don't like to proselytize. That however, is just scratching the surface of differences between the 3 (or 4/5 if you count the Baha'i Faith and/or Rastafarianism as Abrahamic).
Rainbow Mage
Lib Democrat/Agnostic/Epicurean-ish/Buddhist-ish
I haven't met many religious Jews who believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible.
xkatz
Well-Known Member
I have met people who believe that the Torah did indeed come from Moses, and believe certain Biblical events to be true. However, I have yet to meet to Jews who believe in a Young Earth or believe in literal Creationism as described by Genesis.
Rainbow Mage
Lib Democrat/Agnostic/Epicurean-ish/Buddhist-ish
fallingblood
Agnostic Theist
So do many Christian scholars as well as Muslim scholars. Scholars do not represent the majority of the population though.
EverChanging
Well-Known Member
I don't know lots about it, but the Jewish friends I've met were very nice, reasonable people.
Judaism has had a long time to evolve. My Jewish friends were liberal, both in the political and religious sense. Most Christians I meet, by contrast, at least in my part of the world, are very literal about their religion (something that boggles my mind).
Judaism has had a long time to evolve. My Jewish friends were liberal, both in the political and religious sense. Most Christians I meet, by contrast, at least in my part of the world, are very literal about their religion (something that boggles my mind).
sunsplash
Freckled
I don't know why but I'm drawn to Judaism...always have been even before I left Christianity. I first thought it was a natural attraction because I'd been taught that Christianity was just an extension of Judaism, but once I looked further into Christian history, it seems to be hardly related at all.
I love that there is no proselytization, a respect towards other religions to exist and do what they want even when in disagreement, and more of a focus on the here and now rather than getting through this life just to enter the next. There is a strength in that faith that is both beautiful and intriguing throughout its history into modern times, and I enjoy learning more and more.
I love that there is no proselytization, a respect towards other religions to exist and do what they want even when in disagreement, and more of a focus on the here and now rather than getting through this life just to enter the next. There is a strength in that faith that is both beautiful and intriguing throughout its history into modern times, and I enjoy learning more and more.
kiwimac
Brother Napalm of God's Love
Unfortunately all religions have their lunatic fringe including Judaism.
How to Kill Goyim and Influence People: Israeli Rabbis Defend Book's Shocking Religious Defense of Killing Non-Jews (with Video) | | AlterNet
arimoff
Active Member
every body has their lunatics but it is interesting that out of all the people here on RF the person whose comments were more to the negative side is the same person whose avatar says Old Catholic church. Some people can't seem to just get over it ha?
kiwimac
Brother Napalm of God's Love
You are aware that the Old Catholic Church is not the Roman Catholic Church and separated from them in the 1870s? In any case how does my religious affiliation bear any import here? I am not tarring all Jews with this brush, just simply saying that every religion has it's share of extremists.
Caladan
Agnostic Pantheist
Yet one cannot help but wonder why you would want to add a negative tone to a seemingly positive thread.
Levite
Higher and Higher
Well, I'm not going to say that we don't have our problems, or the idiots among us who think that fundamentalism is somehow good religion. And I'm not about to make this a contest of who's got the "better" religion. I don't believe in competing religions.
But it does seem to me that the doctrine of Oral Torah and the resultant halakhic system do tend, overall and historically, to produce more potential traditions of flexibility in interpretation and active encouragement of reinterpretation, making for a religious system more open to innovation in thought, and less prone to rigidity.
I also think that the combination of our lack of a centralized authority and concomitant hierarchy, combined with the prohibition on proselytizing makes for a tradition much less prone to absolutism and aggressive expansionism or exclusivity, and much more open to multiple interpretations, and multiple theologies.
Those things may not have anything to do with whether the religion has valuable truths to share with others, but I do think it means that there are more options, and though any system of profound importance can be twisted or perverted, I think Judaism is often less easily perverted into something readily dangerous to anyone but ourselves....
xkatz
Well-Known Member
I agree about the lack of centralized authority and the fact that Judaism doesn't proselytize. To add on to the latter, I feel that by not being expansionist, people who convert are more likely to be genuine about their faith since they do not have the prospect of conversion being pressured on them by people looking for potential converts.
However, I am not as good w/ words as you are
What does "concomitant hierarchy" mean exactly and how does it or how does it not relate to Judaism? (I tried googling this phrase but didn't get a decent answer )
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Levite
Higher and Higher
I agree about the lack of centralized authority and the fact that Judaism doesn't proselytize. To add on to the latter, I feel that by not being expansionist, people who convert are more likely to be genuine about their faith since they do not have the prospect of conversion being pressured on them by people looking for potential converts.
However, I am not as good w/ words as you are
Concomitant means "alongside" or "something that comes together with something else." A hierarchy of authority is a chain of command, a set of specifically designated individuals and/or institutions that one must go to (or through) in order to interact with the final authority. So in this case, what I mean by that is we have neither a centralized authority (like the papacy in Catholicism) nor do we have with it a hierarchy of duly authorized intermediaries that we need to go through in order to fully experience God (like the priesthood in Catholicism), or to tell us what God wishes of us.
The only thing that Jews need in order to figure out how to construct theology or adapt ritual practice or understand the tradition or anything like that is education. Even our rabbis are not "representatives of God" or intermediaries between us and God, but they are halakhic jurists, counselors, and most importantly, teachers of Torah, so that any Jew who educates themselves sufficiently may be empowered to comprehend the traditions, make halakhic judgments, and teach Torah.
BruceDLimber
Well-Known Member
Greetings!
I would be most interested in hearing how and why it's "much more reasonable" than the Baha'i Faith, clearly a sister Abrahamic religion!
Peace,
Bruce
I would be most interested in hearing how and why it's "much more reasonable" than the Baha'i Faith, clearly a sister Abrahamic religion!
Peace,
Bruce
xkatz
Well-Known Member
I consider the Baha'i Faith an Abrahamic faith, but others do not... It really depends on the person's knowledge and opinions towards the Baha'i Faith.
As for your question, maybe you should create a new thread for it.
BruceDLimber
Well-Known Member
On the contrary, no it does NOT!!
The Founders of the Baha'i Faith were descendants of Abraham (between Them, through all three of His wives; details upon request), just as Jesus and Muhammad were Abrahamic descendants!
So while this may be something somebody doesn't know, the fact stands.
And no additional thread is needed because I was directly responding to your statement in this thread.
Peace,
Bruce
xkatz
Well-Known Member
I don't see why being a descendant of Abraham is a criteria for considering a faith/religion to be Abrahamic, especially so for Christianity and Islam. Christians, believe in the OT (Hebrew Bible), so that in itself makes them Abrahamic, Muslims believe Abraham was a prophet and indirectly believe in the OT (specifically Genesis AFAIK), so that is enough for them to be considered Abrahamic. Besides, those who claim that they are descendants of Abraham are full of bogus IMO- as it is impossible to determine whether or not someone is his descendant.