On Sun, 10 Feb 2013 01:09:09 -0800 (PST), "His Highness the Wise
On Sat, 9 Feb 2013 09:18:52 -0800 (PST), "His Highness the Wise
On Sat, 9 Feb 2013 08:04:30 -0800 (PST), "His Highness the Wise
On Fri, 8 Feb 2013 07:36:18 -0800 (PST), "His Highness the Wise
<snip>> No, but at some point laws got introduced that served to mark one as
Jewish and, of course, one can become Jewish even though one's
ancestors were not. But Noah predates anything like what came to be
recognised as Judaism.
One of the essentials of Judaism is monotheism, and Abraham seems to
have been the first proponent of monotheism. Indeed he seems to be the
root of all monotheistic religion, to the point that Judaism,
Christianity and Islam are collectively referred to as the Abrahmic
religions.
So I dug out Paul Johnson's "A History of the Jews" last night.
Johnson submits that Judaism really begins with Abraham because it was
Abraham who first entered into an explicit covenant with God. This
covenant came to be a key differentiator between Judaism and any other
religion of that time and for several centuries after.
'About 4,000 years ago the ancestors of the Hebrews were wandering
nomads. Biblical tradition says that Abraham, the founder of the line,
came from Ur, but we cannot be sure that this was the Ur located in
Mesopotamia. There are no records of these people except for the
traditions laid down in the Bible many centuries later. The story says
that Abraham entered Canaan briefly, and God promised him that his
descendents would inherit the land. This is the earliest mention of a
claim which was to prove controversial right down to the present day.
It is the religious basis of the tradition that Israel belongs to the
Jewish people because it was promised to them by God. Of course a long
string of other inhabitants, from the Canaanites and Philistines to
the modern Arabs who call themselves "Palestinians," have disagreed.'
http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/wcsyllabus/answers/jews.html
***
Oh well, God made the promise so it must be true. The other people who
lay claim to the land must be godless savages, just like they were
before Abraham.
And the Moslems worship "The god of Abraham", not to mention the
Christians. All of whom seem intent on slaughtering each other (and
any "infidels" that they can locate along the way).
This sounds like three monkeys fighting over one banana. The same
thing happens when you give a bunch of bananas to a bunch of monkeys.
Mind you, Christians and Jews are getting the biggest banana chunk,
aka the "lion's share."
Jews are definitely not getting the lion's share. They are a very small
part of the group called "worshippers of the god of Abraham".
Really? In terms of "share per capita" they are doing pretty good.
Most Arabs wished they had that standard of living. The Jews in
America are doing much better than average, being doctors and lawyers.
And, of course, the State of Israel has taken the land it wishes from
the Arabs.
They don't sound like the losers of yesteryear. It's all about
controlling the bananas, ie capital and land.
Funny thing, depending on who you believe - World Bank, CIA, IMF, or
University of Pennsylvania - Qatar is first in GDP per capita and
Luxembourg is Second. The U.S., Jewish or not, is somewhere down the
list after places like Singapore, Norway, Hong Kong, etc., so on a
"share per capita" the Chosen People aren't doing as well as the
Johnny-come-Lately's in Qatar.
Have you tried comparing the Jews with the Palestinians? Are the Jews
doing something to lift them up? Are they invited to visit Israel at
least so they can construct a prosperous nation of their own?
Why in the world would the Jews do anything for the Palestinians? The
Jews are working to make their homeland better, the Palestinians?
Well, as fart as I can make out they are living off some sort of
international aid.
It might be of interest to look at some numbers. According to the U.N.
there were 711,000 Palestinian refuges living outside Israel in 1949.
Today the U.N. says that there are some 4,766,670.
Wow! Tremendous numbers.... but wait; Saudi Arabia employs some 8
million foreigners and Kuwait has some 2.3 million foreign workers so
the entire Palestinian Refugee population could be easily absorbed by
Moslem countries that are, one might say, next door.
But apparently it is a much better thing to live in a refugee camp on
foreigner's contributions then to go and get a job and actually
(Horrors) work for a living.
So you are actually saying the Israelis are hard working people (you
forget they receive massive amounts of aid) while the Palestinians are
free loaders?
And why would they go to Saudi Arabia when they are already settled in
the area where they were born? You propose that the Haitians --all of
them-- should be resettled in America?
"One of the problems in becoming a philosopher is one has to waste so
much time learning one's subject."
I think a good philosopher only has to find the right questions, and
then let the experts and idiots talk.
You have a very tenuous grasp on the subject. The purpose of
philosophy is to answer questions. Any fool can ask questions.
To be or not to be, that is the question.
For example, tonight I was walking with the walk signal and this car
gave me the right of way, but the one behind was blasting the horn! I
gave him a dirty look and he said something. I thought he would get of
the car or chase me but I was lucky
Why ever would you do that? The light turns green, you walk across the
road. Why would you be concerned with what someone else is doing?
Well, it depresses me that I'm treated like a roach but I'm working to
get used to it.
"Am I a roach?" This subject is about the freedom to come out of one's
hole and crawl around. "Should I carry a gun?" In a Libertarian world
I would try to shoot the guy and he would try to crush me.
You need to carry a gun? If it is to protect yourself then you really
need to move to a better neighborhood. If it is to make yourself more
of a MAN, then You probably need a good course of psychotherapy.
Hey, the law in Florida is "stand your ground," so I don't see why I
have to run across the street like a chicken.
I think all the poor of the world are treated like the Palestinians.
Pedestrians and cyclists are just insignificant and dirty. Definitely
we have no space and many communities forget the sidewalks.
Strange. I know quite a number of people who came from impoverished
families and today are very comfortably off. Generally due to (1)
working hard; and (2) Learning their job better then anyone else.
You know, if I had been successful I wouldn't live in a gated
community either. This is a working class community that is abandoned
to its fate (meaning filth and gangs). But it's not so bad either.
It's not a ghetto (not a Jewish ghetto but a black ghetto).
Are these the last days before the Jewish Messiah come and turn us
into dust?
All these questions are valid for the philosopher. Now you talk.
Philosophers answer questions. Fools ask questions.
I let the engineers and politicians figure it out. Make bike lanes
that connect or let us take the lane.
