Thought for the Day: The Most Basic Proof of the Veracity of Torah Judaism -- It Works and Nothing Else Does
I saw a call from my daughter yesterday morning (strange time, but always welcome); I "picked up the phone" (yeah, yeah... no one has picked up a receiver to answer a call in years) and it was not my daughter, but her son. I heard my three year old grandson saying calmly, but tearfully, "Zeidy... Mommy is being mean to me." It did not evoke the emotion he hoped, but I tried to answer him in all seriousness.
That's cute because he's three. If he doesn't get exactly what he wants exactly when he asks for it, then whoever is preventing his immediate gratification is mean and he'll look for someone who is bigger to rectify the situation. We don't expect that of an adult. We expect a maturing to take place, for the totally selfish and self-involved baby to turn into an adam ha'shaleim. That is minimally what you can expect any civilized society to want of its way of life. At work we call that the "smell test"... does this solution at least smell right? After that, we can talk about is it a good solution and if there are better solutions.
Let's start with the alternatives. We can knock the pagan religions out of there immediately. They produce only small warring tribes sloshing back and forth from slave to master and back again. All the eastern religions are just civilized enough to form bigger warring tribes. Their high priests are skilled in martial arts... ie, killing with their bare hands and cold steel.
What about Islam? Hmm... founder was illiterate so couldn't even read the holy work upon which the religion rests. It promises an afterlife that would only appeal to a male teenager. In fact, that's what it produces: old teenagers with guns and knives. The same society that produces beautiful poetry has no trouble cutting of the hand of a poor man who steals a crust of bread. What about the society? It has produced the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. It has produced a society that concentrates the vast majority of wealth into a few families.
What about Christianity? Let's see... founder is proud of the fact his mother had an affair to produce him. Has produced the Crusades and had the Inquisition. My favorite part is that the best you can be in those religions (the leaders... priests and nuns) don't get married; not very sustainable.
Secular humanism? Puh-lease. Soaring divorce rate, rampant immorality, an upper middle class with teens who have a worse drug problem than the inner cities because they have no substance to their lives. Sweden, for example, has the highest suicide rate in the world. Very liberal, very dead end; literally.
Torah Judaism? (Other so-called "branches" are just re-branded covers for secular humanism.) Please note that nothing evil has ever been done in the name of Torah Judaism. Yes, there have been evil Jews... each and every one of them proudly declared his actions to be in defiance of the Torah. We form close knit working communities to support and promote education (from the youngest to the oldest), commerce, prayer and other community services. We became the world's bankers, not only because we were always educated, but also because Jews around the world trusted each other and lived in societies that didn't. The most venerated and honored people are those who have worked on themselves to become selfless and deeply caring.
Wait... what was the question?
That's cute because he's three. If he doesn't get exactly what he wants exactly when he asks for it, then whoever is preventing his immediate gratification is mean and he'll look for someone who is bigger to rectify the situation. We don't expect that of an adult. We expect a maturing to take place, for the totally selfish and self-involved baby to turn into an adam ha'shaleim. That is minimally what you can expect any civilized society to want of its way of life. At work we call that the "smell test"... does this solution at least smell right? After that, we can talk about is it a good solution and if there are better solutions.
Let's start with the alternatives. We can knock the pagan religions out of there immediately. They produce only small warring tribes sloshing back and forth from slave to master and back again. All the eastern religions are just civilized enough to form bigger warring tribes. Their high priests are skilled in martial arts... ie, killing with their bare hands and cold steel.
What about Islam? Hmm... founder was illiterate so couldn't even read the holy work upon which the religion rests. It promises an afterlife that would only appeal to a male teenager. In fact, that's what it produces: old teenagers with guns and knives. The same society that produces beautiful poetry has no trouble cutting of the hand of a poor man who steals a crust of bread. What about the society? It has produced the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. It has produced a society that concentrates the vast majority of wealth into a few families.
What about Christianity? Let's see... founder is proud of the fact his mother had an affair to produce him. Has produced the Crusades and had the Inquisition. My favorite part is that the best you can be in those religions (the leaders... priests and nuns) don't get married; not very sustainable.
Secular humanism? Puh-lease. Soaring divorce rate, rampant immorality, an upper middle class with teens who have a worse drug problem than the inner cities because they have no substance to their lives. Sweden, for example, has the highest suicide rate in the world. Very liberal, very dead end; literally.
Torah Judaism? (Other so-called "branches" are just re-branded covers for secular humanism.) Please note that nothing evil has ever been done in the name of Torah Judaism. Yes, there have been evil Jews... each and every one of them proudly declared his actions to be in defiance of the Torah. We form close knit working communities to support and promote education (from the youngest to the oldest), commerce, prayer and other community services. We became the world's bankers, not only because we were always educated, but also because Jews around the world trusted each other and lived in societies that didn't. The most venerated and honored people are those who have worked on themselves to become selfless and deeply caring.
Wait... what was the question?
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