Comments for Not A Jew-Jew http://notajew-jew.com Choosing to be Chosen. A Blog of my Journey to Judaism. Fri, 13 Jul 2012 02:37:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on Punch The Other Cheek by Demond http://notajew-jew.com/?p=72#comment-444 Demond Fri, 13 Jul 2012 02:37:11 +0000 http://notajew-jew.com/?p=72#comment-444 Agrees with Rugby 100% As a former receevir of bullying, but now a martial arts teacher. It's very important that parents and trusted adults take claim seriously and investigate Always tell an adult or teacher, even a Policeman Bullying is no joke, and names DO hurt just as much as fists Agrees with Rugby 100% As a former receevir of bullying, but now a martial arts teacher. It’s very important that parents and trusted adults take claim seriously and investigate Always tell an adult or teacher, even a Policeman Bullying is no joke, and names DO hurt just as much as fists

]]> Comment on What if God stopped believing in you? by Ari http://notajew-jew.com/?p=61#comment-429 Ari Thu, 12 Jul 2012 16:31:42 +0000 http://notajew-jew.com/?p=61#comment-429 Moweryyour argument about how if asthiets are wrong nothing matters, but if you're right, everything matters, has a simple answer. The logic you're using is called Pascal's wager, stating that it is better to believe and be wrong and not have anything matter, than to not believe and run the possibility of being wrong and risking hell. I find this thought process so incredibly disturbing, but I hear it so often, but you're saying, best to pay lip service to a god you don't really believe out of fear than risk going to hell I was raised in a christian household and it took me years to come to grips with me even questioning God let alone the full blown atheism I now profess. The fact of the matter is that I never felt this connection to god, or love, or anything I was told I should, even though I tried so very hard, I felt evil and wrong. But after a long time I came to realize that morally for me, Christianity, and the belief in any god did not make any sense to me. A big part of what kept me back from finding my atheism is that logic that you used though, so I'll get back on topic. The response to your question would be what is called simply enough, the Atheist's Wager . The logic goes like this: If I do not believe in a god, but live a good life simply because it is what I believe is right, and a benevolent god exists, my gain is infinite, since the god will not judge me based on whether or not I believed in them but rather on the basis of what kind of life I lived, plus I leave a positive legacy of my life on earth. Then there is a life where I do not believe in god, and no god exists, I still leave a positive legacy of my life on earth, and there are no consequences since there is no god. I can't prove that there is no god, and I respect those who hold different beliefs than I, as I've stated I have an entire family of believers whom I still love dearly, but as far as I'm concerned, the idea of god doesn't make any sense in my life, and even if I'm wrong, I don't believe that a god would judge me based solely on whether or not I believed in him. I am good without god, and there are many people like me, ethics is not a thing intrinsically tied to religion. Moweryyour argument about how if asthiets are wrong nothing matters, but if you’re right, everything matters, has a simple answer. The logic you’re using is called Pascal’s wager, stating that it is better to believe and be wrong and not have anything matter, than to not believe and run the possibility of being wrong and risking hell. I find this thought process so incredibly disturbing, but I hear it so often, but you’re saying, best to pay lip service to a god you don’t really believe out of fear than risk going to hell I was raised in a christian household and it took me years to come to grips with me even questioning God let alone the full blown atheism I now profess. The fact of the matter is that I never felt this connection to god, or love, or anything I was told I should, even though I tried so very hard, I felt evil and wrong. But after a long time I came to realize that morally for me, Christianity, and the belief in any god did not make any sense to me. A big part of what kept me back from finding my atheism is that logic that you used though, so I’ll get back on topic. The response to your question would be what is called simply enough, the Atheist’s Wager . The logic goes like this: If I do not believe in a god, but live a good life simply because it is what I believe is right, and a benevolent god exists, my gain is infinite, since the god will not judge me based on whether or not I believed in them but rather on the basis of what kind of life I lived, plus I leave a positive legacy of my life on earth. Then there is a life where I do not believe in god, and no god exists, I still leave a positive legacy of my life on earth, and there are no consequences since there is no god. I can’t prove that there is no god, and I respect those who hold different beliefs than I, as I’ve stated I have an entire family of believers whom I still love dearly, but as far as I’m concerned, the idea of god doesn’t make any sense in my life, and even if I’m wrong, I don’t believe that a god would judge me based solely on whether or not I believed in him. I am good without god, and there are many people like me, ethics is not a thing intrinsically tied to religion.

]]> Comment on Dennis Prager, the Torah and Me by Chelm Wiseman http://notajew-jew.com/?p=90#comment-189 Chelm Wiseman Mon, 07 May 2012 11:28:31 +0000 http://notajew-jew.com/?p=90#comment-189 I have always thought that Dennis Prager is great and will have to give his Torah lectures a listen. But I think you are right, Torah is amazing... the more you study it the more you realize what it truly is. I have always thought that Dennis Prager is great and will have to give his Torah lectures a listen. But I think you are right, Torah is amazing… the more you study it the more you realize what it truly is.

]]> Comment on What if God stopped believing in you? by DWinter http://notajew-jew.com/?p=61#comment-153 DWinter Fri, 20 Apr 2012 20:26:16 +0000 http://notajew-jew.com/?p=61#comment-153 Atheists tend to believe that their belief is not a belief; that their principles are not a faith. Yet, when one asks them why it is that science has not yet been able to place all the forces thus far discovered into a Grand Unified Theory of Everything, the answers they tend to give are somewhere along the spectrum of belief that if science is just granted enough time and tax dollars, then at some point scientists are sure to find all the answers, rather than just a whole lot of new questions, as has actually been the case since the days of Heraclitus, Parmenides, Aristotle, etc. In other words, atheists believe, in clear contradiction to rational evidentiary analysis, that a miracle will occur and something which has never before happened in the entire history of science will magically happen just this one time. Atheists tend to believe that their belief is not a belief; that their principles are not a faith. Yet, when one asks them why it is that science has not yet been able to place all the forces thus far discovered into a Grand Unified Theory of Everything, the answers they tend to give are somewhere along the spectrum of belief that if science is just granted enough time and tax dollars, then at some point scientists are sure to find all the answers, rather than just a whole lot of new questions, as has actually been the case since the days of Heraclitus, Parmenides, Aristotle, etc. In other words, atheists believe, in clear contradiction to rational evidentiary analysis, that a miracle will occur and something which has never before happened in the entire history of science will magically happen just this one time.

]]> Comment on Why a Jew? by Mike Lunapiena http://notajew-jew.com/?p=58#comment-152 Mike Lunapiena Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:17:19 +0000 http://notajew-jew.com/?p=58#comment-152 I am learning (teaching myself) Hebrew at the moment ... one thing I have found very helpful is an app on my phone called "Hebrew in A Month" ... it teaches contextually, with pictures & makes remembering things a bit easier ... I also have a few conservative/orthodox jewish friends (including my girlfriend), an Israeli ex, and some Israeli friends who I can ask questions to ... Those are very helpful ... I also find writing things by hand super helpful for actually learning them. If you'd like, feel free to email me about Hebrew stuff, I'd be happy to discuss it with you and/or share other resources and/or compare experiences. All the bestest! -Mike I am learning (teaching myself) Hebrew at the moment … one thing I have found very helpful is an app on my phone called “Hebrew in A Month” … it teaches contextually, with pictures & makes remembering things a bit easier … I also have a few conservative/orthodox jewish friends (including my girlfriend), an Israeli ex, and some Israeli friends who I can ask questions to … Those are very helpful … I also find writing things by hand super helpful for actually learning them.

If you’d like, feel free to email me about Hebrew stuff, I’d be happy to discuss it with you and/or share other resources and/or compare experiences.

All the bestest!

-Mike

]]> Comment on What if God stopped believing in you? by Mike Lunapiena http://notajew-jew.com/?p=61#comment-151 Mike Lunapiena Fri, 20 Apr 2012 03:23:13 +0000 http://notajew-jew.com/?p=61#comment-151 One of the things I struggle with/am bothered by as an Atheist is the assumption that I am rejecting the Jewish/Christian God. The reason I say I struggle with this is because I feel like a lot of the mainstream conversation about atheism is Judeo-Christian centric. Some of this is by Atheists, some of this is by religious folk. I do not feel like this represents my atheism in any way, nor do I feel it is a good attitude for atheism in general. I know that I have heard Catholics I have known & been around say things along the lines of God loves us, and God always forgives ... also, isn't the whole premise of The Last Rites very similar to the religious crutch you're describing? (I am mentioning this, because this sort of religious teaching may partially be where this idea comes from). It may also be true for some people that they believe "Well, if there was a god, this level of forgiveness/acceptance would be characteristic of him/her/it" Personally, I can say there are enough characteristics of the Judeo-Christian god (from the little I've read so far of The Bible) that bother me or are morally irreconcilable to me, that even if that god did turn out to exist, I would not follow him. One of the things I struggle with/am bothered by as an Atheist is the assumption that I am rejecting the Jewish/Christian God. The reason I say I struggle with this is because I feel like a lot of the mainstream conversation about atheism is Judeo-Christian centric. Some of this is by Atheists, some of this is by religious folk. I do not feel like this represents my atheism in any way, nor do I feel it is a good attitude for atheism in general.

I know that I have heard Catholics I have known & been around say things along the lines of God loves us, and God always forgives … also, isn’t the whole premise of The Last Rites very similar to the religious crutch you’re describing? (I am mentioning this, because this sort of religious teaching may partially be where this idea comes from). It may also be true for some people that they believe “Well, if there was a god, this level of forgiveness/acceptance would be characteristic of him/her/it”

Personally, I can say there are enough characteristics of the Judeo-Christian god (from the little I’ve read so far of The Bible) that bother me or are morally irreconcilable to me, that even if that god did turn out to exist, I would not follow him.

]]> Comment on Punch The Other Cheek by TH3M0N5T3R http://notajew-jew.com/?p=72#comment-150 TH3M0N5T3R Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:45:19 +0000 http://notajew-jew.com/?p=72#comment-150 Respectfully, "turning the other cheek" doesn't mean to allow an aggressor to hit you again. In fact, it's very different. Back in the day, it was demeaning to be hit on the face back-handed. "Turning the other cheek" meant turning your head so that the aggressor was forced to hit you open-handed, or straight on. It meant that you did not treat the aggressor as better than you, and that the aggressor had to treat you as an equal, not as a lesser person. Respectfully, “turning the other cheek” doesn’t mean to allow an aggressor to hit you again. In fact, it’s very different. Back in the day, it was demeaning to be hit on the face back-handed. “Turning the other cheek” meant turning your head so that the aggressor was forced to hit you open-handed, or straight on. It meant that you did not treat the aggressor as better than you, and that the aggressor had to treat you as an equal, not as a lesser person.

]]> Comment on Here’s my problem with the Dalai Lama by pbird http://notajew-jew.com/?p=92#comment-148 pbird Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:17:16 +0000 http://notajew-jew.com/?p=92#comment-148 Can't argue with that. Can’t argue with that.

]]> Comment on Louis C.K. – Not a Jew by TeeTee http://notajew-jew.com/?p=66#comment-132 TeeTee Mon, 16 Apr 2012 07:15:19 +0000 http://notajew-jew.com/?p=66#comment-132 ...he lives in the Apthorp. He's a jew, trust me, if only by osmosis. …he lives in the Apthorp. He’s a jew, trust me, if only by osmosis.

]]> Comment on What if God stopped believing in you? by Atheist http://notajew-jew.com/?p=61#comment-51 Atheist Sat, 10 Mar 2012 07:37:01 +0000 http://notajew-jew.com/?p=61#comment-51 My whole family are atheists, our belief is not a belief. Our principles are not a faith. We do not rely soley upon science and reason, because these are necessary rather than sufficient factors, but we tend to distrust anything that contradicts science. We may differ on many things, but what we respect is free inquiry, openmindedness, and the pursuit of knowledge. My whole family are atheists, our belief is not a belief. Our principles are not a faith. We do not rely soley upon science and reason, because these are necessary rather than sufficient factors, but we tend to distrust anything that contradicts science. We may differ on many things, but what we respect is free inquiry, openmindedness, and the pursuit of knowledge.

]]>