avi (03/21/83)
I am having a hard time seeing how Dave Lee's "articles" are relevant to the discussions occurring on this newsgroups. I have had private mail discussions with him about it, but they do not seem to help. I would like to see more discussion about religion and less PREACHING. I am not at all interested in being converted to Christianity (or any other organized religion). I am interested in understanding what motivates people of all faiths. I am rather expert in the Jewish tradition - ranging from the Bible to the Talmud and several thousand years worth of discussions about how to interpret it. Jewish tradition allows biblical scholars to interpret the bible (and all subsequent works) in any consistent manner as long as some evidence can be presented for that view. Usually any new proposal has to be backed up by cross referencing it to many other similar areas in the collected works generated up to that date. It is not an area where amateurs can easily enter and add their two cents worth. People are not allowed to make comments like "God has revealed to me ..." as Dave loves to do. I do not claim that the Jewish tradition can not be punched full of holes. I believe that most religions consist largely of (perhaps well meaning) mythology. I also believe that it is very easy for various forms of mental illness (such as schizophrenics and manic-depressives) and altered states such as the post-ictal stage of epilepsy to account for a large number of deviations from the original religion. I have treated enough such people to realize how many such distortions can easily have occurred. The New England Journal of Medicine (sorry, I can not remember which issue), reports that Mohammed was an epilectic and that it is reasonable to suppose (unless you happen to be a devout Moslem) that many of the statements in the Koran were said during a delusional state following his seizures and were written down by his followers. I am afraid that this flame has grown past its original intent. I would just like to see less evangelism and more of an attempt for sharing our common brotherhood and origins. I have made such attempts by reading the Christian additions to their perception of the original jewish writings. The original translations of the bible into Greek were terrible. Subsequent translations into Latin and other languages often compounded the errors. I use eight languages regularly, and am amused by the attempts of some amateurs (and many "experts") to analyse books that were translated by biased people. Changing a translation does not mean that you have resolved a 'contadiction" in the bible. I have a final comment about the fact that some people seem to feel that the US should be a "Christian" society similar to the "Moslem" society that Iran has become. Why? It is the attitudes of such people that make me feel angry when "minor" events ocurr like Reagan declaring this the [year or month or week] of "The Bible". He did not specify which Bible, but I know which one he meant. Why not the [duration] of "Religious writings"? America consists of many cultures that are partially assimilated. Why should the large number of non-christians (and lapsed christians) need to change to accomodate the religious beliefs of Right Wing christians who insist that our souls must be saved? Flame Lowered, Proud to be an open-minded agnostic, Avi Gross (houx?!hogpd!avi)