raphael@crystal.UUCP (11/26/84)
I don't understand why, but we seem to descend regularly from discussions
on events and ideas into discussions on personalities and motives.
Let me suggest that for a short trial period, we agree that whoever contributes
an article in this newsgroup have the benefit of these doubts:
(Questions) Questions are asked out of an eagerness to learn.
(Statements) Statements are made with an interest in truth.
(Values) The article's poster shares a belief that Judaism is
worth preserving.
(Ancestry) Everyone's opinion is worth considering, independently of
where that person's ancestors came from.
(Complexity) Reasonable people can differ with respect to practically
everything. The universe is complex, as is our tradition.
Disagreement does not imply unreasonableness.mis@spuxll.UUCP (Meyer Steinberg) (11/28/84)
If your comments of Sinat Chinam (causeless hatred) refer to arguements made in the past between certain Jewish posters and a certain Christian poster bear in mind the following: We as Jews and him as a Christian agree on one thing: the religion that the other observes is incorrect. The thing that we disagree on is: we as Jews say let us observe our religion and you non-jews observe your religion, and your religion is okay as long as you believe in the One G-d (not an idol or human) Who controls everything. If you believe that a human who dies can be a god, enjoy your religion, but leave others alone. him as a Christian believes that not only does he have to be a Christian, but he has to get as many Jews as he can, to convert to Christianity. For those not familiar with Christian doctrine, one of the fundumentals is: in order to speed up the comming of Jesus, all jews must be converted to Christianity. that is why there are so many missionaries.
trb@masscomp.UUCP (Andy Tannenbaum) (11/29/84)
In article <582@spuxll.UUCP> mis@spuxll.UUCP (Meyer Steinberg) writes: >If your comments of Sinat Chinam (causeless hatred) refer to arguements >made in the past between certain Jewish posters and a certain Christian >poster bear in mind the following: I think the comments about causeless hatred referred to causeless hatred. There are a few Jews who contribute a great deal of their knowledge to this newsgroup who just haven't had the grace or sense to write without lacing their postings with hatred that many (most) of us find offensive. Even if these people are presenting the strongest opinions, they should be able to do it with dignity, and without being offensive. It's much easier to respect a person who doesn't seem to have fangs dripping with venom. I try to separate the wheat from the chaff, learning what I can from the information, throwing the vitriol away, but it would certainly be more pleasant around here if I didn't have to do this so often. Of course, netnews posters aren't the only people with this problem. Indeed, many Jews (and other people who hold their religion dear) who consider themselves righteous, do not attempt to control their hatred of religious opponents. The whole picture is a pitiful one. Do you think that God intends that we hate others who are, more or less, very much like we are? Andy Tannenbaum Masscomp Inc Westford MA (617) 692-6200 x274