Posts tagged Jews
Scary Stuff
Sep 28th
The number of fundamentalist Jews in Israel has been increasing for years, but now it seems to be coming to a point that the secular people of the world should be worried.
Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community has come a long way.
No longer are they the inward-looking anti-Zionists who only cared that the government provide them with money for their separate schools, welfare and exemptions from military service. These days, many of the Haredim – the word means “those who tremble” in awe of God” – have joined with right-wing religious Zionists to become a powerful political force.
They now are equipped to redefine the country’s politics and to set a new agenda.
Fundamentalist Muslims are already running around blowing people up. The Taliban is on the rise again and there is concern about what will happen if they get their hands on Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. Let’s not forget that Israel is a nuclear state. With lunatics gaining more power in the political process there, what’s to stop them from launching a preemptive nuclear strike against Iran or Syria? Consider this little tidbit from the article linked above:
One Haredi leader who almost won Jerusalem’s mayoralty race last fall, boasts that, within 20 years, the ultra-Orthodox will control the municipal government of every city in the country. And why not? Of the Jewish Israeli children entering primary school for the first time this month, more than 25 per cent are Haredi, and that proportion will keep growing. There are between 600,000 and 700,000 Haredim in Israel, and they average 8.8 children a family.
A decade ago, there were almost no Haredim in the West Bank settlements. Today, the two largest settlements are entirely ultra-Orthodox, and the Haredim are about a third of the almost 300,000 settlers.
The article also claims that a number of secular Israelis are emigrating. If true, and if the numbers are significant, that can only speed up the process.
Aside from the concern of what could happen when fundies get their hands on a pile of nukes, there are also human rights issues to consider. Religious fundamentalism and human rights never go hand in hand. We’ve seen this repeatedly in the Muslim world, where women and children frequently suffer at the hands of even their own relatives. Don’t think for a minute that fundamentalist Jews are any more humane.
Religion is the most dangerous, most poisonous ideology mankind has ever conceived. While tyrants may commit mass murder in the name of one political ideology or another, nothing other than religion can make masses of people be so cruel to each other with the firm conviction that they are right and just. If religious fundamentalism continues to rise unchecked around the world, we are headed for another Dark Age. Here’s hoping that a Christian fundie doesn’t somehow make it to the White House.
Religious Privilege and Why I Criticise
Jun 19th
My number two biggest gripe about religion, number one being that the religious try to shove their silly beliefs down everyone else’s throats, is that the religious think they are somehow privileged and that their needs and wants should always be attended to at the expense of others who do not adhere to their beliefs. A great example of this sort of selfish behavior can be found in a lawsuit currently underway in the UK.
An Orthodox Jewish couple is suing the management of their vacation home over light sensors that were installed in the hallway. Their complaint? Orthodox Jews aren’t allowed to use electrical devices, including lights, on Jewish holidays. Because of this, they are now unable to enter or exit their vacation home on the Sabbath. In other words, the management company is infringing the couples’ religious rights.
The problem, though, is that they are not the only people who use the facilities. I don’t know if it’s an apartment building or a condo or what, but the hallways are shared with the residents of 35 other apartments. And they, apparently, aren’t happy about the suit.
One of [the other residents], who did not wish to be named but attended a management meeting last week with the couple, said: “For some time there has been discussions around here about the lights being on all day, which is crazy.
“Light sensors mean the lights only come on when you require them to be on, which is common sense.
“This couple are observant Jews. They have a religious problem with this.
“It has gone further than it should have done, I think they have jumped the gun.
“They did come to a meeting and put their point of view forward.
“The general view was that despite any differences the matter should be resolved as quickly as we can.
“It just seems to have been blown out of all proportion.”
So here we have a case of two followers of one particular religion trying to claim special privilege, because their religion requires it, at the expense and inconvenience of others. This sort of behavior is downright maddening.
I was recently asked why I criticise religion so often. A simple answer is, because I can. Religious belief is no different than any other belief. The idea that it should be immune from criticism, an idea that is all too prevalent in the world, is just absurd. In a free country, anything you have a right to believe, others should have the right to criticise. Whether or not a majority of the citizenry agree with the criticism is irrelevant. Religious belief is no more special than political belief, or the belief that the boogeyman lives under the bed. But that’s the easy answer.
The truth is, if the religious would just keep to themselves, there’d be no reason to criticise them so often. But they just can’t do that, can they? Because they believe homosexuality is a sin and that marriage is a religious institution, then homosexuals shouldn’t be allowed to marry. Because they believe that a book is morally reprehensible, or somehow against the tenants of their Bronze Age mythologies, then no one else should be allowed to read that book at the public library. And they repeatedly behave as this Jewish couple, trying to assert special privileges, expecting the rest of society to bend over backwards to accomodate their belief system.
Yeah, it’s because of people like this Jewish couple that I criticise, and will continue to criticise, religion. Oh, and because of the religiously motivated terrorists, too. And the people who pray for their imaginary friend to heal their sick children instead of taking them to hospital where they, you know, wouldn’t actually die. And the people who refuse to give their child a blood transfusion because it’s against their religion. And the people who so vehemently preach one thing while doing another. And… you get the picture.
I criticise religion because it deserves crticism. The days of being silent while religiously-blinded zealots try to send us back to the Bronze Age are over. More and more people are speaking out. And I’m one of them. We do so because we are tired of what people do in the name of religion. And we realize that the world would be a much better place without it. Not perfect, but definitely better.
Reversing 2000 Years of Progress One Step at a Time
Mar 1st
One of the biggest problems with religious fundamentalists is that they are determined to halt social and cultural progress. Most would probably be content if we were all living in caves, beating each other to death with clubs. Usually, it’s the Christians and Muslims calling for social regression. Now, a group of Jewish rabbis have joined the cause.
A group of extremist rabbis are wanting to resume the practice of animal sacrifice at the Temple Mount, which is also the location of the Muslim holy site, the Al Aqsa Mosque. According to the article, animal sacrifice has been banned at the site since 70 AD. The accompanying picture suggests that the practice still goes on in other locations, though I don’t know if that’s the case. Regardless, animal sacrifice is something that should be left in the past. It’s not something civilized people ought to be practicing in the modern world.
Of course, when someone is as fervent in their delusions as those clowns (the extremist rabbis) are, they surely aren’t going to listen to reason. Maybe its time we start classifying religious fundamentalism as a mental disorder.
Another Example of the Absurdity of Religion
Dec 19th
Last month, an American-Israeli woman who was taking a bus to the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City got a taste of religious fundamentalism. A group of ultra-orthodox men who boarded the bus beat her because she refused to sit in the back. Most of the witnesses to the incident are hostile toward the woman, saying she brought it upon herself for sitting at the front of the bus. The bus driver claims she wasn’t beaten at all. Only one witness came out in support of her story.
Most religions, even Christianity, preach discrimination against women. Islam puts such discrimination into practice more than any other, as far as I know. Christians today love to ignore the preaching of discrimination in the Bible when they cherry pick “the word of God” to suit their own beliefs, but some fundamentalists would like to see us practice more of it. Until I read the above article, I didn’t realize that Judaism also practiced forms of sex discrimination.
As long as religion exists, there will always be ignorant fanatics who will try to impose their beliefs on others, no matter how many are hurt or killed in the process. That’s just one reason why religion is a danger to mankind and should be shunned instead of embraced. The goal of responsible humans this century should be to abolish religion altogether so that the world can start down the path of being a better place.
