> > I don't :) > > How about, Everyone who quotes the Bible to support what they've already > decided to believe does so selectively.� I think that's more accurate, > as it covers the case of NOT quoting the Bible at all, while covering > the content of Tom's statement.� :) >
Ah, the Fallacy of Misplaced Literalism. Of course, my "everyone" was not intended to be interpreted as a literal, categorical envelopment. I don't anyone who does quote Scripture for the purpose of backing up an argument who does ignore other biblical statements that undercut his point. As Ned Flanders says, "I've done everything the Bible says - including the stuff that contradicts the other stuff!" There are at least three ways of looking at the origins of _kashrut_, the laws of kosher: A) It comes directly from God; what in Hebrew is known as a "khuk", a decree for which no reason has been given. One obeys it because it is a commandment and one has faith that God must know what He's doing. (The idea is to make even eating a holy act. Everything in Judaism that deals with basic human needs - eating, sleeping, sex, even going to the bathroom - is sanctified by the blessings and rules of observance.) B) As with so many others of the laws in the Torah, it was intended to shield the Israelites from the idolatry and paganism of their neighbors, who often ate meat in sour milk as part of their rituals. (I'm serious - the Torah, more than just about anything else, constantly and repeatedly enjoins the Israelites to shun the religions of the other peoples of the area. Assuming that the Torah was compiled from texts written over many hundreds of years, the Israelites must have strayed again and again, thus prompting the writers and redactors of what has become the Torah to keep after them to repent and return.) C) It evolved out of health concerns - eating pigs could be dangerous, eating meat and milk together could dangerous if either was spoiled as they frequently were - and was gradually shrouded in religious reasoning in order to keep the Jews separate from everyone else (lest they assimilate) and also to compel observance. I myself lean to a combination of B and C. Although I am a mildly observant Jew, that is not particularly for reasons of conventional faith, of which I actually have very little. Tom Beck www.prydonians.org www.mercerjewishsingles.org "I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never dreamed I'd see the last." - Dr Jerry Pournelle _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
