---In [email protected], <jr_esq@...> wrote :
No, I'm not converting to Judaism. I just reacted to the words written by Bhairitu based on the issues raised by Carde recently and the cosmological models that have been discussed here for the past week or so. But it is interesting to know what the current Jewish rabbis are thinking about the Jewish role in the Middle East conflict. For both the Jews and Arabs, they blame their mutual animosity on the failure of Jews to perform their duties as the "Chosen People" in the Bible. The fact that any race thinks they are the chosen ones fills me with dread. Someone should point out that it doesn't give you carte blanche to do whatever you like. Believing that god gave you all the land west of the river Jordan doesn't - or shouldn't - make it so. A bit less arrogance on that front might have worked wonders in 1948. On the other hand, for us outside their culture, the conflict appears to be an ancient struggle for land and revenge. But they have managed to include the rest of the world in their age-old family feud. As we can see, the Americans and European nations are inextricably now involved in this feud in Iraq and Syria, although it appears to be an Islamic issue. As such, we are subjected to terrorists attacks in our cities, such as those that occurred in Paris, France. It would be foolish to think that the current terrorist attack in Paris is an isolated event. You may think that Genesis is a mere fictional story. Never! What I like about Genesis is the way it's written, such a great start to a book "In the beginning.. let there be light..etc" And I appreciate the realisation for increasing complexity but worry about the rather patriarchal tone, especially the spare rib bit about women having pain in childbirth because Eve corrupted Adam. It amazes me that women are still campaigning for equality in the church, I'd run a mile from any organisation built on such foundations. But for the Jews and Arabs, it is real up to this day. And somehow, we too are involved in this drama as reluctant participants. Nonetheless, some evangelical Christians may or may not welcome this event as the sign for the coming of Armageddon and the subsequent Rapture. That people believe it all doesn't surprise me, that people think there's going to be some sort of "rapture" and actually look forward to it doesn't either. But what everyone forgets is what the bible actually said about life after death. It doesn't talk about spirits going to heaven it talks about heaven being here on Earth, and it doesn't mean that in some stupid TM "find heaven within" way, what they meant was that all the dead will rise and live again, on Earth. No pearly gates after life is mentioned at all, that got invented much later. So what the bible predicts is a zombie dawn. I'm starting to like it. The people who've been cremated might be regretting it but just imagine all the graves opening and the dead of centuries stalking Jerusalem. That's going to look good on the news. ---In [email protected], <[email protected]> wrote : ---In [email protected], <jr_esq@...> wrote : None of us is a machine or random in here. According to rabbi Kraft, humans came from Adam and Eve. In Hebrew word analysis, Adam means both the spirit of Hashem and the mud from the earth. Are you in the process of converting to Judaism John? Just curious as you seem to be posting a lot of Old Testament cosmology these days. My guess is that Bhairitu is wondering whether we are too predictable in our responses on here. I also think randomness and machinelike thinking play a part in everyone. When we get a stimulus that requires a response we have many options and we all probably cycle through many memes of explanations we've picked up on our journey through life. What we consider the best response will be the one that chimes best with what we have persuaded ourselves is reality, and we have different ways of persuading ourselves, some insist on hard 5 sigma data before accepting new cosmological theories (me) and others judge incoming data by how well it fits in with other things they (or someone they respect) have decided is true. Clearly we can kid ourselves in a major way or can close down options because they don't fit, which is fine as long as you are sure they don't. Most science is done in people's heads to work out whether an experiment is even worth the effort. Definite randomness there in the creation of ideas to test, but channelled towards a hopefully correct response to explain the machine which is what we are. Somehow... Truth is tricky but Genesis is a great story. One of my faves. ---In [email protected], <noozguru@...> wrote : Are you machinelike or random?
