At 07:37 AM 11/19/2007, you wrote: >[Marsha] >What exactly is the morality of the Jews? Why is it appealing? > >Quite frankly, after reading you two, coupled with the idea that all >is analogy, there is only one thing for a person to do. That would >be to fix motorcycles. And maybe to add kindness and some good play. > >[Krimel] >Jewish morality is undergirded by the golden rule. Well, an inverted Golden >Rule anyway. "Do not under others as you would have them do not unto you." >Basically tend to your own business. Jewish culture also orients members >toward their place in the group, their duty as parents and children; it >promotes a sense of fidelity to family. It is like Confucianism in this >respect only older. > >The reason I find it more interesting than oriental ideas is that it is the >basis of western culture. Early Christians under the prodding of the Roman >Empire molded Greek metaphysics into Jewish ethics. It was something of an >antidote for the licentious behavior of the Romans. Jewish ethics do not >strive so much to intellectually justify its formulations but simply to pass >them on. They have worked as a model for social conduct for about 3,000 >years. They have held together a culture that nearly everyone else on the >planet as actively tried to eradicate at one time or another. Jews have >survived as a group on the power of their practices to bind the people >together. > >The chief holiday of the Jews is the Day of Atonement. On this day members >of the community are enjoined to reflect on who they have offended or harmed >in the previous year and to seek them out and make amends. I respect a >holiday like that. > >But the bottom line is that western culture has been modeled and shaped but >Judaism in the guise of Christianity. I am interested in the religions that >inform the beliefs of my friends and family and have shaped the world I live >in. Eastern religions have on occasion provided a mild and pleasant >diversion. Taoist metaphysics and ideas have had a lasting influence on me >personally but not so much on the world I live in. >
Krimel, Okay. Thanks for an explanation. Marsha Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
