--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bob_brigante <no_reply@> > wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> > > wrote: > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bob_brigante <no_reply@> > > wrote: > > > > > > > > "Listen to how Joshua and Caleb describe the inhabitants of > > Canaan > > > the > > > > people who rightfully possess the land the Israelites want to > > > > seize: "Have no fear then of the people of the country, for > they > > are > > > > our prey" (my italics). "Prey"that's a breathtaking and > > sinister > > > > word! Again we're reminded that the Torah is not aspiring to be > > a > > > book > > > > for everyone. It is not preaching universal truth for all men. > > It is > > > > the work of a single tribe at war with everyone around it. > Their > > > > enemies were not human: They were prey." > > > > > > > > http://www.slate.com/id/2146473/entry/2146669/?nav=tap3 > > > > > > > > > > I'm sorry, but it's just plain silly to pull some > > > negative-sounding bit out of a scripture written > > > thousands of years ago, then turn around and point > > > fingers at the people whose scripture it is and > > > sneer, See? See? > > > > > > > The point I was making was that things have not changed over the > > course of thousands of years -- "a single tribe at war with > > everyone around it." > > Obviously. That's the "point" I was saying was > silly. > > > As far as your claim that this is scripture belonging > > only to Jews, > > I did not make such a claim, Bob. Don't put words in > my mouth, please. > > that's not true, as the Book of Numbers is part of > > both Christian and Islamic tradition. If you don't like the tone of > > Numbers 13, you probably will also not like Numbers 31, in which > > Moses tells his soldiers to kill everybody in an enemy tribe, > > except virgin girls: > > Says Bob, completely missing *my* point. > > And Jesus said one should hate one's mother > and father and not even bother to give them > a decent burial when they die (in a scripture > that's considerably less ancient). > > You can find things that sound offensive to > modern sensibilities in virtually any ancient > scripture. > > We mock Christian fundies for taking the Bible > literally, then we turn around and do the same > thing when we want to slam Jews. > > In many if not most cases, such passages in > ancient scripures are either metaphorical in > some sense, or aren't the point of the scripture > at all; or they reflect the way the society > thought *then*, in a vastly different time and > vastly different situations. > > As I pointed out to Curtis not long ago, the > Jews have a long, long history of humanitarian > ethics and social-justice activism on behalf of > the poor and oppressed, all grounded in the very > same scriptures you and he hold up to scorn. >
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