--- 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. >
Well said. I would add: the words in scriptures are, for the most part, "descriptions not prescriptions" (was it Judy who coined that term? If it was, it's the best and maybe only wise thing she's ever written). These words are designed only to make sense on a certain level of consciousness and, indeed, by reading or hearing them, confirm to the listener or reader the state of consciousness they are in. To take these words as instructions for living is, on the face of it, absurd and surely lead to disastrous results. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
