I am glad to see you here, KFC. I can always rely on you to have faith when other people descend into repeating negative stereotypes. The simple fact is that Jews are not very special, but what G-d wants to do with them is.

It didn't start in 1948. The history of Tel Aviv is fascinating. I have seen a picture of Tel Aviv in 1906: a few dozen people standing in the desert. Today's it's a major metropolis and one of the most important trade centres in the world. The land it was built on was bought from Bedouins.

And the survival of the Jewish people is indeed astounding, as was the revival of the Hebrew language as a vernacular and the creation of a new Hebrew culture. (Ireland has been trying for a century to revive Irish as a major language. The Zionists succeeded with Hebrew.)

What you quote is very good, as it shows precisely what Jewish (and Christian) belief is regarding the "chosen" part: Jews are not better than others. At the very core of Judaism lies the belief that only G-d makes the Israelites as good as others. Israel is a testament to the fact that a people inferior to so many can still survive if G-d wants it to. It's amazing.

P.S.: And before anybody screams bloody murder: when KFC speaks of "losers" she is not insulting Jews. She only shows an understanding of Jewish culture and religion which indeed has such a view of why Israel was chosen by G-d. I myself am indeed a loser, in a way, but I pray that I will be better.

I agree.  It goes way back but just since 1948 for brevity sake here is enough even.  Rememer I wrote about that way back with Truman and his partner who came to the White House just before the UN vote?  I was always going to write another article bringing it up to date but never did.  Actually I did, but weirdly enough when I was done, a glitch in JU erased my whole writing.   I didn't have the heart to start over.  It all centered around the person Eli Cohen and his part in the Golan Heights miracle.    That was an amazing story that I shall never forget. 

exactly.  God says he picks the foolish of the world for his glory.  I mean look at the choices he picked over the years.  It wasn't the  religious Pharisses.  It was the fishermen.   He bypassed a King for a shepherd boy named David.  Quite often it wasn't the eldest in a family who held high honor but the youngest God chose, like Jacob and Isaac, and Joseph etc.  I guess it has something to do with the "first shall be last and the last shall be first."  God is the God of the underdogs or the "losers." 

Well they're special in the fact that He chose them just like I feel special that he chose me.  But you're right in that it's really all about God afterall.  It's not really about the Jews nor me.  It's all about God and who he is. 

I know the story. It's amazing what a single person can do.

"God says he picks the foolish of the world for his glory." Indeed.

Precisely.

But some take this and make it into a claim of Jewish superiority. It has nothing to do with the superiority of one people over another and everything to do with Jewish tradition specifically denying such superiority of Jews over others.

Why? How does it alienate other people if Catholics and Muslims only marry within faith? I don't understand. I couldn't care less about whom other people want to marry.

It is not really about whom people want to marry. It is about whom people want other people to marry. I heard a man tell me a story about how he had to break up with his fiancee because her parents put up too much of a fight about her marrying out of faith. To me, it seemed this was not her choice, and it was a bigoted intervention. She probably could have remained with him, but she would have lost all ties to her family. I will not tell you if she was Jewish, since it does not matter. To me, this is no different than intolerance to inter-racial marriage. If you cannot live with someone in your family having a different faith, then isn't this a breeding ground for animosity between two peoples? It is certainly not a very liberal standing.

As a victim of America's attempt to create a melting pot culture, I am really without a secondary culture. So I am not an advocate of destroying it, but I believe that free exchange between peoples is necessary to their getting along. Consider the Montagues and the Capulets.

It's totally different.

Race doesn't make a difference. Skin colour is irrelevant. But how to raise your child is something parents should agree on. What languages do your teach your children? What kindergarden do you send them to? What schools? Will you go to church or to a mosque with them every week? This is something parents better clear up before they start a family.

And what about beliefs? Do you teach your child about Jesus and Santa Claus? Or will you prefer a family where one parent tells the child that Santa is coming and another who tells him that Santa doesn't exist?

Right on Leauki.  

This is just a distraction from the point.

Teach your children everything, and then let them decide.  There is no need to push a child in one direction or the other, and in fact, this could even be considered unethical. Not only does it teach a child not to think independently, it potentially harms a child whose views could later detour from those held central to the indoctrinated beliefs.

Do you have children?

If you teach your children "everything", they will simply have no sense of direction. That's all. Sure, you should teach to be open-minded, but they do need a community and friends they can rely on. You don't get that if you run from synagogue to church to mosque every other weekend.

There is NOTHING wrong with a normal Jewish upbringing (or a Christian upbringing, for that matter). Those are good values.

And if you think that there is some kind of neutral ideology that doesn't teach any values, you are mistaken. Those systems are simply new and unproved, not neutral.

"If you teach your children "everything", they will simply have no sense of direction."

What proof do you have of this?

It's obvious to me.

There is only a limited amount of time you have directing your children. Telling them ALL about the different versions of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism etc. is just not possible.

I have proof.  I have a cousin who was brought up with nothing really.  Her mother said she was letting her daughter decide what was right and wrong when it came to religion and morals.

What a diseaster she turned to to be.  She had absolutely no direction.  Her life and ideas were chaotic.  Hmmmmm much like we're seeing in our world today.  Many others are being brought up with this idea and it's proving disasterous. 

to me too.  It's chaos vs order.  You give them reasons for what and why you believe and bring them up with this.  When they are older, they are free to accept or reject this.  Nobody is making them continue as their parents did.  Everyone has to eventually make their own way and have their own faith. 

Yes, that is pretty much what I thought of it.

Parents have a duty and a right to teach their children what they (the parents) think is right.

This is within limits, of course. But I doubt that a normal Christian or Jewish upbringing constitutes child abuse, so we are good.

All I have to say to this is: Hallelujah.

Be well, ~Alderic

I don't see why children need religion for a "sense of direction". Sucess is the direction. Continue for 18 years. Although, in retrospect, a sense of identity and a community for help and reinforcement can be important, especially in America where the local culture can be less meaningful in the face of prominant dual cultures. Judaism in particular can give you a sense of acceptance, and access to privileged opportunities, like dual citizenship with Israel and a clique of like-interested scholarly people.

Otherwise, when your kid asks where he came from, tell him it doesn't matter because knowing doesn't help him to grow up and become a doctor so he can deal weed for 500k/year and never go to jail. Or help people. It's his choice. Do you need to give him some ideas about that as well, or are morals absolute, like rationality?