Re: Re: Re: well thats a start
atlantabiolab said:
Matt, this statement is contradictory. Christianity and Judaism are both theologies, which don't promote outright thought, but simple adherence.
From my knowledge of Judaism and Christianity, I would claim that Judaism and Christianity run a close race in dogma, save for one issue, which places Judaism as the front runner of irrational ideologies: race. Jewish religion is founded on the idea that Jews are God's "chosen people", whereas Christianity tends to support the idea of religion as an idea and not an inherent trait. Racial concepts promote the idea that being of one race grants special priviledges divined by God. This mentality promotes an Orwellian "Animal Farm" thinking, "all men are created equal, some more equal than others".
No one will argue that Catholicism or Christinaity is dogmatic. The question then centers around Judaism.
The central belief of Judaism is the existence of God. All of the 613 laws flow from this. Jews consider God as indivisible - Christians don't agree.
Jews also believe that we are created in God's image, but that we cannot really know God - it is beyond the humanly knowable. The 613 laws are insight into God, but he cannot be "known".
Christians take another tack - Jesus is God, and since he appeared in human form, he is obviously knowable. Not only do Christians feel he is knowable, but they believe that he must be accepted as the singluar way to salvation.
Here again Chrsitianity diverges from Judaism. Jews do not believe in life after death in the traditional sense, so dogmatic behavior is worthless. The righteous - according to Jews - will be raised up at the end of the world - but (again another divergence) you DO NOT have to be Jew is to be righteous and therefore raised up.
Without this requirement of "strict adherence" that is present in Chrstianity, there is no dogma. Since a non-Jew can be considered righteous, and a non-Jew would not even have heard of the 613 laws, strict adherence, dogma - the heart of Christianty, is again absent in Judaism.
Lastly, because the 613 laws are guidleines, but not answers, about God, the laws are inherently designed to be studied and commented on. In this way, Judaism promotes rational thought.
Scholars such as Maimonides (and numerous others) have compiled these commentaries over time, and they have become part of the Jewish religion as the Talmud, the Zohar, etc. Can you imagine a contemtporary Christian scholar having his works added to the Bible? Of course not....
I'm giving you the basics. The differences are legion....and if you read more about Judaism you might see that rational thought has a firm place in it.
Lest we forget........
The idea of the "chosen people" does not mean Jews consider themselves "better". It means that they try to live their lives as an example to others. Jews do not seek converts, so they are not trying to grow the club. If someone does convert, then they are treated the same as if they were born Jewish. It isn't a closed club or "chosen" in the sense of the Protestant "elect". "Chosen" means that they have made a deicsion to follow certain laws and to act a certain way which they believe is correct in accordance with their religion.