Isn't Jewish tradition based on the Bible one big racist diatribe ?

[none]

I am not too well versed in the Bible, but isn't the Bible just one big diatribe of entitlement for a particular race?

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Ya, but that's only because they're God's chosen race. It's not like there's a stupid reason for it.

 

[Stavian]

The entire old testament is one conquest after another, yes. Story of creation, abraham, expansion/spread, prophets, judges, them being slaves in persia/egypt, leave, Walk to other countries borders, god gave us this land, then invade. Eventually state of israel formed, david, solomon,etc...more prophets...lineage to jesus.


Sometimes kill women and children too (Im foggy on that detail) on the invasions. I think all countries did it back then.

Homophobic also to a minor degree if u cherrypick 2-3 specific verses out of old testament. Not sure id have to check.



The new testament is the story of jesus, and is much more tame (no genecides). But there are 2 zombies. lazarus, who jesus brought back to life, and jesus.





first 4 words in bible are, "in the beginning God..."

- presupposes the existance of God. No explanation given.

easy way to cut out the big 3 religions (judiasm, christianity, islam) using only 4 words, since they all believe old testament is true.


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[DrZoidberg]

I am not too well versed in the Bible, but isn't the Bible just one big diatribe of entitlement for a particular race?

Actually not. The people who wrote the Old Testament were not monotheists. They were henotheists. Ie, they believed in many gods but only worshipped one god. Jehova was originally a god of war and general manliness. It was a kind of theological tactic. Jews would get favours in war by sacrificing other aspects of society. So it would be equally true to say that Jehova is the chosen god of the Jewish people, rather than god choosing the Jews. Initially Jehova did approach Moses. So the saying works both ways. The covenant with god is more of a mutually beneficial bussiness transaction.

The way middle-eastern pagani theology worked is that gods got their magical powers from worship. The more and bigger temples. And the more sacrifices the more powerful was the god sacrificed to. Allowing them to dominate other gods in heaven. So the size of the temples and number of followers was a kind of theistic arms race. Moses and the other Jewish patriarchs had promised Jehova unflinching devotion and worship by the Jewish people for favours in war. And it was the Jewish elites job to make sure the Jewish people kept their promise. Seen in this light the ten commandments makes perfect sense. This is why they were written and the theological world they were written for.

Then over time Jehova shifted from only being the god of war to also being the god of all manner of things. Step by step other gods became incorporated into Jehova. You can actually spot the evolution in the old testament itself. The books that made it into today's cannon were written about 500 to 300 bc. Just at the time when this shift was occuring. Baal for instance was the god of agriculture. in 500 bc, sacrificing to Jehova to get a bountiful harvest was a waste of time. In 200 bc this was exactly what the Jews were doing.

After the rise of the Pharises, (ca 70 AD) Judaism became fully monotheistic and also became a personal god. Pre-pharisiac Jews believed that the only way to commune with god was at a temple and saying it alloud. That god had no way of reading your mind.

Judaism is a mess of pagan, henotheist and monotheist ideas. It's as if somebody would have taken all the worlds holy texts, rip the pages up and then pick bits are random and try figuring out how to live their life. Early Christianity is just as confusing. Early Christians couldn't either agree on the number of gods. That one wasn't settled until Constantine informed everybody of what they should believe... with the help of his legions (ca 300 AD). This confusion is also reflected somwhat in the Bible. But much less so than in the old testament.

 

[thebeave]

Yeah, I was always somewhat annoyed and disturbed that in the Bible, God was so focused on Middle Eastern Jews, yet not a mention anywhere about his other creations, like, say, the Chinese, Austrailian Aborigines, or Inuits. It's almost enough to make you think that maybe the Bible was not inspired by God after all, and that the whole thing was made by the Jews themselves!

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Well, at its core religion is racism.

 

[Petrel]

Every nation's story is about its own specialness, past glories and present entitlement.
When the ancient Hebrews were telling their story - mythology, legends, history, borrowed folklore, literature, moral strictures, ritual and tall tales - to their children, they had no idea it would be co-opted by a pretty big empire that would, in turn, give birth to an enormous empire.
When modern Jews claim their ancient homeland, based on a book that both they and the more powerful Euro-American Christians inherited from Roman times, they may very well feel that they have a right to demand restitution. After all, the intervening Christians and Muslims treated them shabbily, based on the sequels to that book.

 

[Malintent]

Passover is the worst. "Let's everybody remember WHY we are supposed to hate those fucking Egyptian.. for all time".

 

[Dutch_labrat]

More tribal than racists really.

Apart from that minor point the bible is indeed xenophobic and anti-other. It is unavoidable in a monotheistic frame. Once you believe your god is the only one and he embodies all that is good everything else and other becomes evil.

 

[Bronzeage]

Ya, but that's only because they're God's chosen race. It's not like there's a stupid reason for it.

If one reads the Old Testament, it becomes clear that being "God's Chosen People" was seldom a good deal. They spent more time trying to figure out what they did wrong, than enjoying their special status.

 

[Petrel]

More tribal than racists really.

Yes. They really didn't have much concept of race; were only aware of the neighbouring tribes, who were very similar to themselves physically.
It was necessary, from the patriarchs' point of view, to demonize all other tribes, because they intended to invade the weaker of those neighbours and were afraid the stronger would invade them: had to keep the young men full of hate and ready to kill.
Even more importantly, they had to make rules that kept their people apart - can't eat what those other people eat, or dress the same or cut their hair fashionably - lest, through socializing, young tribesmen, and through marriage, women and girls be lost to more numerous, more prosperous nations. (I'm looking at you, Babylon!)

 

[Cognoscenti324]

first 4 words in bible are, "in the beginning God..."

- presupposes the existance of God. No explanation given.

And....the very first fraud committed in the bible, as the oldest texts clearly says "the gods" (elohim), which of course is parsimonious with the reality of the early polytheistic hebrews.

It just goes downhill from there....

 

[Petrel]

Of course, if we meant to be at all fair, we'd have to credit much of what's in that book to the 3rd century AD European editorial staff.

 

[RCW]

"In the beginning God..."
- presupposes the existance of God. No explanation given."

Yep, that's where they lost me. I never read the rest....

 

[HaRaAYaH]

first 4 words in bible are, "in the beginning God..."

- presupposes the existance of God. No explanation given.

And....the very first fraud committed in the bible, as the oldest texts clearly says "the gods" (elohim), which of course is parsimonious with the reality of the early polytheistic hebrews.

It just goes downhill from there....

Shows lack of understanding of Hebrew language and grammar. Th word elohim is equivalent to the word fish. No matter how many there are they are fish and not fishes and the word that precedes it is bara in the singular.

View attachment 542 <-

 

[Petrel]

Too bad the original text was not Hebrew. In the same paragraph, the next bit goes something like "Oh crap! Now, they'll notice the Tree of Life and want to live forever, like us." plural. Sloppy translating. Careless gods.