Today is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. As is the norm in the Silverman household, my wife (the theistic Jew) takes my daughter (the Atheist) to her synagogue, which is orthodox (The rabbi has 14 kids, they separate men from women, the women can’t show their shoulders or hair, etc).My daughter likes to go because she doesn’t have to sit in services — she plays with the other children, who are apparently very nice kids. She likes to go.This morning, she woke my wife to get her up so they could go. She said “Mom, it’s time to go say you’re sorry to god, eat, say you’re sorry to god AGAIN, eat AGAIN, and then say you’re sorry to god again”. She also says, very sarcastically, that Hebrew for “Saying your sorry to god” is “CHhhhhhh” (like you’re coughing up phlegm).I really don’t mind when she goes to these things. I stay home and work in peace, and she sees first hand, what it’s like to be brainwashed from an outsider’s perspective. She sees her friends who “can’t see a movie unless it’s based on Judaism”, and it reminds her of the “Jesus Camp” movie, where the kids were not allowed to have a conversation that didn’t have to do with jesus. She’s beginning to feel sorry for her orthodox friends.
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It would have been funny if she went to the synagogue and told the jews that why haven’t they apologized for killing jesus yet?
That’s what I would have done if I ever see myself in one of those places. You know, for the lulz.
I’ll do pretty much anything for the lulz.
Like going into a church and asking the pastor why the church has fire alarms installed. Doesn’t he and his flock have faith in their suppose god to not burn down his holy building on earth? And even if it does burn down, what about the insurance? Doesn’t having fire insurance on a church tell us that they don’t have faith in their own god?
Same thing for lightning rods. Don’t they have faith to believe that god won’t strike their church with lightening? Why have such safety features in a house of worship?
Yes. Yes! We should all send our children to churches were they can make friends and then later be alienated from them for not “believing”. It’s brilliant!
Why don’t you mind it when she disrespects her mother like that?
Dave
Do you agree with Dawkin’s assertion that the less radical elements of a religion serve as an insulator of the more radical elements of that religion?
david
she is also seeing people who love each other come together.she is seeing educated people there too.we as atheists are playing the blindman if we don’t see that people can an often do get something positive out of the house of worship.
Cynic, It wasn’t disrespectful, it was a joke.
What, for the most part, yes. I think there is a lot of gray where Dawkins paints black and white, but yes, moderate religionists legitimize extremism in general.
Reason, she is definitely seeing both sides. That’s the plan. let her see how much one side outweighs the other. Did I mention the Rabbi has 14 kids?
Dave
I don’t want to stir up trouble within your family and I’m sure you wouldn’t allow it anyhow but I’m curious about what if any agreement you have with your wife about religion and its place in your family.
“What do I know”…she’s a “reformed Jew”…do your own research.
Dave…I see you’re silent on the fact that Congress shut down for a Jewish holiday…
What’s the matter…can’t defend the “myth”…?
Phreedm, you?re right. This obviously is a Jewish nation founded on Jewish principles.
Not on topic,but remember Bill Mahers movie is out tomorrow
http://www.lionsgate.com/religulous/
look for your local movie theater.
It’ll be to depressing for me to check. Welcome to the buckle of the bible belt.
Also, Palin-Biden debate tonight, right? This is going to be good.
Augustine, I live in Tampa and we have 4 theaters that are showing the movie.Yes, I’m looking forward to the debate.I wonder what Palin will
come up with??
Religulous isn’t playing in our town, and I only see it listed at 3 theaters in or near Houston (we’re talking 4th largest metropolitan area in the U.S.). Bible belt, indeed. We do, however, have the option to see An American Carol
Orthodox kids aren’t even allowed play that break the sabbath rule against “work,” such as drawing (“recordkeeping” and “erasing” are forbidden) or games involving chance (“gambling”; don’t know if that excludes the dreidel).
Loving a theist isn’t easy — any easier than it is for a theist to love an atheist. Parenthood leads to all sorts of compromises, including in this area. My future kids will probably go to a Hebrew school, and maybe even religious services, since that’s what my probable future wife will want. But like Dave, I won’t sacrifice critical thinking. And make her/his own choices.
Dave, don’t most synagogues require BOTH parents to be members? That’s the rub for me, imagining myself as a paid member of a religious institution, actively supporting it, whether or not I can offer liberalizing rationalism within it.
Oh, also, an excellent guide to tensions between religious and “secular” Jewish family members, mostly at the adult level, is “What Do You Mean, You Can’t Eat in My Home?: A Guide to How Newly Observant Jews and Their Less Observant Relatives Can Still Get Along”:
http://www.amazon.com/What-You-Mean-Cant-Home/dp/080524221X
It’s one of my favorite religious books.
josh_karpf
What about what you want? If you go get a fair compromise it will come back to haunt and possibly destroy that relationship.
What does “probable future wife” mean?
If you go get -> If you don’t get
congress should be condemned for taking off a jewish holiday.
if the bailout proposal is so great how come so many economists oppose it.
we are told we must do this or else that gets my blood up.most banks are sound most homeowners current on payments yet the credit supply is frozen by the people who created this mess.the majority are being burned even though they played by the rules just to save the capitalists.
Hi! I live on the Space Coast! I lived in Tampa for many years and visit often, since my mother-in-law lives there. My husband graduated from USF. In what part of Tampa do you live?
Uh Oh…Biden used God first…
Not a problem…Dave will ignore that gaff…
Here Dave…I’ll do it for you…
Biden won…hands down…
Biden would do a good job with diplomacy…He’d talk so long he’d put everyone to sleep…
I thought this article was worthwile:
What percent of investment bankers are jewish? Does anybody have any reliable numbers. Certainly Lehman Bros and Sachs-Goldman were pioneered by jews.
Bear Stearns and Drexel Burnham Lambert were largely jewish firms.