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Sorry again for causing so much unnecessary turmoil and negative emotions.
I'd like to clear the air more generally and hopefully avoid causing such emotional pain in the future.
I am a non-Jew who in general admires the contributions Jews have made to all aspects of human life, far beyond their percentage of the population. Science, medicine, music, entertainment, finance, almost any profession involving creativity or intelligence. I have zero hate or envy or fear of Jews, including but not limited to any conspiracy theories. I don't see Jews and non-Jews as "them" vs "us".
I find the religion fascinating because of its history and just the fact that it has survived and adapted to so many catastrophes that have wiped out other religions (like Zoroastrianism).
In future I may be critical of posts on this forum that set off my BS-meter and respond in words that, if read literally, could be misconstrued as anti-Semitic. That I can assure you would be unintentional.
OK, just wanted to get that off my chest. The older I get the more I believe in positive non-violence i.e. "do no harm". Doesn't mean you can let lies and racism and stuff like that go unchallenged.
Very cool post, cfa-ish. Thank you for coming back and clearing the air. I hope to see more of you on this forum.
What kinda people don't watch the Simpsons lol?
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Tell ya the truth, most of the time, I just love any reference to Jews in cartoons like that, just hilarious even when it's wrong like South Park, can't help but doing that laugh scream where you can't catch your breath.
One more point and I will stop molesting the dead equine.
For those who don't watch the Simpsons, the Simpson reference I invoked has nothing to do with Jews. The context is:
Every time a superior race (aliens, insects) takes over the world, the spineless TV anchor Kent Brockman rolls over and announces "I for one welcome our new (insect/alien) overlords."
Urkorz (IIRC) was going on and on about the superiority of Jews over non-Jews so much that I felt he wanted all non-Jews to just give up, roll over, why even bother trying since we are already so far behind?
All-in-all, a rich cultural heritage is somewhat like inherited wealth. Sure, you have money, but you didn't earn it so you are not going to get much respect from me. What is your own personal achievement? This is not unlike all the Cletuses wearing bedsheets and being all proud of being white because they chose the "right" set of parents.
One more point and I will stop molesting the dead equine.
For those who don't watch the Simpsons, the Simpson reference I invoked has nothing to do with Jews. The context is:
Every time a superior race (aliens, insects) takes over the world, the spineless TV anchor Kent Brockman rolls over and announces "I for one welcome our new (insect/alien) overlords."
Urkorz (IIRC) was going on and on about the superiority of Jews over non-Jews so much that I felt he wanted all non-Jews to just give up, roll over, why even bother trying since we are already so far behind?
All-in-all, a rich cultural heritage is somewhat like inherited wealth. Sure, you have money, but you didn't earn it so you are not going to get much respect from me. What is your own personal achievement? This is not unlike all the Cletuses wearing bedsheets and being all proud of being white because they chose the "right" set of parents.
No, I don't think that it is the same thing with the Jewish people. First of all, our religion historically taught us to separate ourselves from the world – not become a part of it with the intention of controlling world affairs.
Additionally, whatever the material contributions that our people have made to the world, these are not viewed as having been due to any kind of racial or genetic superiority (in contrast with white supremacists who place a great deal of significance on race). Converts to Judaism (from different races) are all Jews to us.
It's true that we value education, but our tradition of valuing education stems from generations of Jews who labored in their studies of the Torah and Talmud, and who argued interminably with each other on various religious points in order to achieve a greater understanding. That's only one of the values which have been passed down through our generations – and, again, it's equally shared by converts to Judaism, from whom we also require intense study (not only of our religion, but also of our history and our Hebrew language) before their process of conversion becomes complete. When I see Jews who have won Nobel prizes, I think of this as being merely a by-product of our tradition of intense study – I don't think of it as being due to our genetics.
Beyond all that, I think that TFF actually nailed it in a comment he made previously in this thread: That the greatest thing that we Jews have accomplished and may take pride in is the preservation of the Torah and our adherence to it. If we have been successful, it is because of HaShem (G-d), and not because of any merit of our own. I don't know what your religious beliefs may happen to be (or whether you have any religious beliefs at all), so you may not agree with this last bit, and that is your prerogative. But do keep in mind that this is a Judaism forum, so religious belief figures prominently in our postings here, and we ask others to be respectful of this.
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