Zone1 The Essence of the Torah...What is a Religion?

[DGS49]

The essence of the Torah is...Ethical Monotheism. That is to say,

• There is One God, and only one God,
• God is good,
• God wants us to be good.

Everything else in the Torah is explanation, clarification, and/or illustration.

No other ancient religion captures these essential aspects.

If you (1) don't believe in "God," and (2) don't believe in an afterlife, and (3) don't believe that a virtuous life is rewarded in the afterlife and (4) an evil life is somehow punished, then you have no "religion." You are subscribing to foolishness, idolatry, and/or idea-theocracy ("I am god").

Fundamental question for atheists. You believe that there is no God, no afterlife, and death is the absolute end for you. Do you hope that your beliefs are correct, or wrong?

 

[Votto]

I disagree

Here is the Webster definition of religion

1
: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
2
a(1)
: the service and worship of God or the supernatural
(2)
: commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
b
: the state of a religious
a nun in her 20th year of religion
3
: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith
4
archaic : scrupulous conformity : CONSCIENTIOUSNESS

I don't think religion has to be the Jewish God or even a god at all.

In fact, a famous Jew, Dennis Prager, argues that Leftism is the most successful religion of our time.

The World's Most Dynamic Religion Is ... - The Dennis Prager Show

For at least the last hundred years, the world’s most dynamic religion has been neither Christianity nor Islam. It is leftism. Most people do not recognize what is probably the single most important fact of modern life. One reason is that leftism is overwhelmingly secular (more than merely...

dennisprager.com

For at least the last hundred years, the world’s most dynamic religion has been neither Christianity nor Islam.

It is leftism.

Most people do not recognize what is probably the single most important fact of modern life. One reason is that leftism is overwhelmingly secular (more than merely secular: it is inherently opposed to all traditional religions), and therefore people do not regard it as a religion. Another is that leftism so convincingly portrays itself as solely the product of reason, intellect, and science that it has not been seen as the dogma-based ideology that it is. Therefore, the vast majority of the people who affirm leftist beliefs think of their views as the only way to properly think about life.

That, in turn, explains why anyone who opposes leftism is labeled anti-intellectual, anti-progress, anti-science, anti-minority and anti-reason (among many other pejorative epithets): leftists truly believe that there is no other way to think.

How successful has leftism been?

It dominates the thinking of Europe, much of Latin America, Canada, and Asia, as well as the thinking of the political and intellectual elites of most of the world. Outside of the Muslim world, it is virtually the only way in which news is reported and virtually the only way in which young people are educated from elementary school through university.

Only the United States, of all Western countries, has resisted leftism. But that resistance is fading as increasing numbers of Americans abandon traditional Judeo-Christian religions, lead secular lives, are educated by teachers whose views are almost uniformly left-wing and are exposed on a daily basis virtually exclusively to leftist views in their news and entertainment media.

And when there is resistance, the left declares it “extremist.” Merely believing that marriage should remain defined as it has been throughout recorded history, as between a man and a woman, renders you an extremist. So, too, belief that government should be small — the Tea Party position — renders one an extremist. Last week, the managing editor of Time Magazine, Richard Stengel, said on MSNBC that the Salafis, the most radical Islamist sect, are “the Tea Party of Muslim democracy.”

Even Christianity and Judaism, the pillars of Judeo-Christian values, the moral value system upon which America was founded and thanks to which it became the world’s beacon of liberty, have been widely influenced by leftism. Many priests, ministers, rabbis and many Jewish and Christian seminaries are leftist in content and Jewish or Christian only in form.

Years ago, I debated one of the most prominent rabbis in the Conservative movement of Judaism on the issue of whether morality must be God-based. The Ivy League Ph.D., yarmulke-wearing rabbi argued that God was not morally necessary. If you want to understand why so many Jews vote left while nearly all the Western world’s opposition to — and frequently hatred of — Israel emanates from the left, one explanation is this: For most American Jews, their religion is leftism, while Judaism is their ethnicity and culture. The Reform, and increasingly the Conservative, movements have, to a large extent, become political movements that use Hebrew and Jewish rituals to equate Judaism with progressive politics.

Within mainstream Protestantism and Catholicism, the same dominance of leftist values exists. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops largely holds the same social and economic views as the Democratic Party and The New York Times editorial page. It differs with the left with regard to same-sex marriage, abortion and religious freedom issues such as those pertaining to Catholic hospitals and government-funded contraception. As for mainstream Protestant denominations, they, too, are largely indistinguishable from leftism. Proof? Ask a liberal Protestant minister to name one important area in which he and leftism differ. Ask a liberal Reform or Conservative rabbi the same question. Their silence will be telling.

The truth is that the left has been far more successful in converting in converting Jews and Christians to Leftism than Christianity and Judaism have been in influencing leftists to convert to Christianity or Judaism.

Finally, leftism has even attained considerable success at undoing the central American values of liberty, “In God We Trust,” and “E Pluribus Unum,” supplanting liberty with egalitarianism, a God-based society with secularism, and “E Pluribus Unum” with multiculturalism. (I make this case at length in “Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph” [HarperCollins].)

This triumph of the twentieth century’s most dynamic religion — leftism — is why, even in the midst of an ongoing recession, the leftist candidate may win. As I wrote in my last column, it’s not just the economy, stupid.

 

[surada]

I disagree

Here is the Webster definition of religion

1
: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
2
a(1)
: the service and worship of God or the supernatural
(2)
: commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
b
: the state of a religious
a nun in her 20th year of religion
3
: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith
4
archaic : scrupulous conformity : CONSCIENTIOUSNESS

I don't think religion has to be the Jewish God or even a god at all.

In fact, a famous Jew, Dennis Prager, argues that Leftism is the most successful religion of our time.

The World's Most Dynamic Religion Is ... - The Dennis Prager Show

For at least the last hundred years, the world’s most dynamic religion has been neither Christianity nor Islam. It is leftism. Most people do not recognize what is probably the single most important fact of modern life. One reason is that leftism is overwhelmingly secular (more than merely...

dennisprager.com

For at least the last hundred years, the world’s most dynamic religion has been neither Christianity nor Islam.

It is leftism.

Most people do not recognize what is probably the single most important fact of modern life. One reason is that leftism is overwhelmingly secular (more than merely secular: it is inherently opposed to all traditional religions), and therefore people do not regard it as a religion. Another is that leftism so convincingly portrays itself as solely the product of reason, intellect, and science that it has not been seen as the dogma-based ideology that it is. Therefore, the vast majority of the people who affirm leftist beliefs think of their views as the only way to properly think about life.

That, in turn, explains why anyone who opposes leftism is labeled anti-intellectual, anti-progress, anti-science, anti-minority and anti-reason (among many other pejorative epithets): leftists truly believe that there is no other way to think.

How successful has leftism been?

It dominates the thinking of Europe, much of Latin America, Canada, and Asia, as well as the thinking of the political and intellectual elites of most of the world. Outside of the Muslim world, it is virtually the only way in which news is reported and virtually the only way in which young people are educated from elementary school through university.

Only the United States, of all Western countries, has resisted leftism. But that resistance is fading as increasing numbers of Americans abandon traditional Judeo-Christian religions, lead secular lives, are educated by teachers whose views are almost uniformly left-wing and are exposed on a daily basis virtually exclusively to leftist views in their news and entertainment media.

And when there is resistance, the left declares it “extremist.” Merely believing that marriage should remain defined as it has been throughout recorded history, as between a man and a woman, renders you an extremist. So, too, belief that government should be small — the Tea Party position — renders one an extremist. Last week, the managing editor of Time Magazine, Richard Stengel, said on MSNBC that the Salafis, the most radical Islamist sect, are “the Tea Party of Muslim democracy.”

Even Christianity and Judaism, the pillars of Judeo-Christian values, the moral value system upon which America was founded and thanks to which it became the world’s beacon of liberty, have been widely influenced by leftism. Many priests, ministers, rabbis and many Jewish and Christian seminaries are leftist in content and Jewish or Christian only in form.

Years ago, I debated one of the most prominent rabbis in the Conservative movement of Judaism on the issue of whether morality must be God-based. The Ivy League Ph.D., yarmulke-wearing rabbi argued that God was not morally necessary. If you want to understand why so many Jews vote left while nearly all the Western world’s opposition to — and frequently hatred of — Israel emanates from the left, one explanation is this: For most American Jews, their religion is leftism, while Judaism is their ethnicity and culture. The Reform, and increasingly the Conservative, movements have, to a large extent, become political movements that use Hebrew and Jewish rituals to equate Judaism with progressive politics.

Within mainstream Protestantism and Catholicism, the same dominance of leftist values exists. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops largely holds the same social and economic views as the Democratic Party and The New York Times editorial page. It differs with the left with regard to same-sex marriage, abortion and religious freedom issues such as those pertaining to Catholic hospitals and government-funded contraception. As for mainstream Protestant denominations, they, too, are largely indistinguishable from leftism. Proof? Ask a liberal Protestant minister to name one important area in which he and leftism differ. Ask a liberal Reform or Conservative rabbi the same question. Their silence will be telling.

The truth is that the left has been far more successful in converting in converting Jews and Christians to Leftism than Christianity and Judaism have been in influencing leftists to convert to Christianity or Judaism.

Finally, leftism has even attained considerable success at undoing the central American values of liberty, “In God We Trust,” and “E Pluribus Unum,” supplanting liberty with egalitarianism, a God-based society with secularism, and “E Pluribus Unum” with multiculturalism. (I make this case at length in “Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph” [HarperCollins].)

This triumph of the twentieth century’s most dynamic religion — leftism — is why, even in the midst of an ongoing recession, the leftist candidate may win. As I wrote in my last column, it’s not just the economy, stupid.

Dennis Prager is just another charlatan.

 

[Votto]

Dennis Prager is just another charlatan.

Of course he is, he is not a Leftist.

I hear he also has poopy breath.

 

[presonorek]

Fundamental question for atheists. You believe that there is no God, no afterlife, and death is the absolute end for you. Do you hope that your beliefs are correct, or wrong?

My beliefs are based on the most convincing arguments that I have heard not based on the most convincing argument in existence.

So I am limited to what I believe and what I don’t believe by the material to which I am exposed. I have no idea if my beliefs are correct or not. You ask if I hope my beliefs are correct. Sure. Furthermore if I am wrong I have hope that someone will convince me to believe the right thing.

 

[Indeependent]

The Torah is not a religion, it is a map to life.

 

[surada]

Of course he is, he is not a Leftist.

I hear he also has poopy breath.

The Immoral Majority

Dennis Prager continues to present himself as that most farcical combination: a public moralist who defends Donald Trump.

www.theatlantic.com

 

[Indeependent]

The Immoral Majority

Dennis Prager continues to present himself as that most farcical combination: a public moralist who defends Donald Trump.

www.theatlantic.com

Translation…
No-Fiction found objectionable to old fart Liberals.

 

[surada]

Translation…
No-Fiction found objectionable to old fart Liberals.

 

[Indeependent]

Who said he is?
I read the NT 6 times and there are so many conflicting attributes in the NT and the Doctrines of the RCC that no one can figure out what a Christian is.

 

[Votto]

The god of the Left is their Left-wing political party of choice. People no longer matter, just the party wielding their political power.

They become the source of all truth as anyone who disagrees with them becomes either stupid, crazy, or a liar, or as Surada says, a charlatan.

Dennis made the astute observation that the cult powers are so strong now, that even though the Left is in power currently with the DNC owning a failing economy, the economy no longer is a big enough issue with voters to kick them out of power. It is akin to looking into the eyes of a cult member following Jim Jones. When you look into their eyes, no one is home. They checked out long ago and put Jim Jones in charge of everything in their life, and are willing to drink his cool aid, lie down beside him, and die.

We saw this in the former Soviet Union. All that mattered was the party. Men could be murdered, tortured, it did not matter so long as it was for the good of the party. Even the highest of government officials would willingly be murdered by Stalin if it was deemed good for the party.

One horrifying example of what I'm talking about was by a communist party member named Lysenko

How One Russian Biologist Killed Nearly 7 Million People With His Pseudoscientific Beliefs

Even though he didn't believe in genetics, Lysenko led the Soviet Union's Institute of Genetics on Stalin's suggestion.

allthatsinteresting.com

He came up with some scientific theories about agriculture, and being a Marxist, gave his political ideology for coming up with the faulty science. Why? Because the West and Capitalism was corrupt and Marxists are not, so their science must be as well, or as Surada calls them, Charlatans. But those in power in the former USSR were not interested in whether his theories were correct, rather, their only aim was to exploit his theories and use propaganda to sell it to the public as just one more reason why Marxism was better than the charlatans in the West.

And when his theories led to agricultural ruin, and mass starvation into the millions, the Soviet Union did not flinch. They continued the policies of Lysenko

In fact, the implementation of the faulty science of Lysenko is credited with about 7 million Russians dying of starvation.

In 1928, Stalin initiated the collectivization of all farms across the Soviet Union, forcing peasants across the country onto cooperatives under state control in what amounted to a hostile takeover of traditional Russian agriculture. The result was catastrophic. Crops were destroyed, viable land was lost, grain was hoarded, and famine engrossed the country.

Stalin was desperate for a miraculous solution, and so when he received word of the audacious young scientist named Trofim Lysenko, he ordered him to spread his ludicrous ideas to the struggling collective farms.

Lysenko promised to transform the whole of Russia into a super-farm that churned out unnaturally durable produce. It was music to Stalin’s ears — but a death knell for millions.

After Stalin made the policies of Lysenko official for the Marxist nation, Any scientist who dared to question Lysenkoism risked being discredited, imprisoned, or even killed.

This failed science lasted from the 1920's to the 1950's as millions starved to death

But it did not end there are the Marxist Chinese picked up on the failed theories and adopted them as their own. Why? Cuz it was the superiority of the Marxist party doctrine

Stalin’s death in 1953 destroyed much of Lysenko’s support, as premier Nikolai Khruschev reinstated proven geneticists and began importing sounder scientific ideas from outside of the Soviet Union, where Lysenkoism enjoyed little more than universal ridicule.

However, Trofim Lysenko’s lethal beliefs hadn’t been entirely abandoned. The People’s Republic of China had been established in 1949, and Mao Zedong’s party began systematically copying everything the Soviets did — including their science.

As a part of Mao’s Great Leap Forward, an effort to jump-start every sector of China’s economy and industry, the mistakes of collectivization and Lysenkoism were mimicked nearly to the letter.

The failure of these efforts was predictable, but the scale of the destruction wrought in China surpassed that of even the Holodomor. Between 1959 and 1961, as many as 45 million Chinese people died as a result of starvation, malnutrition, illness, and injury after the country’s farms were wrecked by Lysenko’s crackpot ideas. This period of time would become known as The Great Chinese Famine.

As we speak, the Climate Cult has closed down some 3000 farms in the Netherlands at a time of mass inflation and with the UN saying about a billion people will starve to death next year, and across countries all over the world in the name of controlling the climate.

The entire world now is owned by Lysenko Marxists.