Being Jewish without God (Introduction)

by dhw, Sunday, April 07, 2013, 17:32 (4249 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: Interesting essay:-http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/04/05/being-jewish-without-god/-It certainly is. I don't know why he limits his observations to Jews, since I'm sure most of them apply equally to people of all religions and even non-religions. A few choice quotes:-"But the question is what one means by "God"."-I raised the same question in my post of 2 April at 20.27 under "Evolution of Intelligence". Perhaps we have got to the stage at which the word has so many different connotations that we should stop using it altogether.-"We move in and out of periods of profound conviction and then serious doubt. Each one of us creates our own framework of religious engagement in the light of our own mental characteristics."-A good appraisal of religious thought, but I do wish there were a lot more serious doubters. Those without doubt are the dangerous ones.
 
"There are other positions I can feel a kinship to even if I go a stage further. There is the heightened sensitivity to the Divine dimension, to feeling that there is more in this universe than our physical existence. Such sentiments have been articulated by Einstein, or more recently by the late legal philosopher Ronald Dworkin. But neither would accept an idea of God as the creator, the great intervener in human affairs."-Good for our author. He recognizes the fact that belief in God is NOT a requirement for a sense of wonderment at or oneness with those elements of life and the universe that go beyond the physical. Isn't it interesting how many of these thinkers have difficulty accepting the idea of God the creator!
 
"I do not consider a Jew to be religious if his behavior towards other human beings is unethical, regardless of his confessed beliefs. And conversely I do consider someone a good human being if he or she relates positively and kindly to other humans, regardless of religious practice. The two principles of our religion are the relationship between God and Humanity and between humans themselves. If one part of the equation is missing there is an imbalance."-If a man relates positively and kindly to other humans (I would add "and enjoys life to the full while doing so"), but fails to acknowledge God, my own "framework of religious engagement" suggests this proves we don't need God to create a balanced, ethical and enjoyable way of life. If non-acknowledgement doesn't bother God, why should we worry, but if it does, and "a good human being" is therefore regarded as unbalanced, one can only conclude that God needs us more than we need him!