Did God Abandon Us?

a reply to: Peeple

First off I'm not anti-semitic or anything of the sort. I assess every person I encounter individually by their character and take care to avoid stereotyping. I wanted to put that on the record before I continue with the main text of my reply.

This whole thing of saying the Jewish people are God's chosen people....disenfranchises all the other people's of the Earth. You find this claim everywhere in 'holy books' such as the bible. The story goes that a covenant was made between the creator of the world and a Jewish paternal figure who lived in the city of Ur. A promise that his people will be God's chosen people. The statement that has been perpetuated and repeated in various places and in various forms. Preached in the churches and temples to the very young from as soon as they begin to understand spirituality and religion. The clear implications of which are discriminatory. That even though all men were created by the same divine being, some people/tribes/races are more special than others. That there is a chosen people. The rest of us are second rate human beings.

This belief has been used to brainwash billions of Christians around the world that there is a master race/tribe on this planet. That unless you were born Jewish, you are not, nor can you ever aspire, to be among the chosen few. Now we can all agree that where one is born is beyond the control of any man. Nobody chose to be born in the specific part of the world where they found themselves. We are all pawns in the grand master plan of the divine and are born where fate decrees. How then is it fair to say that those with the fortune of being born in a particular geographic location, or among a particular ethnic community, are somehow more important than others? This is why a familiar question always pops into my head every time I hear perfectly sane, educated, intelligent and informed people state that the Jewish people are God's chosen people. WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF US? What are we and what did we do to not deserve being among the chosen?
As I prefaced by saying, I am not anti-semitic or racially arrogant. Who I am and where I was born do not allow me to be so. But I feel like this belief in the existence of a master race/a special peoples, is prejudiced, biased and fundamentally flawed. I would invite anyone who harbors such a belief to explain to me why they hold such a belief. Especially if they are not ethnically Jewish. And I would like this argument to be phrased from the perspective of the natural world, and not simply justified by saying "because it is written" in some holy book.

Anyone?

a reply to: mandoCubed

In essence you already answered your own question. It's about loyalty. A test for your personality, as all in religion is. Someone else is special, can you still be empathic with them, or do you get jealous?

originally posted by: mandoCubed
a reply to: Peeple

First off I'm not anti-semitic or anything of the sort. I assess every person I encounter individually by their character and take care to avoid stereotyping. I wanted to put that on the record before I continue with the main text of my reply.

This whole thing of saying the Jewish people are God's chosen people....disenfranchises all the other people's of the Earth. You find this claim everywhere in 'holy books' such as the bible. The story goes that a covenant was made between the creator of the world and a Jewish paternal figure who lived in the city of Ur. A promise that his people will be God's chosen people. The statement that has been perpetuated and repeated in various places and in various forms. Preached in the churches and temples to the very young from as soon as they begin to understand spirituality and religion. The clear implications of which are discriminatory. That even though all men were created by the same divine being, some people/tribes/races are more special than others. That there is a chosen people. The rest of us are second rate human beings.

This belief has been used to brainwash billions of Christians around the world that there is a master race/tribe on this planet. That unless you were born Jewish, you are not, nor can you ever aspire, to be among the chosen few. Now we can all agree that where one is born is beyond the control of any man. Nobody chose to be born in the specific part of the world where they found themselves. We are all pawns in the grand master plan of the divine and are born where fate decrees. How then is it fair to say that those with the fortune of being born in a particular geographic location, or among a particular ethnic community, are somehow more important than others? This is why a familiar question always pops into my head every time I hear perfectly sane, educated, intelligent and informed people state that the Jewish people are God's chosen people. WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF US? What are we and what did we do to not deserve being among the chosen?

As I prefaced by saying, I am not anti-semitic or racially arrogant. Who I am and where I was born do not allow me to be so. But I feel like this belief in the existence of a master race/a special peoples, is prejudiced, biased and fundamentally flawed. I would invite anyone who harbors such a belief to explain to me why they hold such a belief. Especially if they are not ethnically Jewish. And I would like this argument to be phrased from the perspective of the natural world, and not simply justified by saying "because it is written" in some holy book.

Anyone?

I agree

I'm sitting here eating popcorn and watching people debate religion, it is rather interesting none the less and has made quiet a topic to be discussed.

Continue on my people

originally posted by: TheChuckster
I'm sitting here eating popcorn and watching people debate religion, it is rather interesting none the less and has made quiet a topic to be discussed.

Continue on my people

in other words, stir the pot and enjoy the show?

a reply to: mandoCubed

Welcome to ATS.

That sounds like a good thread topic.
I don't know what the posting requirements are for being allowed to start a thread. They do seem lower than they used to be.

a reply to: TheChuckster

has made quiet a topic to be discussed.

Does that mean you will start another thread to discuss the findings of this one?

originally posted by: pthena
a reply to: TheChuckster

has made quiet a topic to be discussed.

Does that mean you will start another thread to discuss the findings of this one?

what findings are there to be discussed?

originally posted by: TzarChasm
in other words, stir the pot and enjoy the show?

Do something with the pot and enjoy the show, anyway.

a reply to: Blue Shift

what kind of pot are we talking about here?

he hasn't abandoned us humans, he just waiting to spring the next natural disaster on us, so there is a good head count of the dead, along with the public and private suffering of their relatives.

a reply to: TzarChasm

what findings are there to be discussed?

I was kind of thinking of what percentage of posts had everything to do with poster's personal agendas rather than the concerns of the OP.

Stuff like that.

a reply to: jimmyx

Don't forget the most important people, the ones who cry on camera, "G-- allowed all these people to die so that I would repent and be saved, G-- really is all loving!"

originally posted by: pthena
Don't forget the most important people, the ones who cry on camera, "G-- allowed all these people to die so that I would repent and be saved, G-- really is all loving!"

"God saved this baby in the tornado by gently dropping him in this tree. God is miraculous and loving! Never mind that God also tore the baby's entire family up into little pieces with that same tornado."

Belief alters what you choose to perceive.

originally posted by: pthena
a reply to: TzarChasm

what findings are there to be discussed?

I was kind of thinking of what percentage of posts had everything to do with poster's personal agendas rather than the concerns of the OP.

Stuff like that.

we already know the answer to that as well. the user who authored this thread undoubtedly guessed opinions were going to be divided and as always, there were offensive and defensive posters. nothing new. recap of a recap.

a reply to: TzarChasm

nothing new. recap of a recap.

But dang it all! I really liked the heck out of my "God of noninterference deism" post.

a reply to: pthena

you get an a for effort, but its still not new.

originally posted by: Raggedyman

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: TheChuckster

"God" is just a control mechanism to deprive you of your freedom of self.

Have you any scientific evidence God doesn't exist or are you just going by your beliefs, faith in atheism
Just asking, don't get upset

Do you have any evidence that god exists? Or is it just blind faith. Please dont say the bible is proof

God did not abandon us. He/she was not there to begin with.

God is a recycler and a replicator. From stars and planets that form and ultimately destroy themselves only to be reborn again from their primitive materials, to our DNA that replicates and evolves... to a spirit realm in which we can only speculate about until experienced... God did not abandon anything or anyone. It is, and has been here always.

a reply to: TzarChasm

you get an a for effort, but its still not new.

It could have been new to the OP! And the OP was asking the question.