Every Religion But Theirs

[Meta Blog]

Originally from The Charlotte Capitalist ™,

I am not Jewish -- either from a racial or religious standpoint. If I were to become religious, I would become Jewish. The Jews value education, wealth, and living on this earth more than any other religion. While I don't agree fully with the following, for a religion, I like it very much. From The Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs:

Jewish values are grounded on and derived from the idea of covenant which in itself embodies a basic value: the idea that humans establish institutions and relationships on grounds of a fundamental equality and based upon freely choosing to do so.

Thus covenantal relationships and the institutions built upon them stand in great contrast to hierarchical ones in which every person has his or her place in the political social pyramid at a higher or lower level with the higher ruling the lower, or by some kind of natural elite that gravitates to positions of power which it retains unrestrained.

Such Jewish ideas as tzimtzum, God's partial withdrawal to make space for the world including humanity, and the view dominant throughout Jewish history from the biblical portrayal of the patriarchs and Moses through the ideas of hassidism that humans can indeed argue with God and attempt to convince Him to change His course of action are all grounded in this fundamental covenantalism. According to this view, while God may be all powerful, He does not rule humans hierarchically and thereby empowers humans to rule themselves.

In the final analysis, this may be the ultimate Jewish value.

But I am not a Jew, or a Christian, or an Islamist, or a Hindu. I disagree with those religions. I think they are just plain wrong and I would not recommend them to anyone. I am often offended by those religions. At the same time, I also think it is an individual's choice to choose to be religious or not -- and if they choose to be religious, to choose the religion of their choice.

Some have problems with that.

***Part of a special series: Celebrating The Moral And The Beautiful***