[2326] in Depressing_Thoughts
Re: The role of religion
amgreene@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (amgreene@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Fri Sep 13 13:53:04 1991
Short answer: because God says so.
Long answer: By performing these ceremonies, and understanding their
origins, development, and nuances, I think that one's appreciation and
understanding of life is deepened. For example, by restricting oneself
to meat that was killed in a humane and prescribed manner, one thinks
about the relationship between us and theose below us on the food chain.
This restriction also means that Jews are prohibited from hunting, for
sport or for food (so forget about Harrison Ford shooting the chicken
for Gene Wilder in _Frisco_Kid_ :-), because it's unecessarily cruel.
Another example: just before I light Shabbat candles, I set aside some
money for charity. It's a Jewish tradition that has both immediate
impact -- I am thankful that I am able to share a special, festive meal
with those I love -- and ethical ramifications -- I am reminded of the
commandment to set aside a portion of one's earnings for those less
fortunate.
Some of these laws and ceremonies aren't directly God-given, others are.
But they conspire and combine to form an ethical matrix which causes
one, inescapably, to a higher standard of behaviour. And even if I don't
understand every nuance of every law, I try to increase my understanding
and decrease my `cheating' in the belief that by making myself a better
Jew, I will make my portion of the world a `holier' place, a place which
is better for both man and God.
This doesn't mean that everyone in the world shold become Jewish. It
means that I believe that those of us whose covenent with God is sealed
in our flesh (and our sisters :-) have a contractual obligation to examine
our actions in light of what God asks -- some might say demands -- of
our behaviour. I've been shirking that responsibility for four years,
and now I'm starting to understand why I cannot evade it (like Jonah)
any longer.
Hmmm... maybe that's why we read the book of Jonah on Yom Kippur.
