[2329] in Depressing_Thoughts
Re: The role of religion
bjaspan@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (bjaspan@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Fri Sep 13 21:06:53 1991
In [2328], ckclark@ATHENA.MIT.EDU writes:
> Back to my reason for quoting Rhu: since then I've thought many times
> that I'd make the first step to understanding Judaism if I could just
> the meaning of the fact the Judaism is not a religion which tries to
> convert others, as the reasons behind those reasons seem to be very
> important to Jews.
This doesn't exactly parse, but I think I know what you meant to type.
This is explained fairly well (I think) in _Nine Questions People Ask
About Judiasm_. The "Jewish role in the world" is to perfect the
world under the rule of God. Part of the method Judiasm has choosen
to achieve this goal is to obey the Law (the law of the Torah)
themselves and convince the rest of the world to obey a simpler, less
encompassing law. (Non-Jews are not required to obey as strict an
ethical code as Jews are.) The belief, I guess, is that by leading
moral themselves lives they will convince others to do so as well and,
as a result, come to believe in God. ("Better that they should obey
my Law than that they should believe in Me," for by following the law
they will come to believe in God. (This is a paragraph from _Nine
Questions_; I don't remember the verse quoted.))
For this reason, Judiasm is much more concerned with minds than bodies
-- people professing to be Jewish but not following the law will not
be nearly as effective a means of improving the world as people who do
follow the law. Thus, Judiasm does not try to convert people and, in
fact, goes out of its way to make sure people who think they want to
covert are very, very sure.
But then, what do I know? :-)
