Sorry for offending you para, I hope we can see past this disagreement. I just have very strong opinions about religion and it is probably best not to share them in the way I have been. Sorry
I have strong oponions on religion also. (Ask anyone on ts who brings the subject up lol) But I try to do it in a respectful way. I quote what it says in the bible and argue agasint the religion but not the person who beilives in it. There are stupid/smart people in every religion/non religion. And being an atheist Im willing to say that its POSSIBLE there is a Arceus . For me Im saying "science cant prove everything in the world yet but im not willing to put a Arceus in the hole until I have evidence for one"
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" - Carl Sagan
Okay, I'll open a basic debate with you here. Honestly, in Judiasm, the basis of there being a Arceus or not is not a large part. We hardly believe care about a Hell or Heaven. What Judaism is, or at least my specific group practices, a cultural group more than a religion. We believe the actions are more important that an individual. If Arceus is real or not does not really matter to me nor does the other little parts. If Arceus is real, should that affect the way I act? No, I should act out of the goodness of my heart and what the Torah teaches because, in GENERAL, it teaches moral things that I believe human beings should strive to be.
I dont know if its just your specific sect/denomination of Judaism (which way to spell your own religion right :3 <3) But in world religions class we had a jew speaker and one of the main parts of the religion is a personal monotheistic Arceus . Another part he said is there is only a select few that can get into heaven and those people are from the Jewish faith. So Idk if its just your modern beilives but it seemed liek those two aspects were important. A big part of Judaism is the cultural part I agree, the traditions. I also think you can be a good, great person without doing those things in the Torah, You can still act out of the goodness of your hear without it. I dont think you should just stop your traditions and practices just because you dont beilive in it, if that happend, because its a part of who you are, there are Jewish people who dont beilive but practice the traditions because its the history of their people. Just like how i celebrate christmas without the christ.
Now with the Torah (the books of moses), I disagree it teaches more moral behavior then bad stories. I had a book called "good book"
http://www.amazon.com/Good-Book-Hilarious-Disturbing-Marvelous/dp/0061374245It was written from a Jews prospective of the old testiment which oridented from the Toah. And the stories in it, Im sorry, but they are of stories of killing, rape, and disturbing things. Yes there are some good things in there. But some good things do not make up for the bad.
I cant remember these things from memory so I will use this website:
http://www.evilbible.com/sexism_in_the_torah.htmGenesis 3:16 Says that all women must suffer great pains during child birth due to Eve eating the fruit of knowledge. (As if it is somehow just that humans should pay for their ancestor’s sins nor is a woman dying in labor some how befitting of a crime she did not commit.) The verse finishes of by saying a husband shall “rule” over his woman, stripping us off all power in between the sexes.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 A rapist must buy his victim from her father for 50 shekels. Is this supposed to be some type of retribution? What about the victim here, what if she doesn’t want to marry a pig who raped her? All that matters is her father receives payment for his “property”.
Theres more on the site, I use the last one a lot.
Slavery is another one. Sure it used to be acceptable in the olden days but not today. So Arceus had to set rules to protect the slaves? But How do we know which passages are for back then and still are needed today, like the homosexual one.
In my opionon to follow the Torah/old testiment as a moral guild would just be picking and choosing. Why not go off your own morals instead of picking and choosing from a book that has a lot of imorals in my own opinion.
