Religion & Ethics: Content from Across the ABC




Date/Time 31 Jul 2015 10:49:32am
A good and honest question. I'd say, however, the writer may want to do some reading regarding theology and history so that each of the "Abrahamic" theologies she claims are somehow equally violent can be seen in their true and actual context - both throughout history and today.

As to what the three Abrahamic religions are alleged to have in common, that would be the Old Testament. Most people stop there and assume rather anti-intellectually there are no more distinctions to make. If only it were so simple. If there were no further distinctions to make, all three religions would have acted out in the same way all throughout history and would continue to do so consistently today. Fact is, they have not been the "same" throughout history and they are not the "same" today.

As to Judaism. The violence you refer to as being in common between the three faiths come from the Torah (the Old Testament) and the Halakah (the body of Jewish law, etc. growing up around the Torah). The things you raise about permissiveness about killing non-Jews and an alleged acceptance of violence in Judaism is what once was taught within Judaism (prior to 1780 and then especially among Ashkenazic Jewry (as opposed to Sephardic Jewry)) and today only exists among the Ultra-Orthodox "Haredi" Jewish communities - and even then in a manner much less aggressive than within Islam.

You should recall that the Ultra-Orthodox today (about 10% of Israel's population) are basically all that remains of Medieval Rabbinic Judaism. All of the rest of Judaism today has left behind these violent teachings as a result of the reform of Judaism that began in about 1780 in Germany, which spread across Europe. Most people are unaware that Judaism - faced with changes in thought and society brought on by Luther's Reformation - caused the Jewish communities of Europe to, among themselves, find the energy and commitment to leave behind backwards practices, beliefs, and traditions that were based in the Torah/Halakah. Thus, to claim today that modern "Judaism" as an Abrahamic faith somehow contains "teachings" that allow for killing or violence is actually quite inaccurate. It's the reason you don't have reformed and secular Jews running around Israel, the U.S., and Europe killing based on their religion and acting violently. It does not exist. With the exception of the Ultra-Orthodox "Haredi", to act violently or excuse killing of people outside of religion goes against all modern forms of reformed Judaism that began to take shape starting in 1780.

As to Christianity. Most people who consider an "Abrahamic" analysis of these three religions - often due to the religious, historical, and theological illiteracy that exists in Western society today - fail to recall that Christianity is not "based in" the Old Testament; it exists, in fact, FULLY as a REJECTION of the blo