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My god's better than your god
Q: Is there a problem with proselytism overseas by U.S. religious groups? Isn't sharing one's faith part of religious freedom? When does it cross the line into manipulation and coercion?
Each morning I recite a blessing that thanks God for making me a Jew. Questions like this remind me why I am so grateful.
The difference between proselytization and education is expectation. I have been enlightened and enriched by my many encounters with people of differing faiths when they have shared their love of their religion with me. I hope they have benefited in return from my willingness to share my beliefs and practices. Such exchanges are like looking at a diamond through different facets. And if one or the other of us decides the view is better from over there, then we are free to pick up and move.
However, when the goal of such sharing is to persuade me that I don't know how appreciate the diamond, that is not, as some would have it, an expression of love and concern, but arrogance and dismissal. And to do so in God's name is, as we say around my place, chutzpa. It shouldn't be done overseas. It shouldn't be done locally. And with very few exceptions, it isn't done by Jews.
Let the educators from every tradition spread out west, east, north and south, to teach and to learn, but let them leave their expectations of winning souls at home. Believers and non-believers alike have been blessed abundantly and ought to join in gratitude for those blessings, not in competition to prove that my god's better than your god.
By
Jack Moline
|
March 1, 2010; 1:47 PM ET
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Posted by: Rongoklunk | March 8, 2010 10:47 AM
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This is why Judaism is one of the most respectable of the monotheistic traditions (along with Zoroastrians and Sikhs). Thank you for your insights.
Posted by: WilliamHood | March 4, 2010 7:52 PM
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Wonderful statement. This is the perfect response to this question.
Thank you, Rabbi Moline, for putting the basics into perspective so that everyone should be able to understand.
Posted by: haveaheart | March 3, 2010 4:21 PM
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PROSELYTIZATION is a manifestation of the SUPREMACIST foundation of Christianity & Islam.
No one else has this serious flaw that Christians and Muslims have in their "religions" or spiritual systems. Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Jews, Wiccans, Animists, etc.. are all trying to make themselves better, not trying to undermine others.
Conversion has caused some of the biggest problems in third world countries.
The "charity" and "kind deeds" are insincere and deceptive actions, and therefore, are acts of evil.
Muslims & Christians don't seem to get the basics of goodness and spirituality. Pretending to be good while having and ulterior motive fools no one and is an act of evil. This can lead to crusades and suicide terrorism.
REMEMBER: Almost all religious conflicts in the world involve Muslims or Christians on one side or both.
Sneakiness, deception, conversion, undermining other cultures, etc... is offensive and nonspiritual.
You really feel the urge to do charity? Go to the inner city in America and help those in need. Look in your own family and help those who are depressed or drunk or angry.
Stop going to 3rd world countries and causing problems & hurting others.
Posted by: clearthinking1 | March 2, 2010 7:31 PM
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Have you noticed that everyone is glad to be what they are? My friend a catholic thanks god every morning for making him a catholic, while another friend - a mormon - thanks god for making him a mormon. Quakers thank god for making them quakers, while evangelicals thank god for making them evangelicals, and muslims thank allah for making them muslims.
I thank nogod for making me an atheist, which when you think about it is the only rational approach to ancient beliefs. Gods do not actually exist outside of one's head. Every single god was made up by gullible superstitionists who knew no better.
It is so good to be free of gods, I wouldn't have it any other way.