Posted by yxibow on November 14, 2008, at 2:31:57
In reply to Re: Marriage definition » yxibow, posted by rskontos on November 12, 2008, at 18:37:28
> Jay,
>
> my sister and I were just recently trying to figure out what agnostic meant. You say you have religion, you identify with the Jewish religion you just don't go to temple. So is that mainly the definition. If you don't mind explaining, I would appreciate the education.
>
> Thanks
>
> rskWell I believe in the general principles of Zionism, the believe of Theodore Herzl and later scholars, that there should be a home state for those Jews who were being pushed and persecuted in Europe (among other places) into what was known as the "Pale of Settlement" in Eastern Europe in the late 19th century -- I don't want to get into a religious or secular argument on that one and I support and identify with the state of Israel and her delicate balance.
I do this because of personal belief, the family that perished in the Shoah (Holocaust), and a general belief that a mere 15 million people should not be persecuted, especially those who live in Israel and literally fought wars because they were told they were going to "be pushed into the sea". I also do this because I am interested in the distant genealogy of some of my family roots.
This opens a lot of arguments about Israeli politics and the like and I'd rather not get into discussing it other than pointing out that if Vermont or New Jersey (about the size, maybe a little smaller) were suddenly having pipe bombs thrown into Newark by some splinter groups, you can bet there would be a National Guard reply.
That would be a typical view of a moderate secular Jew in the US -- secular meaning that they rarely go to temple, possibly they do, but they have a large separation of church and state.
Agnostic is a very hard thing to describe -- basically its a belief that maybe there is a god but I can't define it, because for one thing I have a very scientific background and it just can't justify it. Yet when those few near death experiences happen, maybe there is a higher force, perhaps one that created the many universes before this one. That's my view anyhow.
There's much more esoteric and difficult to comprehend discussion at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostic
Agnosticism is not atheism.
-- Jay
poster:yxibow
thread:861505
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20081002/msgs/862981.html