This is course is the direction todays euthanasia movement, otherwise named 'the reproductive rights movement'.
So I don't put much weight behind his assessment of the people then, nor his own overview of the history
of athens of 1000 bc. And there was no greek nation state(s) then- otherwise known as he 'hellenes', but just some primitive city states. The Jewish culture and civilization was in high gear, the accounts of those peoples giving the pre socratics their start have survived to this day. That early jewish peoples had enormous gifts may be a far more reasonable assessment

So here it is.... this has been going on for decades and now, it's finally an overwhelming problem. So- where's the state gov and officials to have a real act of government. They could establish an ongoing hunt for pythons, with bounty fees and the market for skins and meat could go to whatever feed and or manure factory's. Also, the outlawing of the importation of pythons into the state of florida and the fining of anyone caught dumping animals especially snakes into the Everglades. For once, we have a problem, identified with easy enough solutions. Now, how much you want to be none of the obvious solutions get accomplished?

"...but only if interfaith dialogue stops being a monologue that runs in one direction only: from Muslim to non-Muslim. Only if Muslims stop slapping a smiley face on Islamic theology, and stop blaming the media and non-Muslim ignorance/prejudice for Islam’s bad reputation."
And I find this disturbing because we're 25 years past this necessity. We are now at the point of experiencing the utter denials of responsibility of the islamic teachings, the utter denials of the broad swatch of homicidist, slaughterers, and their enablers who are from all of Islam, not the 'poorest' or the arabs of 'palestine' but the entirety of the believing community's across each and every muslim land, immigrant and expatriate populous.
Remember when such as the General of the army base at Ft Hood, who's commentary after the slaughter of his people, by a muslim army major, who screamed allahu akbar, and who announced it in oh so obvious ways many times for the two years prior to his slaughtering- that he was a believing muslim. And the General's comment was- that it would be a tragedy if the diversity of the army were sacrificed because of the events.
Trajedy? A trajedy is a bloody slaughter that could have been prevented if mind numbing propaganda had not been enforced by the government, our own culture, and reinforced so vulgarly again, a few months ago when it was declared that the slaughter at Ft Hood was a 'workplace' incident.
We are long long past the time when we meow about how we should be 'open, and honest' and a dialogue that goes only in one direction.
For even suggesting the contrary will bring massive denouement, denial, calls of racism, hatred, bigotry, and worse to the 'offender' And the slaughters continue, and the imposition of sharia, continues, and the appeasement continues.... without any intension of 'dialogue'. We have the imposition by Obama ( hell, GW Bush might have similarly allowed this too for what it's worth) of the muslim Brotherhood and Hamas across north africa, and now anointed them as partners in democracy. And the author thinks we can suggest honest dialogue from all of this???

The 'key' is certainly there. And what is the key to this dissimulation- this historical and moral inversion?
It is the eternal islamic 'key' of submitting all others, as eternal liars, who've by definition are liars for stealing the 'right' of muslims to their rule, to their 'right' of submission. That includes always defining themselves as vicims of perfidy, for their not being able to take what is 'their's' by 'right. It is a never ending sinkhole.
it is an emptiness, a never to be filled emptiness, that demands all others subserviance and self defines
the arabs, the muslims, as oppressed if they are not given their way, their due.

And that's why there is nothing to be gained by seeking 'peace' with those, who define peace as that which calls for everything to be theirs, changing any and all history to give the appearance of their 'right' to others lands, others nations, others freedoms.

The west is currently bartering away it's hard won freedoms, in order to make a 'peace' so as not to insult
the barbarians, of Islam, who demand that nothing of Islam, ever be criticized, that everything of everyone else, is allowed to be subverted thru a false narrative, and who's resulting historical useage meant tyranny, meant decline of all others cultures and the destruction of freedoms and inquiry that made others cultures always more productive, more inventive, and vastly more free than all Islamic lands.
The key is to open one's mind, one's eyes and tell the truths- starting with that Mein Kampf of tomes, the Qu'ran, that history of tyranny known as the caliphate, and all the attempts to barter away western liberties and freedoms as peddled by the OIC, the UN, and the Left, who vigorously support the decline of the western society as constituted.

(continued)
....But this modesty does not determine our personality, individually or nationally, as that of meekness. Seven days after fleeing Egypt we had no choice but to jump into the sea, our fate being totally in the hands of G-d. But shortly afterward, the fledgling Jewish people were attacked by Amalakites, the most evil of all peoples, who rejected the concept of a G-dly people, and attempted to annihilate us almost before we were able to live as a people. We were then transformed into warriors, who were victorious only when Moses held his hands a high, pointing to the heavens, reminding the fighters to put their overall faith, not in their own hands, but in the Divine hands of the Creator. But warriors they were, fighting for survival against a deadly enemy. A soldier cannot be meek. They are two opposite attributes. But this is the wonder of the Jewish people, even upon their creation: on the one hand, seeming submissiveness, yet on the other hand, fierce combatants on the battlefield.
Perhaps part of our troubles at present is confusion as to our role, and our national personality. Are we to be fighters or are we to be timid? The answer is, of course, both of the above, depending on the given situation. There are times when it is necessary to set our pride ablaze. Yet there are other times when we are called on to battle without fear and without any restraint. For example, Samuel was a prophet, a seer, a man of G-d, holy from birth. Yet it is written that he cut the Amalakite King Agog to pieces with a sword.
Hametz too has different characteristics at different times. For one week during the year we are forbidden to eat it, or take any pleasure from it. The other fifty one weeks of the year it is not only permissible, it is also a necessary and normal part of our lives. Which then, is the real quality of Hametz? Quantitatively, all year minus one week. But in term of quality, in terms of setting the tone of our lives, determining how we should live, our life’s ideal, the one week of Pesach takes precedence. So it is personally, as so it is nationally, as a people.
The Torah commands us, not only to burn Hametz prior to Pesach. It also instructs to literally, ‘burn the evil from your midst.. In Hebrew, “u’biarta hara mikirbecha.” This phrase is used numerous times in the Bible, telling us that, at times, normal punishment is not enough. Sometimes the evil must be totally destroyed – the evil must be set afire and burned, until nothing of it remains.
Israeli security forces set forth, a month ago, searching for Hametz. Early this afternoon the media reported what some already knew for some time. The creatures who massacred the Fogel family, two teenage cousins, had been apprehended. The details are difficult to fathom. First two children were butchered and then the parents. And then, after they left the house, only to return to search for weapons, did they discover four month old Hadas, crying in her bed. Then, she too was slaughtered. The butchers showed no remorse, except for the fact that they hadn’t noticed two other children in the house. Had they seen them, they too would have been brutally murdered.
The butchers from Awarta, (the village where they lived, adjacent to Itamar), must not be allowed to continue to live. They must be tried, as quickly as possible, and executed. As the verse says, evil must be burned from our midst. Those who directly helped them, before and after the massacre, they must die too. There can be no mercy for participants of a massacre. The entire village, Awarta, must be razed and burned to the ground, all its citizens expelled to Lebanon or Egypt. For they all knew, and did nothing. And that site must remain ash, just as Hametz is burned and left as ash, an eternal reminder that the Jewish people are not meek, that we know what to do and how to do it, when necessary.
But not far from there, next to Itamar, the State of Israel must establish a new city, called Fogel, building fifty thousand homes – ten thousand for each member of the Fogel family murdered.
And we will know, and our neighbors will know, and the entire world will know – we will not be massacred – we will burn the Hametz in our midst, we will seek out and burn the evil in our midst and we will live in our land, for this is the goal of Passover, not to end slavery, not to walk in the desert, but to settle and live in our land, as a free people, in our land, Eretz Yisrael.

Amen- and here's the story of the homicidists who slaughtered a jewish family sleeping, including cutting the head off, of an infant baby, when they came back and found it crying for it's mommy.... this is Islam, this is Mohammed, this is what we need to see daily plastered on our newscreens so we can deny them any and all special privilege in non muslim lands and end any Sharia that they attempt to peddle in our lands.... Here is an article today, by David Wilder, one of the residents and spokesman of Hebron, Israel, on Passover, and the slaughters of that family- the fogels, already forgotten by the media.
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Passover has arrived. This is one of those times during the year when I really feel ok with myself. Working as a spokesperson, with all types of media and journalists doesn’t always leave me with a good, warm sensation. However, Passover, in Hebrew, Pesach, is known for the hidden words “Pe” “Sach” – “Pe,” meaning mouth, and “Sach”, meaning speaks. In other words, sometimes it’s a mitzvah, a positive commandment, to talk.
Now is one of those times.
On the evening prior to the start of Pesach, observant Jews search their homes, ensuring that all “Hametz,” that is leavening, has been removed from the premises. Leavened bread, that is regular bread, baked using yeast, is forbidden during the seven day festival. Only Matza, that is unleavened bread, baked only with water and flour, is permitted. And any food product considered to be ‘hametz,’ not kosher for Pesach, must be removed from a person’s home. The final search is conducted the night before the “Seder,” which marks the beginning of the holiday.
The next morning, only hours before the start of Pesach, any remaining Hametz is burned, until the only residue is ash.

According to many Jewish scholars, Hametz represents much more than simple leavening. Leavened bread rises as it bakes; this is compared to the trait of pride. Too much pride can lead to haughtiness. Matza, unleavened bread, represents an opposite characteristic, that of humility. Therefore, on the anniversary of the birth of the Jewish people, as a people, being redeemed from the oppression in Egypt, so too we attempt to reduce our arrogance and self-importance and behave more humbly. For this reason, on the morning prior to commencement of Passover, we burn our Hametz, thereby symbolically obliterating our self-conceit.... (continued)

And again, no need to debate theologic differences... but tomm night we will celebrate that and the burning of the pascal lamb. That was the tenth plague of the Seder of Pesach. It was more like making god burgers out of the pagan egyptian god, or as one commentator of modern stripes noted- 'it was dissing the man in his hood'. The celebration of the freedom, and Liberty, and so much more comes with what the Seder represents. You may believe as you wish- I don't, but I respect your belief, even as it is contrary to the Torah and Talmud. But that doesn't matter. You can go further and farther on good deeds according to Hashem and his Torah and Talmud than I, if your deeds warrant such- and therein layth the lesson. Now..... I have not misinterpreted what you said although yes... it as a jew that I understand you interpretation, and I disagree.... but when you say christians have another sacrifice and don't need the jewish ones, why that is an excuse Islam uses too.... they say, the jews were ignorant and didn't accept Isa ( jesus) and christians were ignorant and didn't accept Mohammed, so they lose their portion and worse.....
And of the three, only the Torah and Judaism had it's scriptures borrowed by both and said that people didn't have to be jews to reach a further heavenly reward- Islam is barbaric and evil in it's deceptive sharia demanding hateful tyrannic bigotry. Christianity came a long way from tormenting, torturing, and murdering jews for nothing at all unto the great creation of the US Constitution, the federal republic and the development of this land so capable of granting liberty and justice for so many here and all over the world. By the way- one of my favorite tomes in that regard is Orianna Fallaci's 'The Rage and The Pride' written as she was watching the twin towers burn, and devoted the last years of her life to detailing the Islamic Jihad, the threat to Western civilization thru self destruction and her own deeply detailed involvement having been an interviewer of most of the players of politics in the world. I'd recommend reading Prof Paul Eidelberg's wonderful text- 'A Jewish Philosophy of History'- he who incidentally wrote a text on the US Constitution which President Ronald Reagan read just before he came to the presidency and while Eidelberg was still at the U of Chicago. Now he resides in Israel these last 30 yrs and his book is one you will find most engaging. Oh, and just for dessert- may I recommend Lisa Aiken's 'Genesis- the untold story'. She was a not very religious lady who became devotedly orthodox, who was Chairman of the Dept of Psychology at NYU medical center in the 80's I think, and although she's not some famous rabbi, her ability to discuss and take apart issues and illuminate them is most gratifying.

Toodles

Which is fine.... you can do what you wish, and from Torah's perspective since your not Jewish as long as you follow the noachide laws you go to heavenly reward etc etc. And as far as Torah Judaism is concerned, have a nice day, life and go with God etc etc. Now.... I said it was a waste of time to debate this and it already is, because you say David and the priests broke laws and it ain't so, but NT folks like to go down that road part and parcel with given up the 613 commandments and adding a new one... that only Jeshu can save anyone. Which is fine for you... not me, and God did not say any of that- but again it's pointless for us to argue that- esp here. Your point about Islam and it's belief system- which I pointed out as dualistic and essentially evil in it's duality, allows for it to slaughter infidels and make any and all excuses to demand that it's submission of the planet is being thwarted and that is evil, since infidels have no right to thwart Islam's control and submission of all others, etc etc etc ad nauseum.
Again, you can believe as you wish.... you could go farther and higher and deeper into that firmer divinity than I, according to the Torah, and the Talmud- which is what you're calling the high priests laws et al..... the oral Torah came with the written Torah and we Jews follow those with absolutely no
obligation for non jews to follow them but with the same chance of heavenly reward as Jews.
And it took Christiandom a long time to get close to that- it's not there yet- but close and as such- we don't cut each others heads off, and scream 'god is greater' like these pagan muslims do with their god, who drenches himself, his followers and all the victims in tyranny and blood.

Except of course, your argument is incorrect as regards the 'Old Testament'. And that troubles me. O'Donnel you said argues: "...the Bible, which of course calls for death to children who disobey their parents and death to people who do not observe the Sabbath, and, death to adulterers. No one believes the Bible was right about that anymore, not even Beck. People like Beck hide from you the passages in the Bible that are clearly wrong, for the most part they get away with that."

And your argument is that Jesus did away with the Bible laws because he came to 'save' not 'condemn'.

Of course, Your analysis of the 'Old Testament' is incorrect- factually and historically.
Only one person was ever killed for disobeying the Sabbath- and Moses, the greatest of the Prophets, was baffled as what to do. God told him that in this case, he had to have the man killed.

Now- one person in all history was killed for that.... why? Do you understand, or even know what it represents? No... you don't.
The Children of Israel were about to engage the cannanite tribes and like any nation at war, there are rules for times of war. Just look at our or any nation at a time of war. And the man deliberately disobeyed the commandment to observe and love the Shabbas, and in that time, he by order of God was put to death.

But no others.... why? why is that?
And as for the children, none were put to death, and as for adulterers, few, and of course now, none... why, why is that? It wasn't because the 'Torah' was wrong, or the jabberings of a fickle God that Jesus had to 'correct'. He was just a man.

God's rules aren't the playthings for 'hypocrites' and those who like to twist meanings and realities to make things look as they wish them to look. And the author here does that for Christian belief as opposed to the Torah of Israel and Jews. Which was used to create a system of justice and freedom that allowed for the western world to evolve and create itself, in our federal republics system here in the US.
The author slams the God of Israel, and indirectly, Jews, without even a twinge, nor a regret.

But notice, we jews won't be burning any new testaments, nor will christians be burning any 'old testaments'
The totality of the 'Torah' was to seed the world with the knowledge of God almighty, and across all faiths- except one- it did just that with this: 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'.

That is ALL others. And thanks very much for your lack of understanding of 'Torah' and making it something it wasn't, and claiming credit for 'saving' people and the world when it all came from the Torah.
We can debate this, but it's a waste of time. The point about Islam, being a tyranny, created by a man who copied the Torah, Talmud, new testament, old arab stories, and was called a liar, a copier of bible stories and worse by his own tribe, who's 'religion' is a dualistic belief system that has a system of 'ethics' based on one set for 'believers' and another for non-believers is quite accurate.

Yet, good people can be good people anywhere and from any 'belief' if their deeds are 'good'. In Islam, good at the highest level means dying while killing Infidels. This is not the martyrdom of the Torah, nor of Christiainity where one dies for one's beliefs.

The writer is incorrect and needs to study and do her homework lest she make an argument a clever muslim could use to turn right back upon her thru her ignorance.

The real speedbump was Stewart telling Salman Rushdie that he was sorry he offended by his having Yusuf Islam at his rally for 'sanity'. Especially since Islam, the muslim, was in favor of a slaughtering of Rushdie, burning him for his 'apostasy'. In other words, it was ok for Rushdie's freedom of speech to be burned alive along with him, according to Stewart.....