Video: History of Religion

[Lennon]

From the movie Zeitgeist : The greatest story ever told

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1543831119879192379&hl=en

[edhopper]

1. It always amazes me

how little people know of other religions or the antecedents of their own religion.
By and large the Christians and Jews I have met have no knowledge how much of their religion was taken from other religions in existence at that time.
In fact, I have had Christians argue with me that one of the reasons for their belief in Christ is how unique their religion is.
Most fellow Jews I know actually believe that Moses existed and know nothing of the Babylonian origins of most of the Old Testament.

[Meshuga]

2. My perception is different

I have a different perception being a member of a conservative synagogue and as former member of different Reform congregations. The documentary hypothesis, for example, is widely accepted. Pagan roots are recognized in Torah commentaries such as Etz Hayim, which is used in the conservative movement in Torah classes and haftarah readings.

90% of religious Jews in America are non-orthodox (Reform, Conservative, etc.) and except for a minority within the Conservative movement, most non-orthodox recognize Torah as Jewish mythology. The Orthodox see Torah as God given at Sinai so I assume Moses had to exist in their opinion. :-)

[edhopper]

3. That's interesting

I am usually greeted by stares at Passover when I mention that Moses wasn't a real person.

[Meshuga]

4. You would get a stare from me too

Because you are spoiling the mood! :-)

Moses is fictional but he is our man since he helped in delivering the birth of the Jewish people, pushing us through the birth canal (the reed sea). So in our tradition Moses was "real". He kind of has to be real, specially during passover.

But go to a Torah class at your nearest synagogue and you will see what I mean. That's when we take off the goggles, turn off the fantasy world, and discuss the possible intention and context from the authors based on the analysis of the Hebrew text.

How did you get stuck celebrating Passover? Poor you! :-)

[edhopper]

5. I don't

stand up and announce that "Moses is a fake!" It would be during an after dinner conversation. I am very retiring in my atheist views.
I sometimes go to Passover at my cousins because it's more of a family get together. So I sit through the service to get to the food and talk. I do like gefelta fish, simis and kuggle.

[Meshuga]

6. I like the wine and look forward to the brisket at the end

But still it would be rather silly for people to get annoyed at you just because you question the historicity of Moses and exodus. Unless they are orthodox Jews. Even if they aren't orthodox, they'd probably be giving the same stare toward conservative/reform rabbis and congregants if they ever attended torah classes at synagogues. Or after reading books about the principles and beliefs of the Conservative and Reform movements which make up about 90% of religious Jews.

It is fair to say that some Jews, most likely the unaffiliated, tend to "Christianize" Judaism given the fact that we live in a society where Christians are the majority.

[DeSwiss]

7. I've seen this and it was great.....

...and there are other vids and resources. http://www.atheisttoolbox.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4849">Link

[Disturbed]

8. Aproximately how many years after the Universe was

created was it that God revealed himself to Moses via a burning bush?

It seems strange that God waited so many years to finally declare his
existence doesn't it?

[DeSwiss]

9. I suppose the answer to this....

...would depend upon which erroneous creationist timetable one uses for the beginning of the universe. If one uses the standard rounded 6,000 years and that Moses was reputed to have "existed" around 1300 BCE. That would mean that Yahweh waited some 4,700 years before he laid down any rules.

But more interesting to me is that I've never had anyone explain to me, how it was that Yahweh delivered his "Ten Rules To Live By" in approximately 1300 BCE to Moses, and yet the earliest forms of Hebrew writing only date to around 1000 BCE. That would mean that those Rules were delivered on the mount in a script that didn't yet exist. And the 1000 BCE timeframe references the earliest known forms of Hebrew writing, not religious writing per se. Hebrew was itself a derivative of the Phoenician script which was later adopted and modified by the Greeks from approximately 2000 BCE.

And this simply addresses the timeframe disconnect concerning the delivery of The Rules. What this also suggests to me is that the whole of the biblical narrative account consolidated into its earliest forms of the Torah, had to have been handed down (even using the creationist's timeframe) for almost 5,000 years as a spoken historical account, before Hebrew writing was invented to preserve it. All of which leaves much to be desired for those who champion the idea that the bible is an accurate and exact replication of the word of god. I don't know how this could ever be so, given the adulteration that occurs with just things like rumors which are drastically altered when delivered from one person to the next in a day or two.

Of course personally, I give no validity to the bible being the word of god, but rather several jumbled versions of the words from myths spoken by many gods, and of many beliefs that were later censored, homogenized and condensed. And then translated several times over by the very people who had a vested interest in the words saying what they wanted them to say.

- And after all that, they still managed to screw it up.