re: Israeli rabbis launch war on Christmas tree

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primitive religions

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I can't speak for Judaism or Islam, but Christianity has evolved.

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"To determine who rules over you, find out who you are not allowed to criticize." -Voltaire

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Damn...that's pretty apt

But that would mean that everyone but straight white men rules over us...

Tell them to go do some taxes

If we merely substituted Israeli rabbis with Iranian clerics in this article most of the folks on the board would be calling for us to nuke Iran.

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Islam was designed by Mohammed to be "better" than Judaism.

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Well, considering how Islam is worse than everything else on the planet, ole Mo failed, miserably.

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This all seems a little ironic since the Israeli Prime Minister put out a video wishing Christians worldwide a Merry Christmas.

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This is what is important for the people on this board to take away from this thread before they blindly start spouting this as representative of Israel.

This is strictly from the ultra Orthodox segment of the Jewish Israeli population, which is barely 10% of the population.

As a Christian that has spent extended time in Israel on several occasions, the VAST majority of Israelis are extremely accepting and welcoming of all faiths that journey to The Holy Land and do everything they can to make the experience one that will leave anyone longing to return.

As for the other poster that mentioned the evolution of Christianity, Judaism has absolutely evolved over the centuries as well, with Conservative and Reform now making up the great majority of the religion both worldwide and within Israel.

The Orthodox population is similar to the radical fringes of any other religion such as radical Islam or fundamental Christian groups such as Westboro Baptist.

They are a nuisance to the governing majority, and a big reason why the disputed settlements, mostly along the West Bank, continue to be an ongoing issue. Notably, however, while they are a nuisance because of their stubbornness and unwillingness to relinquish the lands they now inhabit, they do not preach violence, and are not terrorists, which is the clear difference between the Orthodox rabbis and the sharia clerics the other poster tried to minimize. Orthodox Jews do not breed suicide bombers, or Foster violent attacks of any kind.

Please do not mistake any media representation of this as some standard by which to judge Israel and our relationship with them. Even in their own article, they make it clear that the common and accepted practice by the businesses of the country has been to embrace the traditions of Christmas to encourage Westerners to visit during the holidays.

It is truly the most remarkable place I have visited, and look forward to my next trip back soon.


ETA: Oh, and for your troubles. L'chaim!!

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I wouldn't call that a slight difference. But that's just me.

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In the grand scheme of things, it's fricking miniscule, but we blow it way out of proportion. Kind of his point.

Primitive is a great way to describe this strange world. we are evolving nowhere fast! We let others think for us and the others have their own agendas.