Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
I've already responded to one of your posts.
Kirksey calls for thoughts, rather than arguments, in response to his perceptions. Well, first, I think that he was hoping for a response from Jewish users, which he failed to get. Clearly, they don't visit this forum, or don't post, or something.
Regarding your conundrum--I guess you made the assumpt ...[text shortened]... agree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it".
Kirksey calls for thoughts, rather than arguments, in response to his perceptions.
An argument is a thought backed by reasoning and/or evidence.
Regarding your conundrum--I guess you made the assumption that one must pray to God to be a Jew; well, atheist, communist and fascist Jews exist; then there those like my friend of mine whom I spoke to the other day--she doesn't know the meaning behind Hanukkah, but will forever consider herself a Jew. So, your conundrum sounds hollow.
In the context of the kind of "thinking" that kirksey is referring to, it should be obvious we are not talking about the racial aspect of Jews - we are talking about the spiritual and cultural aspect (which is really the same thing - Jewish culture flows from the Jewish faith). Racially, atheists, fascists and communists may very well be Jews - but we are not talking about them here. From kirksey's comment on
atheists "defending" the Jews, it is clear he is looking at the issue through a theological prism, not a racial one.
As such, my conundrum still stands.
From an atheist perspective (as I see it), another person's religious belief does not make them any more or less human or worthy of consideration; a believer is as likely as an atheist to be a fool.
First of all, let's not over-generalise "the atheist perspective". Communism was an atheist perspective, and in the communist view, a religious person was indeed less worthy of consideration.
Second, do you think it is any different in the theist perspective?
A quote from an atheist: "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it".
You may want to revisit your Voltaire; he was very much a theist (more precisely, a deist):
http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111vol.html