If you hadn't had kids...
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If you hadn't had kids...
| Thu, 05-20-2004 - 10:34pm |
And your dh made enough $$ to support both of you comfortably, do you think you would be working?
| Thu, 05-20-2004 - 10:34pm |
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If some of the Christians on this board spent half as much time volunteering on behalf of *their* religions as you do on yours, maybe Christianity wouldn't have such a bad rap.
When you call the crucifixion a "human sacrifice," if sounds as if you see these two things as different sides of the same coin. I'm no Christian, but surely you see that there's a moral difference there?
Is stealing a loaf of bread from a hungry person equivalent to giving a loaf of bread to a hungry person, too?
But anyway, with regard to the armed guards in temple thing, this is/was my thought process. Before 9/11, I went to temple with no thought to safety. When I first converted, my DH said, "You know you're setting yourself up for harrassment by becoming Jewish, don't you?" I had no clue. I was so happy with becoming Jewish, I didn't even think about what it has been like for Jews to be Jews in Europe and America.
Since 9/11, we have had armed guards in temple for the high holy days. That first year, DH leaned over to me and said, "That man in the row ahead is packing heat." I said, "What??? How do you know?" "I know," he said. We had lunch at the Rabbi's that day so I asked -- did we have armed officers at services? We had indeed. Three of them. I was blown away. We have had them ever since.
What bothers me is that this is America, the land of religious freedom, and in a sense, we are not free to worship as we like. I, and others like me, have to worry about going to temple. That bothered me. I know that people worry about sending their children to public school due to gun violence or letting them play out of doors unsupervised, but religious freedom is a constitutional right. Having guards said to me my right was being limited. Does that make sense? The reason I bring Christianity into it is because Christianity is the majority religion and I don't think anyone worries about going to worship at church. Do you? Do you worry about getting blown up in church because you are a Christian? I'm not saying Christians will come blow Jews up. I'm just asking, "Doesn't it bother you that people who want to worship have to worry about this?" It bothers me.
I live in a semi-rural area that doesn't have a large Jewish population. I think we have two Jewish families in our town, if that. Unlike my Christian neighbors, I don't hang holiday themed flags. They hang Easter flags, flags with crosses, Christmas flags etc. I would not dare hang a Star of David or place my mennorah in the window at Chanukah; I am too afraid to. Again, I'm not saying Christians will come place a burning cross on our lawn. I'm saying it bothers me that in America I am afraid to do this. Does that make sense?
As to the burning bag of dog sh*t, that was only one incident. I think I posted before that the year previous, somone took a contractor-sized box of large nails and poured them on the street in front of our temple so no one could park. The city had to come clean them up. This year we were leafleted by a hate group. I wish you could have seen the ugly pictures and words. They were frightening. Again, I'm not saying Christians are doing this. I am saying it bothers me that in America this is happening. And not only in America. All over Europe, too.
So that is what I meant. As I said, I had no clue what a minority group experiences. Now that I'm Jewish, I understand a tiny bit what African Americans and other minorities have gone through. It isn't a good feeling.
Does that make sense now?
Shalom.
outside_the_box_mom
My niece and nephew were here at Christmas. Nephew, 5, says "poopypants."
I tell my sister, "Hmm. DS1 doesn't use potty talk. He doesn't even know what it is. Must be an age thing."
Two seconds later, DS1 says, "You can't say "poopypants, and you can't say fvck."
PumpkinAngel
Great.....so now you can
PumpkinAngel
Quite honestly, the majority of this country may be "Christian" but you're forgetting the religion of terrorists (Timothy McVeigh and his cohorts excluded) generally isn't the Christian faith. We're not preaching jihad and haven't declared a holy war on anyone, the holy war has been declared on us.
And of the "Christian majority," how many of those are devout? Probably less than more...
JMHO, C
C
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