Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. - Blaise Pascal
(ה) וַיַּ֣רְא יְהוָ֔ה כִּ֥י רַבָּ֛ה רָעַ֥ת הָאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וְכָל־יֵ֙צֶר֙ מַחְשְׁבֹ֣ת לִבּ֔וֹ רַ֥ק רַ֖ע כָּל־הַיּֽוֹם׃ (ו) וַיִּנָּ֣חֶם יְהוָ֔ה כִּֽי־עָשָׂ֥ה אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וַיִּתְעַצֵּ֖ב אֶל־לִבּֽוֹ׃
(5) The LORD saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time. (6) And the LORD regretted that He had made man on earth, and His heart was saddened.
Too often in the history of religion, people have killed in the name of the God of life, waged war in the name of the God of peace, hatred in the name of the God of love, and practised cruelty in the name of the God of compassion. When this happens, God speaks, sometimes in a still, small, voice almost inaudible beneath the clamour of those claiming to speak on his behalf. what he says at those times is: Not in My Name. (Sacks, p. 3)
Sack's thesis is that monotheism emerged as a 'sustained protest' over hierarchy: "Religion was the robe of sanctity worn to mask the naked pursuit of power."
"It was against this background that Abrahamic monotheism emerged as a sustained protest. Not all at once but ultimately it made extraordinary claims. It said that every human being regardless of colour, culture, class or creed, was in the image and likeness of God. (Sacks p.4)
"It was against this background that Abrahamic monotheism emerged as a sustained protest. Not all at once but ultimately it made extraordinary claims. It said that every human being regardless of colour, culture, class or creed, was in the image and likeness of God. (Sacks p.4)
Abraham himself, the man revered by 2.4 billion Christians, 1.6 billion Muslims, and 13 million Jews ruled no empire, commanded no army, conquered no territory, performed no miracles, commanded no army, conquered no territory, performed no miracles and delivered no prophecies. Though he lived differently from his neighbours, he fought for them and prayed for them in osme of the most audacious language ever uttered by a human to God - 'Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?'
(כ) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָ֔ה זַעֲקַ֛ת סְדֹ֥ם וַעֲמֹרָ֖ה כִּי־רָ֑בָּה וְחַ֨טָּאתָ֔ם כִּ֥י כָבְדָ֖ה מְאֹֽד׃ (כא) אֵֽרֲדָה־נָּ֣א וְאֶרְאֶ֔ה הַכְּצַעֲקָתָ֛הּ הַבָּ֥אָה אֵלַ֖י עָשׂ֣וּ ׀ כָּלָ֑ה וְאִם־לֹ֖א אֵדָֽעָה׃ (כב) וַיִּפְנ֤וּ מִשָּׁם֙ הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים וַיֵּלְכ֖וּ סְדֹ֑מָה וְאַ֨בְרָהָ֔ם עוֹדֶ֥נּוּ עֹמֵ֖ד לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃ (כג) וַיִּגַּ֥שׁ אַבְרָהָ֖ם וַיֹּאמַ֑ר הַאַ֣ף תִּסְפֶּ֔ה צַדִּ֖יק עִם־רָשָֽׁע׃ (כד) אוּלַ֥י יֵ֛שׁ חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים צַדִּיקִ֖ם בְּת֣וֹךְ הָעִ֑יר הַאַ֤ף תִּסְפֶּה֙ וְלֹא־תִשָּׂ֣א לַמָּק֔וֹם לְמַ֛עַן חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים הַצַּדִּיקִ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר בְּקִרְבָּֽהּ׃ (כה) חָלִ֨לָה לְּךָ֜ מֵעֲשֹׂ֣ת ׀ כַּדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֗ה לְהָמִ֤ית צַדִּיק֙ עִם־רָשָׁ֔ע וְהָיָ֥ה כַצַּדִּ֖יק כָּרָשָׁ֑ע חָלִ֣לָה לָּ֔ךְ הֲשֹׁפֵט֙ כָּל־הָאָ֔רֶץ לֹ֥א יַעֲשֶׂ֖ה מִשְׁפָּֽט׃
(20) Then the LORD said, “The outrage of Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave! (21) I will go down to see whether they have acted altogether according to the outcry that has reached Me; if not, I will take note.” (22) The men went on from there to Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the LORD. (23) Abraham came forward and said, “Will You sweep away the innocent along with the guilty? (24) What if there should be fifty innocent within the city; will You then wipe out the place and not forgive it for the sake of the innocent fifty who are in it? (25) Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”
The idea, ignored for many of the intervening centuries remains the simplest definition of the Abrahamic faith. It is not our task to conquer or convert the world or enforce uniformity of belief. It is our task to be a blessing to the world...to invoke God to justify violence against he innocent is not a sanctity, but a sacrilege. It is a kind of blasphemy. It is to take God's name in vain. Sacks p.5
Rise of fundamentalism
Every text needs interpretation. Every interpretation needs wisdom. Every wisdom needs careful negotiation between the timeless and time. Fundamentalism reads texts as if God were as simple as we are. That is unlikely to be true. Sacks, p.207
Every text needs interpretation. Every interpretation needs wisdom. Every wisdom needs careful negotiation between the timeless and time. Fundamentalism reads texts as if God were as simple as we are. That is unlikely to be true. Sacks, p.207
(יח) כִּֽי־יִהְיֶ֣ה לְאִ֗ישׁ בֵּ֚ן סוֹרֵ֣ר וּמוֹרֶ֔ה אֵינֶ֣נּוּ שֹׁמֵ֔עַ בְּק֥וֹל אָבִ֖יו וּבְק֣וֹל אִמּ֑וֹ וְיסְּר֣וּ אֹת֔וֹ וְלֹ֥א יִשְׁמַ֖ע אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃
(18) If a man has a wayward and defiant son, who does not heed his father or mother and does not obey them even after they discipline him,
(יח) כִּֽי־יִהְיֶ֣ה לְאִ֗ישׁ בֵּ֚ן סוֹרֵ֣ר וּמוֹרֶ֔ה אֵינֶ֣נּוּ שֹׁמֵ֔עַ בְּק֥וֹל אָבִ֖יו וּבְק֣וֹל אִמּ֑וֹ וְיסְּר֣וּ אֹת֔וֹ וְלֹ֥א יִשְׁמַ֖ע אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃ (יט) וְתָ֥פְשׂוּ ב֖וֹ אָבִ֣יו וְאִמּ֑וֹ וְהוֹצִ֧יאוּ אֹת֛וֹ אֶל־זִקְנֵ֥י עִיר֖וֹ וְאֶל־שַׁ֥עַר מְקֹמֽוֹ׃ (כ) וְאָמְר֞וּ אֶל־זִקְנֵ֣י עִיר֗וֹ בְּנֵ֤נוּ זֶה֙ סוֹרֵ֣ר וּמֹרֶ֔ה אֵינֶ֥נּוּ שֹׁמֵ֖עַ בְּקֹלֵ֑נוּ זוֹלֵ֖ל וְסֹבֵֽא׃ (כא) וּ֠רְגָמֻהוּ כָּל־אַנְשֵׁ֨י עִיר֤וֹ בָֽאֲבָנִים֙ וָמֵ֔ת וּבִֽעַרְתָּ֥ הָרָ֖ע מִקִּרְבֶּ֑ךָ וְכָל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל יִשְׁמְע֥וּ וְיִרָֽאוּ׃ (ס)
(18) If a man has a wayward and defiant son, who does not heed his father or mother and does not obey them even after they discipline him, (19) his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the public place of his community. (20) They shall say to the elders of his town, “This son of ours is disloyal and defiant; he does not heed us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” (21) Thereupon the men of his town shall stone him to death. Thus you will sweep out evil from your midst: all Israel will hear and be afraid.
Talmud, Sanhedrin 71a (chapter 8)
There never was a ben sorer umoreh nor will there be one in the future. And why then was the law of ben sorer u'moreh written in the Torah? God says, expound the passage and you will receive reward for doing so.
There never was a ben sorer umoreh nor will there be one in the future. And why then was the law of ben sorer u'moreh written in the Torah? God says, expound the passage and you will receive reward for doing so.
...there are notorious examples in the New Testament, the Qur'an and Hadith also - require the most careful interpretation if they are not to do great harm. That is why every text-based religion develops its own traditions of interpretation. Rabbinic Judaism declared Biblicism - accepting the authority of the written word while rejecting oral tradition, the position of the Saducees and Karaites - as heresy. The rabbis said: 'One who translates a verse literally is a liar.' The point is clear: no text without interpretation; no interpretation without tradition; or as 2 Corinthians puts it, 'the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.' (NIV, 2 Cor. 3:6) Sacks,208
What happens in the case of fundamentalism is a kind of principled impatience with this whole process (of interpretation). A radical thinker decides that the reilgious establishment is corrupt. In his eyes it has made peachw ithte world, compromised its ideals and failed to live up to the pristine demands of the faith. p.210 Sacks
In Islam much of the energy that produced the new radicalism came out of a deep disillusionment with the secularisation and Westernisation of traditional societies after the First World War and the fall of the Ottoman Empire. In each case the radical new-traditionalists felt the force of the echoing quesiton: 'What shall profit a man, if he gains the whole world and loses his soul' (KJV, Mark 8:36). Fundamentalism emerges when people feel that the world has been allowed to defeat the word. They, by contrast, are determined to defeat the world by means of the word.
(ד) וְשָׁפַט֙ בֵּ֣ין הַגּוֹיִ֔ם וְהוֹכִ֖יחַ לְעַמִּ֣ים רַבִּ֑ים וְכִתְּת֨וּ חַרְבוֹתָ֜ם לְאִתִּ֗ים וַחֲנִיתֽוֹתֵיהֶם֙ לְמַזְמֵר֔וֹת לֹא־יִשָּׂ֨א ג֤וֹי אֶל־גּוֹי֙ חֶ֔רֶב וְלֹא־יִלְמְד֥וּ ע֖וֹד מִלְחָמָֽה׃ (פ)
(4) Thus He will judge among the nations And arbitrate for the many peoples, And they shall beat their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks: Nation shall not take up Sword against nation; They shall never again know war.
(ו) כִּ֣י לֹ֤א יָשַׁ֙בְתִּי֙ בְּבַ֔יִת לְ֠מִיּוֹם הַעֲלֹתִ֞י אֶת־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם וְעַ֖ד הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה וָאֶֽהְיֶה֙ מִתְהַלֵּ֔ךְ בְּאֹ֖הֶל וּבְמִשְׁכָּֽן׃ (ז) בְּכֹ֥ל אֲשֶֽׁר־הִתְהַלַּכְתִּי֮ בְּכָל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ הֲדָבָ֣ר דִּבַּ֗רְתִּי אֶת־אַחַד֙ שִׁבְטֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁ֣ר צִוִּ֗יתִי לִרְע֛וֹת אֶת־עַמִּ֥י אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר לָ֛מָּה לֹֽא־בְנִיתֶ֥ם לִ֖י בֵּ֥ית אֲרָזִֽים׃
(6) From the day that I brought the people of Israel out of Egypt to this day I have not dwelt in a house, but have moved about in Tent and Tabernacle. (7) As I moved about wherever the Israelites went, did I ever reproach any of the tribal leaders whom I appointed to care for My people Israel: Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?
(ח) וַיְהִ֨י עָלַ֤י דְּבַר־יְהוָה֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר דָּ֤ם לָרֹב֙ שָׁפַ֔כְתָּ וּמִלְחָמ֥וֹת גְּדֹל֖וֹת עָשִׂ֑יתָ לֹֽא־תִבְנֶ֥ה בַ֙יִת֙ לִשְׁמִ֔י כִּ֚י דָּמִ֣ים רַבִּ֔ים שָׁפַ֥כְתָּ אַ֖רְצָה לְפָנָֽי׃
(8) But the word of the LORD came to me, saying,‘You have shed much blood and fought great battles; you shall not build a House for My name for you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight.
Now is the time for Jews, Christians and Muslims to say what they failed to say in the past: We are all children of Abraham. And whether we are Issac or Ishmael, Jacob or Esau, Leah or Rachel, Joseph or his brothers, we are precious in the sight of God. We are blessed. And to be blessed, no one has to be cursed. God's love does not work that way.
Today God is calling us, Jew, Christian and Muslim, to let go of hate, and the preaching of hate, and live at last as brothers and sisters, true to our faith and a blessing to others regardless of their faith, honouring God's name by honouring his image, humankind. Sacks, p.267
Today God is calling us, Jew, Christian and Muslim, to let go of hate, and the preaching of hate, and live at last as brothers and sisters, true to our faith and a blessing to others regardless of their faith, honouring God's name by honouring his image, humankind. Sacks, p.267