22.11.18
Religious freedom in the USA I think is built on the model of England during the 1700's.
Religious freedom in the USA I think is built on the model of England during the 1700's.
That is to say that the Pilgrims were not all that tolerant. And it has been pointed out that the Indian that saved the Plymouth Colony was a Catholic. [Squanto was a Roman Catholic.]
Rather, the American Model is taken almost in full from the English Model after 1668. I do not know why in fact this is not emphasized more in USA schools- because to me it seems important. The Constitution is surely a work of genius and perhaps even Divine inspiration. However it did not spring into existence out of thin air.
[There is a limit to tolerance as John Locke brings up in his Two Treaties.]
That is to say that the Pilgrims were not all that tolerant. And it has been pointed out that the Indian that saved the Plymouth Colony was a Catholic. [Squanto was a Roman Catholic.]
Rather, the American Model is taken almost in full from the English Model after 1668. I do not know why in fact this is not emphasized more in USA schools- because to me it seems important. The Constitution is surely a work of genius and perhaps even Divine inspiration. However it did not spring into existence out of thin air.
[There is a limit to tolerance as John Locke brings up in his Two Treaties.]
I have been looking at Kings and also Isaiah Jeremiah and I had a few thoughts and questions.
First in Jeremiah 18:9 it looks like a positive decree can be turned to a negative one. This seems to go against what the Sages say about the verse in the Torah about how to tell if someone is a false prophet.
Second: to me it is not clear the case with Atalia the wicked queen that ruled over Judah for seven years until she was overturned and the rightful ruler was placed on the throne. It says she was the daughter of Omri who was the father of Ahab. I am thinking perhaps the verse means the granddaughter because Ahab was at the time of Jehoshaphat. His son was Yoram who married a daughter of Ahab.
Also in the end of Isaiah 56 it looks hard to know whom it is talking about. The non Jews there have they become full Jews? It does not look that way. The reason is the last verse. My house will be a house of prayer for all the nations. Yet in a few verses back they are bringing burnt offerings and also זבחים which means peace offerings
There does also seem to be a limit to religious freedom in Kings. Hezekiah did a lot of effort to get rid of idolatry from the area he was king over --Judah and Benjamin. Yoshiyahu later made the most powerful effort in that direction throughout all Israel==even areas he was not king over.
First in Jeremiah 18:9 it looks like a positive decree can be turned to a negative one. This seems to go against what the Sages say about the verse in the Torah about how to tell if someone is a false prophet.
Second: to me it is not clear the case with Atalia the wicked queen that ruled over Judah for seven years until she was overturned and the rightful ruler was placed on the throne. It says she was the daughter of Omri who was the father of Ahab. I am thinking perhaps the verse means the granddaughter because Ahab was at the time of Jehoshaphat. His son was Yoram who married a daughter of Ahab.
Also in the end of Isaiah 56 it looks hard to know whom it is talking about. The non Jews there have they become full Jews? It does not look that way. The reason is the last verse. My house will be a house of prayer for all the nations. Yet in a few verses back they are bringing burnt offerings and also זבחים which means peace offerings
There does also seem to be a limit to religious freedom in Kings. Hezekiah did a lot of effort to get rid of idolatry from the area he was king over --Judah and Benjamin. Yoshiyahu later made the most powerful effort in that direction throughout all Israel==even areas he was not king over.
When the Rambam says that learning Physics and Metaphysics are a fulfillment of the commands to love and fear God,
When the Rambam says that learning Physics and Metaphysics are a fulfillment of the commands to love and fear God, it is simple to understand what that means in terms of Physics. The things that lead up to Quantum Field Theory and String Theory.
But when he says Metaphysics, it is harder to know what is included. On one hand he makes it clear he is referring to what the ancient Athenians were talking about. So he must mean at least the Metaphysics of Aristotle. But today I think you would have to expand that to Plotinus, Kant, Hegel and Leonard Nelson.
But when he says Metaphysics, it is harder to know what is included. On one hand he makes it clear he is referring to what the ancient Athenians were talking about. So he must mean at least the Metaphysics of Aristotle. But today I think you would have to expand that to Plotinus, Kant, Hegel and Leonard Nelson.
21.11.18
The Old Testament view of Homosexuality.
The Old Testament view of Homosexuality.. In short it is that there are three things that if one is given a choice "transgress this or we will kill you" that one must choose to be killed rather than do that sin. These three things are גילוי עריות שפיכות דמים ע''ז- the sexual sins of Leviticus 18 and 20, murder, and idolatry. The reason that this is relevant is that homosexual acts are in that category. This seems to me to be relevant to Catholics also from what I recall from my little bit of reading of Aquinas. In Aquinas natural law of the Old Testament still applies to Catholics.
[I was borrowing Aquinas's Summa from a Catholic Church and sadly enough had to give it back before I could do any more study of it than just a quickie review. But from what I recall Aquinas was making a distinction between Natural Law in the Old Testament and Ritual Law. And he was saying that Natural Law still applies to everyone.]
This view of Aquinas is close to R. Shimon ben Yochai that we go by the reason for the verse. דורשים טעמה דקרא. And according to the Rambam[Maimonides] we know the reasons for the verse and he gives them in the Guide for the Perplexed and the reasons for the verse in the Guide are all Natural Law.
In the Catholic world there is outrage at the dismissal of a group of bishops that wanted to establish some ground rules. To me that seems like a good thing. Outrage at evil I think is healthy. Self criticism is a great thing.
Outrage at evil you can see when the tribe of Benjamin was almost wiped out because of their failure to hand over the murderers of a fellow's girl friend. [The basic idea was they were protecting the murderers. So all Israel went to war with them]
[I was borrowing Aquinas's Summa from a Catholic Church and sadly enough had to give it back before I could do any more study of it than just a quickie review. But from what I recall Aquinas was making a distinction between Natural Law in the Old Testament and Ritual Law. And he was saying that Natural Law still applies to everyone.]
This view of Aquinas is close to R. Shimon ben Yochai that we go by the reason for the verse. דורשים טעמה דקרא. And according to the Rambam[Maimonides] we know the reasons for the verse and he gives them in the Guide for the Perplexed and the reasons for the verse in the Guide are all Natural Law.
In the Catholic world there is outrage at the dismissal of a group of bishops that wanted to establish some ground rules. To me that seems like a good thing. Outrage at evil I think is healthy. Self criticism is a great thing.
Outrage at evil you can see when the tribe of Benjamin was almost wiped out because of their failure to hand over the murderers of a fellow's girl friend. [The basic idea was they were protecting the murderers. So all Israel went to war with them]
Cosmological argument
The Cosmological argument
from Plato’s Laws, 893–96; Aristotle’s Physics (VIII, 4–6) and Metaphysics (XII, 1–6).
Also said later by Al Kindi so it is sometimes called the Kalam's Cosmological Argument.
See this paper that brings Plato's view-on pg 253.
People will also recognize this from the Obligations of the Heart.
This is in fact the same argument I have written at the top of this blog. But I usually go to Anselm's Ontological Argument which was proved by Godel.
But even the Cosmological argument I think of in a different way. That is I think of the the beginning of time and space and the laws of physics, not of the beginning of the physical universe.
from Plato’s Laws, 893–96; Aristotle’s Physics (VIII, 4–6) and Metaphysics (XII, 1–6).
Also said later by Al Kindi so it is sometimes called the Kalam's Cosmological Argument.
See this paper that brings Plato's view-on pg 253.
People will also recognize this from the Obligations of the Heart.
This is in fact the same argument I have written at the top of this blog. But I usually go to Anselm's Ontological Argument which was proved by Godel.
But even the Cosmological argument I think of in a different way. That is I think of the the beginning of time and space and the laws of physics, not of the beginning of the physical universe.
An evolutionary psychologist
An evolutionary psychologist cannot be as smart as a good theoretical physicist, otherwise he would be one.
The problem with psychologists is not that they are not so smart as they think. It is rather that they are idiots.
An "idiot" here I use here in the sense of someone of someone with an average I.Q. or lower that thinks they are a genius.
But to be fair this applies to just about anyone in the ludicrous "social sciences". Now there is an oxymoron if I ever heard one
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