Posted on 06/02/2005 4:00:59 PM PDT by voletti
Actually, my viewing is pretty much limited these days to playoff and championship games. But, sports have always been a part of my life and the camaraderie, and swapping of lies from time to time is still fun. I probably do it to have a common bond with sons and grandsons as much as any other reason.
Bragging about intelligence or any other ability doesn't offer many benefits
You are right of course. But when the topic is specifically brought up I just can't let the bell curve deniers get away with their silly, nicey-nice, Kum Ba Yah nonsense .... the basis for affirmative action and other such codswallop.
It's an understandable misconception that "the Chosen People" means that Jews are singled out as better or nobler than other people. I think every religion has this fundamental arrogance at its heart that its adherents have found the true way and are doing the right thing, while other people are somehow not doing the right, but Judaism doesn't even quite have that. "The Chosen People" simply means that God has made a pact with the Jews that entails special obligations, like keeping the Sabbath and observing the law. It has nothing to do with the rest of the world. Under the Jewish understanding of the world, non-Jews have a different relationship with God which is not governed by the same rules and obligations.
Even in Biblical times, Jewish history was full of God smiting the Jews for failing to observe the law. Being "chosen" is not the same as being selected for great things.
In any event, I fail to see how this is worse from Christians who are saved believing they are going to heaven while Gandhi is in Hell, or anything that other religions do. If a religion didn't promise itself as the right way, it wouldn't succeed for very long.
Also, it should go without saying that "cardinal sins" are a Catholic (or Christian?) concept.
Not to be overly picky, but what do you mean by, "alarming rate"?
Gave yoirself away. Seperatism has hurt Jews and Gentiles alike.
Whoops! My apologies. I meant nothing divisive. I meant alarming in the sense that, if their Jewishness is to continue, then intermarrying may not be helpful. I have no dog to fight and am an admirer of the Jewish people.
However, as a conservative, I realize folks don't think like a group; they're made up of individuals who have their own interests to contend with/advocate. So any Jewish person is free to do as they please. Which is fine by me.
I was always lead to believe that Litvaks, Ashkenazis, Galitziana and Sephardics were simply from different areas---although some think that they are better than others!!! Yeckes and Ostenyidden are new to me. But then, I am far from being a Yiddish scholar!! Duhhhhh, I am, however, a blonde!
If you are relying on your rabbis and the likes of Daniel Goldhagen, these would explain your close-mindedness and lack of understanding.Your song and dance as to Soros is unconvincing. You cannot opt out of being an Ethnic Jew. You can opt out of being a religious Jew.
I am sure our dialectic will continue. Have a good weekend.
I want to take a look at the study these guys will publish before I give an opinion to ensure that their methodology is sound. However, I will note that most of the Jews I have met are very successful economically. Moreover, I work in the criminal justice system, and I have yet to encounter a Jewish defendant. My wife has to visit Medicaid, unemployment, and Social Security offices quite often as part of her job, and she concurs that there are very few Jews in the waiting rooms. This being said, I am interested to see how the study's authors separate genetic factors from cultural ones.
Actually, I have written PRof MacDonald on two occasions pointing out some problems with his analysis. He fails to see the diversity within even European Jews and the animosity between Jewish groups. Have you ever seen him talk about the different communal structures of Karaite Jews and Rabbinate (Talmudist) Jews? Does he look at conversion practices of groups? Did he bother to notice the inclusion of clearly non-Semitic Jewish groups like the Karaylar (Tatar Karaites), and Kychaks (Tatar Rabinate Jews)?
Judaism is a particularist Tribal religion. It is quite politically incorrect. Hence the attack on it from Voltaire and Marx ownards.
Your song and dance as to Soros is unconvincing. You cannot opt out of being an Ethnic Jew. You can opt out of being a religious Jew.
Just because one is ethnically Jewish, that does not mean that one is acting in the interst of Jews.
Nonverbal IQ tests exist. IQ tests are purposefuly written to exclude "culturally imposed" biases. It's a science; it isn't a matter of opinion. It isn't even a matter of *my* opinion.
Whatever you happened to score in 1982 - as you say - is immaterial. It has no bearing on this argument at all.
Jews also make up about 50% of world chess champions as per that article. Jews are about 0.1% of the world population.
Which just goes to support his conclusion of the association of disease and intelligence. Perhaps there is pathology at one end of the intelligence continuum(Marx) as well as health (Rand). That is, if you agree that Laissez-Faire Capitalism is healthy for mankind and Marxism is unhealthy.
Asians make up about 99.9% of the world's teppanyaki cooks. Are Asians genetically programmed to cook on a large, metal sheet? Italians make up 99% of the Mafia. Are Italians genetically programmed to run front companies and engage in extortion?
Surely you know that being able to perform at the highest levels of a game which requires exceptional spatial reasoning skills is due solely to environment. If Jews were in a different environment they'd completely flop at chess and instead would be needing affirmative action programs to get into a mid-grade state university due to their poor test scores and inability to succeed on their own.
Yes, I'm being sarcastic! :-)
Studies have shown that Hong Kong Chinese is the ethnicity with the highest IQ--above Askenazi Jews.
Unlike Jews, we Asians also excel in athletics.:)
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