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Posted on 12/04/2007 1:01:29 PM PST by Zionist Conspirator
And so we have a semiofficial celebration of Hanukkah, complete with menorah, to celebrate not the ignition of a light but the imposition of theocratic darkness.
Jewish orthodoxy possesses the interesting feature of naming and combating the idea of the apikoros or "Epicurean"—the intellectual renegade who prefers Athens to Jerusalem and the schools of philosophy to the grim old routines of the Torah. About a century and a half before the alleged birth of the supposed Jesus of Nazareth (another event that receives semiofficial recognition at this time of the year), the Greek or Epicurean style had begun to gain immense ground among the Jews of Syria and Palestine. The Seleucid Empire, an inheritance of Alexander the Great—Alexander still being a popular name among Jews—had weaned many people away from the sacrifices, the circumcisions, the belief in a special relationship with God, and the other reactionary manifestations of an ancient and cruel faith.
This is childish stuff and if only for that reason should obviously not receive any public endorsement or financing. The display of the menorah at this season, however, has a precise meaning and is an explicit celebration of the original victory of bloody-minded faith over enlightenment and reason. As such it is a direct negation of the First Amendment and it is time for the secularists and the civil libertarians to find the courage to say so.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
An atheist actually understands the meaning of Chanukkah better than many religious Jews do, since the latter often confuse the Chashmonaims fight for Torah with an enlightenment/rationalist fight for abstract religious freedom.
I'm still trying to figure out why an "Epicurean" wants to waste time engaging in social/political crusades!
Thanks, NeoCaveman!
Thanks for the heads-up!
ping
You are welcome.
In some unintential way Hitchens taught me something about the importance of Hanukkah.
Not that that was what he was going for.
Some chicks dig social crusaders. Not everybody can be rich or handsome.
"Tard" refers to the ping list members and not to the subject of the thread!
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Oh, wait this is Hitchens. Forget the chicks crack. : )
Thanks for the heads-up!
You are welcome.
In some unintential way Hitchens taught me something about the importance of Hanukkah.
Not that that was what he was going for.
What a shame that you'll never hear this from any of the official community Chanukkah celebrations or TV specials, which are still celebrating the right of pagans and polytheists to defy those awful Southern Baptist bullies. Oh well, receive a lesson from whoever gives it!
I'm still trying to figure out why the alleged discovery that the universe is totally meaningless qualifies as "enlightenment."
High volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel, WOT
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Gosh, what does he have to say about Muslim religions then, if the festival of lights is so offensive to him? Or about covering women head to toe? Or praying five times a day? I’d think if one was going to speak out about tribal darkness, those would be the things to talk about.
The ever-despicable Hitchens... barf
Actually, Hitchens is one of the few lefties and atheists to display consistency on this topic. He supports the war on terror as a necessary defense of the "enlightenment" west against religious fanaticism.
Unfortunately, even religious conservatives sometimes sound like enlightenment rationalists when they criticize islam.
Minor details ignored like Antiochus sacrificing pigs in the Temple and setting up a statue of himself as God or somesuch are ignored in Hitchen’s lauding of the wise and noble Greek civilization that Antiochus brought to Israel. Or his slaughter of the Jews that would not eat the pig sacrificed in the Temple by cutting out the Jew’s tongues and scalping them. Ah, noble pagans . . .
I’m glad to hear he is a critic of them; consistency is such a rare thing with leftists.
Hitchens actually does support the War on Terror, but he is anti-religion. He is just as much anti-Christian, anti-Judaism as he is anti-Islamic or anything else beyond his marxist materialism. He is anti-God.
Thanks for the link! And I finally found the full article.
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