You are not logged in. Login Now
 0-24   25-49   50-74   75-99   94-118   119-143   144-168   169-193   194-218 
 219-243   244-268   269-293        
 
Author Message
25 new of 293 responses total.
mynxcat
response 119 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 10 19:52 UTC 2003

"(For example, what is a father, according to Torah, supposed to be 
able 
to do to discipline a rebellious son??  Can you cite a single instance 
in which that punishment has been carried out or allowec???)  "

I'm curious - what is a father allowed to do?
richard
response 120 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 10 20:29 UTC 2003

re #111..JEP, you misread my last response, I said:

Conservatism ISN'T about rejecting change, anymore than
 liberalism is about changing when its not necessary.   

So I agree with you.  In fact your diatribe should have been directed at klg,
it is KLG who sees conservatism as accepting given definitions and refusing
to change. 

And who made this definition that marriage means between a man and a woman?
as leeron points out, polygamy used to be accepted in biblical times. This
is a different world now than it was a thousand or two thousand years ago,
or even a hundred years ago.  We can't grow and develop as a society unless
we have the willingness to broaden and expand our philosophies and views to
reflect how the world has broadened and expanded.

Surely you can see that JEP.  And no being liberal doesn't mean thinking that
ANY change that is a change is good either.  We each have to decide for
ourselves what is right and what is wrong, and those judgements have to be
made every day, and we should make those judgements based on how the world
is today, now how the world was two thousand years ago.  
klg
response 121 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 10 20:33 UTC 2003

(I don't exactly remember.  But it sure isn't sparing the rod.  The 
point is, though, the what is "permitted" is not practiced.)
richard
response 122 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 10 20:39 UTC 2003

And JEP you are hypocritical if you defend conservatives as honest, passionate
and thoughtful, and don't see liberals as being such too.  But you did, you
belittled me for being a liberal when in fact I specifically noted William
Safire, whose column I posted, is a conservative who disagrees with klg.  

I think that a "realistic" political philosophy is one that accepts a world
where change is constant and people are continually growing and developing.
So I really don't know where you are coming from.

And Other, what was that "good luck" comment you posted for? klg is the one
who still wants to live in biblical times
klg
response 123 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 10 20:45 UTC 2003

(Speak for yourself, Mr. richard.)
mynxcat
response 124 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 10 21:04 UTC 2003

Re 121 (I know the point that was being made. I'm still curious as to 
what Jewish fathers are allowed to do to their rebellious sons)
willcome
response 125 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 10 22:48 UTC 2003

Eat them.
jep
response 126 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 11 05:18 UTC 2003

I stepped into something I shouldn't have; the klg-richard debate, 
which doesn't really matter to me.  Sorry.  I'm out of that one again.
scott
response 127 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 11 14:43 UTC 2003

It's always tempting to get involved, isn't it?  ;)
lk
response 128 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 11 16:36 UTC 2003

Klg, I'll concede the point that what is permitted is not always what
is practiced -- since that isn't a point I made.

In the specific case of polygamy amongst Jews, you might recall that
Yemenite Jews didn't receive R. Gershom's letter and continued to
practice polygamy into the 20th century (a custom not foreign to the
Muslim world in which they lived, though I'm not sure how widespread
this practice was amongst the Jews -- but it did happen.).

So at least amongst Yemenite Jews this did change in the last 100
years, which builds up to the rest of what I said which you ignored:

More widely and to the point, the institution of marriage has changed
dramatically in the last hundred and some years. Few here enter into
arranged marriages. In fact, most people marry for love.  Scandalous!!

Even more recently, as Richard correctly points out, we've come to
accept inter-faith and inter-racial marriages.

Let me clarify that these are changes of definitions. Your new
definition just happens to be a superset of the old definitions.

Christians defined marriage as a wedding between a Christian man
and a Christian woman.

Likewise marriage was commonly defined (as practiced!) as being
between a man and a woman of the same "race".

In turn, my definition is a superset of yours.  (Shall we call
this the evolution of an idea and institution?)

The point is that both practices and definitions have changed over the
past 100-150 years.

Those who value marriage shouldn't be asking if the institution has been
"effective and useful for thousands of years" but if it will continue to
be so.

I ask (again): how does the marriage of homosexuals weaken the institution?
Does the marriage of atheists, "infidel Muslims" or pagans not likewise
offend your God and weaken the institution?
twenex
response 129 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 11 16:48 UTC 2003

You might want to try indenting, or otherwise marking, the bit's your
quoting, as in the post above it's qite difficult to discern which
parts are written by you, and which are quoted.
klg
response 130 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 11 17:12 UTC 2003

for mynxcat:

When a man has a son who is stubborn and a rebel one who does not 
listen to the voice of his father or to the voice of his mother and 
they discipline him and he still does not listen to them.
Then his father and his mother are to grab him and drag him to the town 
elders in the gates of his place And they are to say to the town 
elders, "Our son is stubborn and a rebel he does not listen to our 
voice he is a glutton and a drunkard!"
Then all the men of the town are to pelt him with stones so that he 
dies.  So shall you burn the evil out of your midst's and all Israel 
will hear and be awed.
. . . 
These are later rabbis' interpretations of my verse from the Torah:

When a man has a wayward and rebellious son who does not obey his 
father or mother, they shall have him flogged. If he still does not 
listen to them, then his father and mother must grasp him and bring him 
to the elders of the city and say "Our son is a wayward and rebellious 
child, he does not listen to us and he is an exceptional glutton and 
drunkard"

In order to be stoned, the boy must be between the ages of 13 and 13 
and one quarter. The law does not apply to girls. The boy will be 
flogged with 39 lashes only if he eats the meal of the rebellious son 
which is forbidden.

Both the mother and father must agree to bring him to the local Supreme 
Court of 23 judges.

By tradition, the rebellious son must steal money from his father, and 
buy 50 dinars of meat, and eat it rare outside of his father's property 
in bad company. This is the act which must be witnessed by two 
additional people besides his parents in order for the son to be put to 
death. He must also drink a half a log (5 ounces) of wine with the 
meal. It is forbidden for a boy of this age to eat such a meal at any 
time.

If the punishment is carried out, the boy will be hung up by his hands 
just before sunset for the town to see and immediately taken down again 
after sunset.

These laws have been put in by rabbis in earlier centuries and changed 
and made into an interpretation of what the words mean so that there 
will never be a child killed.
mynxcat
response 131 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 11 17:26 UTC 2003

Interesting. Thanks klg
twenex
response 132 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 11 17:27 UTC 2003

Why 13 and 13 and 3/4?
klg
response 133 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 11 17:39 UTC 2003

That would be: "13 and 13 and 1/4"

Why?  We would guess:
13 = the Jewish religious age of majority for males.
Have no idea why the "1/4."  Perhaps based on some other source in 
order to generate the shortest possible period consistent with the 
subject under discussion.  Feel free to search for the answer yourself, 
if you care.

BTW - The whole of 130 was lifted from a website.
twenex
response 134 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 11 17:46 UTC 2003

Oh, you mean you can *start* between 13 and 13 and 1/4? The way i read
it was you can only stone boys between 13 and 13 and 1/4.
mynxcat
response 135 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 11 17:47 UTC 2003

If they did their best to ensure the shortest possible time in which a child
could be killed, and worded it so that no child was killed, why bother having
that law in teh first place?
klg
response 136 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 11 18:03 UTC 2003

"In order to be stoned, the boy must be between the ages of 13 and 13 
and one quarter."

Why???  The explanation would most likely depend upon one's 
interpretation of the origins and meanings of the Torah.  Our's would 
be that it contains a moral/ethical message that goes beyond its 
literal reading.  Similar to "an eye for an eye," which "means" to us 
the penalty for taking an eye is monetary compensation for the value of 
the loss of an eye - not putting out the perpetrator's eye.
twenex
response 137 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 11 18:07 UTC 2003

That's a good point.
rcurl
response 138 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 12 02:11 UTC 2003

What a pagan practice....
klg
response 139 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 12 03:35 UTC 2003

You in favor of blinding the guy?
bru
response 140 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 12 05:58 UTC 2003

and remember, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" are maximums, not
minimums.  You can never do more than that to the violater.  You can do less.
lk
response 141 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 12 08:05 UTC 2003

Actually, the saying has nothing to do with body parts (or, necessarily) money.
It's just saying that the penalty needs to be comensurate with the crime.
It's an idiom to the tune of "apples to apples" vs. "apples to oranges".

The latter which describes the drift we've just experienced. (:

Re#129: Jeff, I was not quoting anyone else in #128 (if you referred to me).
I was quoting what I said previously and clarifying it with more commentary
as per what klg had said in response.
twenex
response 142 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 12 09:18 UTC 2003

Still, what you were quoting would have been clearer indented...
lk
response 143 of 293: Mark Unseen   Dec 12 17:00 UTC 2003

OK, here it again, indented as requested:
(Though, as I was quoting myself, I changed a word or two for clarity.)

 In the specific case of polygamy amongst Jews, you might recall that
 Yemenite Jews didn't receive R. Gershom's letter and continued to
 practice polygamy into the 20th century (a custom not foreign to the
 Muslim world in which they lived, though I'm not sure how widespread
 this practice was amongst the Jews -- but it did happen.).
 
 So at least amongst Yemenite Jews this did change in the last 100
 years, which builds up to the rest of what I said which you ignored:
 
> More widely and to the point, the institution of marriage has changed
> dramatically in the last hundred and some years. Few here enter into
> arranged marriages. In fact, most people marry for love.  Scandalous!!
 
> Even more recently, as Richard correctly points out, we've come to
> accept inter-faith and inter-racial marriages.
 
 Let me clarify that these are changes of definitions. Your new
 definition just happens to be a superset of the old definitions.
 
 Christians defined marriage as a wedding between a Christian man
 and a Christian woman.
 
 Likewise marriage was commonly defined (as practiced!) as being
 between a man and a woman of the same "race".
 
 In turn, my definition is a superset of yours.  (Shall we call
 this the evolution of an idea and institution?)
 
 The point is that both practices and definitions have changed over the
 past 100-150 years.
 
> Those who value marriage shouldn't be asking if the institution has been
> "effective and useful for thousands of years" but if it will continue to
> be so.
 
> I ask (again): how does the marriage of homosexuals weaken the institution?
> Does the marriage of atheists, "infidel Muslims" or pagans not likewise
> offend your God and weaken the institution?
 0-24   25-49   50-74   75-99   94-118   119-143   144-168   169-193   194-218 
 219-243   244-268   269-293        
Response Not Possible: You are Not Logged In
 

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss