[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: jews and amelie :)

On Mon, 28 Jan 2002, Julie Storms wrote:

> > The way I've always heard it, Jews believe that God chose *them*, and
> > that they did not choose God, thus, it would be wrong for Jews to try
> > to persuade people to choose to worship God in a Jewish way.  Hence,
> > Jews don't proselytize.  Something like that, anyway.
>
> As does the Reformed church.  I find this appalling... not that they
> don't outright "witness" (I don't either, besides my example), but that
> they find it totally unnecessary.  To believe in a God that chooses
> people, that writes others off because, well, what the hell?  I
> couldn't.

Well, as I understand it, Jews don't believe that God has "written off"
the rest of the world -- rather, they believe they have been chosen to be
a "nation of priests" who will mediate for the world the same way that
priests in various religions mediate for the non-priests.  God didn't
"write off" the tribes of Judah or Gad because the priests came from the
tribe of Levi; likewise, he doesn't "write off" non-Jews, either.

FWIW, this concept of a "nation of priests" was adopted by the early
Christians and applied to the church, e.g. in I Peter 2 ("But you are a
chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to
God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light.").  The big debate since then has been
whether this means non-Christian Jews have since become "un-chosen".

> Now, Jewish people don't believe in the New Testament, so I kind of get
> that.  But don't tell us it's because you're more tolerant or
> easy-going... you just don't think it'll make one bit of difference.  If
> you felt that burden... if you believed that people you love will not go
> to heaven if they don't believe a certain way... then it's a little
> harder to turn away.

Ah, but that is *not* what Jews believe.  As one Jewish speaker I've heard
put it, Christianity is an "orthodoxic" faith, while Judaism is an
"orthopraxic" faith -- that is, Christianity emphasizes *believing* the
right things, while Judaism emphasizes *doing* the right things.

In other words, those who follow God's Law even if they don't explicitly
believe in the Jewish God will be recognized for their righteousness --
and this attitude isn't all that foreign to Christianity, really.  It is,
in fact, reflected in the writings of the Jewish Christian Paul, for
example in Romans 2 ("For it is not those who hear the law who are
righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be
declared righteous. Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by
nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even
though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of
the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing
witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.").

The emphasis on *doing* the right things, as opposed to *believing* the
right things, may also be reflected in the teachings of Jesus, at least as
reflected in Matthew 25 (the famous "sheep and goats" passage).

> Oh! I saw Amelie last night for the second time, and I think the ending
> is beautiful.  I think the two had communicated enough without words,
> maybe because they didn't talk, and felt so *known*, for the first time
> ever...  man, that movie is amazing.  I don't feel the least bit
> offended with them sleeping together.  Would I?  No.  But it's a MOVIE.
> And it's beautiful.  No other ending would have even made sense.

It's not a question of whether anyone finds the scene "offensive".  It's
just that, as the movie itself spells out, sex isn't that important to
Amelie.  So ending with a sex scene is, at best, anti-climactic.

--- Peter T. Chattaway --------------------------- peter at chattaway_com ---
 "I detected one misprint, but to torture you I will not tell you where."
      Winston Churchill to T.E. Lawrence, re Seven Pillars of Wisdom

---------------
Unsubscribe by going to http://www.actwin.com/OtR/
Follow-Ups: References: