On Biblical Ignorance

Submitted by Seamus MacNemi (United States), May 3, 2007 at 16:44

Herein lies the crux of a very difficult bone of contension between us. Whose Bible do we read? My folk long ago left the Christian religion and we aren't likely ever to return. We were focably converted to Roman Catholicism at the point of a Roman sword , even though we had already formulated our own take on the story and developed our own way of doing things vis a vis G-d and mankind. Our thinking was and is much closer to that of the Rabbis than that of the Church. We do not believe in the Trinity or in the divinity of anyone named Jesus who we never knew to exist.

We call G-d, in Hebrew, "Yeshuatenu", meaning "Our Salvation" and we do not pray to any mortal being as if he was G-d. I will not make any request or give any oath in the name of Jesus and neither will any of my folk. We consider that as blasphemy to do so. The so called "New Testament" is for us akin to idol worship and we treat it as such. For us, there is only "ONE" testament to G-d through out history and that story has been told in many different languages amongst many different cultures. The Torah is the story of the Jews solely. It does not tell the stories of other folk yet we all have our own stories to tell in this life.

Each people that dwell upon the earth has in their memories stored the stories of the flood of Noah and the stories of the war between Heaven and Earth when the Giants were cast down. Stories of the time when the Gods walked amongst men upon the earth. Such stroies are a part of all of our lives and the telling of them teaches us about who we each are as a people.

Religion is a very personal and intimate matter and it should not be degraded into making it an "ITY" or an "ISM" For me to imagine that I can dictate to others what G-d means to them is, in my own thinking, the greatest of sins. It is "spiritual rape" in the most vile sense to impose my own thinking in these matters upon others so my folk do not prosletize nor do we accept converts to our religion. The very idea of "Conversion" is to us an anathema and a total nonsequitor. Our religion is rooted in our experience in living in this world and we do not seek another world in which to live. We are not escapists in our beliefs and actions. Nor do we seek to evade our responsibilities.

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