flamming_python wrote:
Well, I do. My father's side of the family traces its lineage further than just Odessa; in the interwar period they actually hailed from Bessarabia; one of my ancestors actually served as a Romanian border-guard in the 30s, he spoke no less than about 4-5 languages. He was a huge powerful man - one time, he killed someone with his bare hands - when he was insulted about being a Jew. Bessarabia was taken by the USSR in the 40s and that same ancestor of mine ended up thus fighting in the Soviet army in WW2, against those same Romanians no less. He was eventually wounded by an incendiary bullet to the arm, and survived the war. Another ancestor of mine also fought in the war - as political commissar; he had a high rank - General or some such. He was responsible for the evacuation of either Odessa, or Sevastopol - which he fked up and ended up nearly getting executed by Stalin for; he was pardoned in the last minute.
That same family traces its lineage further back than just Romania, my cousin did the research - turns out that we all hail from Iraq originally; where by all accounts that familly was a wealthy Jewish one, in charge of a synagogue or some such.
What an bear armed ancestor of yours did for being insulted with some other guy has zero value for the question i asked. Religion is religion and just because someone makes up the lobbyistic driven propaganda of somehow becoming from religion to ethnicity it does not make that right and factual.
You have never heared of people saying they have christian,muslimic or buddhistic roots.
You do however hear of people saying they have Sikh roots, which is another religion that is small enough to have merged with an ethnic identity.
Or Yezidi roots - the Yezidis are basically Kurds but they worship a particular blend of Islam and Zoroastrianism called the Yezidi religion, and they consider themselves as a separate Yezidi people, albeit they mix and intermarry with Muslim Kurds too of course.
There is actually a large Russian-speaking Yezidi diaspora hailing from Armenia; they have some Russian-language forums on the ru-net and so on - so you can ask them if you don't believe me.
I'm sure there are other examples too.[/quote]
There are some nutheads on IQ destroying television that some times bring some morons who tell that they were upducted by aliens or have alien roots... so i should believe that just because people saying things?
We have such thing as Etymology,antropology,ethniology and cultural studies whos job it is to bring evidence for ethnicities,cultures and find roots for words and their meaning or references.
Actually I don't disagree with you, and I've often wondered, and argued about - the exact same thing.
But one thing you should note - the Jews themselves always vehemently deny it, they always insist that they are a separate people, and a preserved one, who have not forgotten their cultural and religious traditions; no matter what mixing with what other people (which they play down too).
Of course they are vehemently denying that. And if you would read the Talmud you would know the reason for this. Jews are not allowed to fully assimilate with other religions or among nations. They are allowed to hide their religion but are not allowed to deny their religion or assimilate with others to not offend jehova.
And in the end it's hard to argue with that. They are separate, they are their own folk and ethnicity - because they themselves consider themselves as such, and they've not forgotten about their culture, their history of statehood even from 3000 years ago - all that stuff has been preserved more or less, even despite genetic drift, even despite losing the Hebrew language, and mixing and so on.
Well just because people feel in one way i have no problem with that, but that does not create out of a sudden a new ethnicity.
Yes about the Semetic stuff, you are right too - but again, to a seperate ethno-cultural identity it's not an obstacle. Ukrainians are exactly the same as Russians, yet they have their seperate identity now too - because they want it, and value it.
I really have no problem with cultural seperate identity as long it does not violate anyones freedom or health and that right i also grand to animals, at least to the extent that they should not be killed kosher. For those who don't know what that means, it means killing an animal with a knife to the neck while it is alive and letting it bleed out. Which was done not only by jews but lot of religions, but today AFAIK there are not many who practice this crap.
There is almost no significant cultural difference between xoxols and russians. Nothing that would make me think that those two are actually two different, to me they are one and the same with such minor differences that you could find in any other region of the world of a group that is today thought as being the same but have much greater diffrences among them compared to xoxols and russians.
Well then you're probably doing it wrong. There's a right and wrong way to read religion.
Ohh Really?
I will quote from the Talmud. That is a quote 1:1 from ex jews.
All children of the ‘goyim’ (Gentiles) are animals.” (Yebamoth 98a)
“Jews may use subterfuges to circumvent a ‘goy.’” (Baba Kamma 113a)
If a Jew murders a ‘goy’ there will be no death penalty.” (Sanhedrin 57a)
“The ‘goyim’ are not humans. They are beasts.” (Baba Mezia 114b)
Now please tell me, is there any wrong way to read that Goyims are just beasts to the jews?
I often here such nonsense from jews who tried to defend their talmud, some just laughed at me and said god will murder you, you animal. Well yes that was on internet where people are d*cks anyway, but non the less, that does not at any good image to them.
Turning someone into a pillar of salt or taking the 'eye for an eye' a little too literally is the wrong way.
Even tho, religios "holy books" are full of metamorphic stuff, but the chapter that is called "Noah's Law" or also called
Sanhedrin, is pretty straight, it does not use metamorphic gibberish. It is quite out punch in the face. You really should read the stuff and then point me out where i read "wrong".
As for Christianity - it's very simple, I'll explain - it's all about following the teachings of Jesus Christ. That's all there is too it. And as long as you do that, you won't be led astray - figure out the spirit of Christ's teachings, don't try to over-interpret the letter like some Christian fundamentalists do.
Well you may have read the bible, but ignoring some stuff in there like the 25+ mln deaths on gods account, or slavery, human first born sacrifices, plagues, destruction of cities because all knowing god was butthurt after finding out humans did not what he wanted them to do. Or stoning homos, pedophilia, well and lot of such things. I understand people today don't go along and stone every gay, or slap women who speak to men without permition from men or stoning cheating women/men, but i still don't understand how people can follow one religion when this exact religion violates so many things it tries to teach at the same time.
"Love your next, but stone the gays and cheating spouses, but don't murder or i will let you burn in hell for the end of time."
I really can't understand that, that is also the main reason i distance myself from religions, especially abrahamic religions which all off them speak about lot of those evil crap.
Those teachings of "jesus" not only that the good stuff in the bible is actually something that every functional brain and with a shred of decency in every person would be rational thinking. Treat others like you want to be treated. I don't need an ancient book for something a 5 year old can understand. That is common sense and also instinct. Attacking someone and not expecting to get a protective and hostile reaction from him is suicidal brain missfunction.