Jason, how are you? Good I hope. Well, just so you know, my name is Mike and I am going to give you my opinion on the situation (actually your situation and I normally don’t like to get involved with other people’s situations save the fact that you are causing a lot of turmoil on this forum whether or not you like it and many of my fellow T-Men are beginning to become very upset) and I hope you don’t write back to me or anyone using any foul words. I am 17 and it is not like I am afraid mother is going to spank me and then put me to sleep with a baby bottle for using them, and frankly words like Fuck and Shit can be damn fun at times, but not when it is directed at someone, especially during conversation in which there are two parties with opposing or varied thoughts/beliefs. My purpose for saying this is because using phrases like “Fuck You” or “Suck my Dick” will serve only to make you look like an ignorant person, and in the very worst case you might get what you say, for example, a dick suck (Don’t use this as an excuse to go off on me, it is a harmless joke and nothing personal was directed against you)!
Now why, you may ask am I very specific about what I mean to say? Well, I understand that many times people interpret words in the wrong way and it does nothing to better the situation. Why, you may also ask, am I being very polite and odd (like, say, calling what some people might see as an argument as two parites with opposing or varied thoughts/beliefs)? To answer what you may ask, I am a nice guy and on top of that I am the most open-minded person in the world (actually, my open-mindedness tells me I may only rank in the top ten!).
Okay, enough of the bullshit (Again, I am conveying the message to you that I am not planning on becoming a pope by hoping you won’t write back using foul language…I believe TC himself mentioned deeds are dirty, not words, and directing so-called dirty words against someone is a very very dirty deed!), I am going to give you my opinion (and yes, it is just that, my opinion) on your above statement, which is the only one as of this time (meaning you might send in another message before me).
First and foremost, we are talking about opinion. Yes, it is about agree/disagree. Let me ask you: What makes you so sure it is a fact? You look at the information and in your opinion, which is in a sense related to how you interpret that information, it is a fact. So in essence it is indeed a fact. Another individual might look at the same information that you accumulated throughout the years (the same information that have led to your beliefs) and might hold them to be inaccurate. Therefore they disagree with it. Of course, this is also an opinion. Who is right? I would say the person who disagrees, but then again, that is my opinion. “One can only be sure in their own mind” is a quote by a good teen named Mike, and it applies here. Also, remember that the word ‘information’ is very vague in that it might also refer to thoughts or expressions, among other things.
Secondly, you mention that "the Talmud teaches that Jews are human beings, and that non-Jews are beasts" and that I can check this out for myself "in the 1907 edition of Funk&Wagnall's Jewish Encyclopedia." It is my advice that you should not use second-hand information to present your information. Now, the Talmud may or may not teach that, but that is besides my point. My point is to make sure you refer to the actual source. After all, what better source than that? This just ensures you are regarded as reliable and authoritative. And in the business world, using secondary information is definately not respectable. In this case, you don't know what the intention of the authors of the encyclopedia were, if politics at the time and place had anything to do with what words landed (I don't exactly mean landed, as in landed on the moon, but then again when someone calls another person an asshole they certainly don't believe they are talking to a big hole that a 200 lb. shit falls out of) on the pages, or whether or not the authors themselves used second-hand information, which brings the dilemma around in a circle on the validity of that particular third-hand info. Please keep in mind that these are just three examples I gave to present my point and that there might be millions of other reasons why you should refer to the Talmud instead of the 1907 edition of Funk&Wagnall's Jewish Encyclopedia.
You then go on to state that a Jew himself confirms everything you are saying. Now my case is closed. You have a point and I find myself agreeing with you. I appreciate your time and energy and apologize for any inconveniences. No, actually, that means absolutely nothing. One, assuming you are a great reader and interpreted the author correctly and didn’t use indirect reference, it is one person’s opinion and surely not the done, there, point proven, everyone hate Jews, go home, end-all. Two, the man himself might be confused. You never know, a trip to the doctor’s office and a few doses of certain medicine can do wonderful miracles! Three, he might have been ((I say might have been, which is past-tense, because for all I know the book “Jewish History, Jewish Religion” might have been published in 1907, almost an entire century ago (I said might & almost)) be a “true” Jew. Four, there is a possibility the man called himself a Jew only because his parents were or his parent’s parents (grandparents) were Jew, and Mr. Shahak may have never been a practicing Jew. I can make many more points but I have made enough and it is almost 2 in the morning and I am extremely tired. Let me make one more point: Israel Shahak may have been a “true” Jew and may have understood everything about the religion and maybe he saw what others didn’t. In other words, Jason, you may be right. Of course, you never know with those men who follow and practice the very religion that disgusts them.
About the sermon given by a prominent orthodox Jew (prominent by whose point of view and standard?), well, Footsoldier did a great job of explaning that one. I would've disqualified this point by methods that differ from that of Footsoldier's because I personally don't know enough about the different sects that constitute the Jewish religion to use it effectively and justly. This brings me to my next point: I am not even Jewish! Believe it or not, I have nothing to do with the religion. I am defending a religion I know almost nothing about with universal logic (not universal in that everyone in the universe can comprehend the logic but universal in that the logic can be applied to all situations to prove or disprove it from a basic glance)! Like I said, I am very open-minded! I know Jewish people who are amazing and Jewish people who are not-so-amazing. The same goes for the many Christian and Muslim people I know. You see, Jason, in most situations the problem is not the religion but the individual themselves, because in every religion you will find good people and not-so-good people. It is these not-so-good people you should be frightened of, not Jewish people. A person with your mindset may (or may not) claim Christians are fucked up because in the "old" days they would kill you if you were not Christian (this person might be frightened by the idea). They would argue that if someone is such an extreme Christian that they must kill someone for not being Christian, then why in the hell are they breaking one of the immortal Ten Commandments, which are fundamental Christian principles! So all Christians are fucked up, the religion is stupid, it doesn't make sense, and so they are now going to be responsible for our downfall. Another person with your mindset may (or may not) be that all Muslims are crazy shitheads because the Talibans are selling opium to garner enough profit to fuel the Muslim takeover of the planet. But it says in the Koran that Muslims should not take drugs and they are selling it! So the person with this mindset would conclude that all Muslims are crazy shitheads and that maybe, just maybe, they will take over the world. Not once will it occur to this person that the Talibans are a small group of extreme Muslims fanatics that have megalomanic purposes other than religious control. There is, believe it or not, a definition to the word extreme.
Jason, prejudice is fear. We all have fears as human beings, and it is a fact that we all have prejudices, to a lesser or greater degree, whether that prejudice is for a white person or a black person or a religion or character traits on people. However, and I am sad to say this, you appear to have a lot of fear. You even verified this with the following: "It's frightening to know that people with these beliefs control our media and our government." Listen, life is too short to have so much hate. Before you know it it is over. Now I know this sounds funny coming from the mouth of a 17 year old, but its nonetheless true. If you are a Christian and believe you are going to heaven, remember that simply accepting Jesus Christ is not enough to go to heaven. You have to love him and if you love him you will love all human beings as those made in God's image, regardless of their beliefs. Believe me, I go to a Christian school and I pay attention in Bible Class, so it would suffice for me to say I would know. Of course, I never said I was a Christian. Just because I could to a Christian school doesn't mean I'm a Christian. Many non-Christian parents put their kids in Christian schools because they are private schools. Additionally, I never said I wasn't, either. What I choose to believe is irrelevant here. This is about human love and respect. Jason, prejudice is learned and therefore it can be unlearned. I would highly recommend it, even though I know the odds are you believe you are right and nothing I can say or do can change that (you actually might be right but why choose to relish with those thoughts that will only accomplish in bringing your pulse rate up and send your cortisol levels skyrocketing and shoot your blood pressure through the sky). I'll do my best because I care. I want you to enjoy your life and live free from hate and fear. After all, Jason, you will one day be buried in the ground or burned to dust or both. Until then, good luck.
On a final note, everything I have written above is my opinion and I hope I will be satisfied in the morning when I read it. I'm sure I mistyped numerous words and used incorrect grammer here and there and I may have missed a point or two but if my message is effectively communicated I will consider this post a success. Okay, enough of the bullshit, I'm off to bed!!!