It’s the other white meat.
Zev, I’d like to point out that the “curse of the law” that you mention so frequently is from the letter to the Galatians, and references Deuteronomy 27:26
That was I, and not Edlyn, who posted the above.
For the same reason we no longer stone adulteress, or follow out any of the other 1000 crazy laws in the old testament. We have grown up.
There is no Old Testament law requiring the stoning of adulteresses. Maybe you mean this:
Boy oh boy, is describing Christianity as ‘grown up’ ever asking for trouble.
There is a related thread over in the IMHO Forum - Christians eat pork so they can enjoy barbecue.
No cite, but I’m pretty sure Sunday was named for us after the sun by the pagan Romans. The other days are named after non-Christian symbols too - Monday (the Moon), Tuesday (can’t remember but someone will be along soon who does), Wednesday (Wodin), Thursday (Thor), Friday (Frigg or Freya?) and Saturday (Saturn).
Tuesday is named for another Norse god: Tyr.
everton is right, “Sunday” predates Christianity. The original arrangement IIRC was
Day--------------------God/Planet------------------S.E.L.O.O.*
Sun.----------------------Sun----------------------Sunday
Mon.----------------------Moon---------------------Monday
Tue.----------------------Mars---------------------Martedi
Wed.----------------------Mercury------------------Mercoledi
Thu.----------------------Jove/Jupiter-------------Giovedi
Fri.----------------------Venus--------------------Venerdi
Sat.----------------------Saturn-------------------Saturday
(In English, some of the original Roman gods got replaced with their North European equivalents: Thor (Thursday) for Jove, e.g.)
“Sunday” was OK with the Christians because of its many associations: The first day of creation when light was created, Jesus as “Lord of Light”, etc.
A major rival to Christianity as a religion at the time of Constantine was the worship of the “Invincible Sun”, variously identified with other gods such as Mithras. Depictions of this god show a halo around his head - something that was later used for depictions of Jesus. So there is probably some syncretism of Jesus and the Sun God influencing the celebration of Sunday, too.
- Some European Language Or Other - apologies to Larry Gonick, the author of the Cartoon History of the Universe
good point - though stoning was the accepted punishment in Jesus times as he stopped one such an enlighted practice with the words “let those without sin …”
Mangetout: I’m an atheist so my comments were meant to be ironical, (but irony often doesn’t travel well by email)
Ah yes. Well, we non-grown-ups who do keep those “crazy laws” thank you for your opinion. :rolleyes:
Zev Steinhardt
True Libertarian (or Edlyn. However, it is based upon a misunderstanding of the verse. The verse doesn’t curse anyone who breaks a single law. Just as an occassional jaywalk doesn’t cause me to cease being a general law-abiding citizen, the verse doesn’t curse one who breaks a single law. It refers to those who don’t upkeep it.
This is, however, off-topic. If you want to open another thread on the matter, I’d be more than happy to continue it there.
Zev Steinhardt
hmmm, no offense intended Zev. Just out of interest though, are you ultra-orthodox, and do you follow or agree with every single law such as the putting to death of adulteresses? Most Jews I know (though I do not know any UO ones) seem to pick and chose from the old testament scriptures almost as much as christians do.
Not quite. Orthodox Jews view all 613 commandments as in force and in place today.
Certain commandments, however, cannot be fulfilled due to circumstances. Many require the Temple in Jerusalem.
As for putting adulteresses to death, the law IS still “on the books” today. There are three reasons, however, that we don’t actually do this:
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Capital cases in Jewish law require a panel of twenty-three Judges. These Judges are required to have s’micha (ordination). This ordination has to come from someone who, himself, had s’micha from someone else who had s’micha, etc. in a line going back to Moses. This line was broken about 2000 years ago.
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In order for any Jewish court to try a capital case, the Sanhedrin (Jewish supreme court) had to be sitting in their chambers on the Temple Mount. Since this is no longer the case, even if a panel of the aforementioned ordained Judges did exist, they could not try a capital case anyway.
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Even when capital cases could be tried, death penalties were very rare. In order to impose a death penalty, the following circumstances had to exist:
[ul]
[li]The crime had to be witnessed by two people[/li][li]The two people could not be related to each other, the perpetrator or victim (if any)[/li][li]They had to verbally warn the perpetrator that the action s/he was about to commit was punishable by the death penalty[/li][li]The perpetrator had to acknowledge their statement and say something to the effect of “even so, I’m going to commit the crime”[/li][li]The panel of Judges had to have at least 13 votes for the death penalty, but not all 23.[/li][li]When in deliberations, the judges could not issue a conviction on the same day. They had to “sleep on the matter.”[/li][li]When deliberating a judge who previously argued for acquittal could no longer go back and argue for conviction if he changed his mind (although when it came time to actually vote, he could vote as he wished)[/li][/ul]
There are other rules involved. But as you can see, the issuing of the death penalty was extremely rare. The Talmud records a statement that a court that issued a death penalty more than once in seven years would have a reputation as a “murderous court.”
So, in short, we don’t “pick and choose” commandments. We actually keep them all as they apply in current circumstances.
Zev Steinhardt
What else are you gonna do with a pig?
Thanks or the clarification Zev. Two questions then (sorry for sort off diverting the thread)
Many of these conditions (23 judges, temple mount etc) are not in the old testament as far as I can remember- I presume they are in the talmud?
What then is the difference between an ultra- and orthodox jew (briefly)
**
You presume correctly. 
None. I really don’t like the term “ultra-orthodox.” Basically all Orthodox Jews keep the same commandments, say the same prayers, etc. Usually, the media or others will use the term “ultra-Orthodox” to mean Hasidim, as opposed to non-Hasidic Orthodox Jews.
Zev Steinhardt
So it wasn’t just Paul who thought that Christians did not need to keep kosher, but the writer of the Gospel of Mark as well. Mark is considered the earliest of the Gospels.
Regards,
Shodan
OK, time for (yet another) a primer on Jewish law.
There is a concept in Jewish law called tumah. There is no direct English translation. The closest term I can think of is “uncleanliness,” but this is not really an accurate translation.
People and items (including foodstuffs) can contract tumah. The usual method of contracting tumah involves coming in contact with or being under the same roof as a corpse. A person who contracts tumah cannot enter the Temple Mount, nor can s/he eat sacrifical foods until they are purified from the tumah.
A person who eats food which is tamei (contracted tumah) becomes tamei him/herself. The food, however, is not kosher, and one is perfectly permitted to eat it if one is willing to accept the restrictions that accompany the tumah.
What Mark may have been talking about was tumah and not about kashrus. It sounds like Mark is saying that since the source of tumah does not stay in the person, it does not render him/her tamei. (N.B. This is not normative Jewish law).
Zev Steinhardt