posted
Um, no. I was not interpreting the verse to mean "out before you arrive", but "they will be running to get away from you". As in, "I drove the cattle before me to the market." As Rose pointed out, the Canaanites did no running when the Israelites arrived; they stood their ground and fought.
Compare the words of Genghis Khan : "To see your enemies driven before you; to take their horses and their goods, and hear the lamentations of their women : That is best in life." This is the sense of 'driving before' I was using.
In any case, though, lying is really a lesser crime. Remind me again why the genocidal war with the Amalekites is a peachy-keen thing to do.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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I... I don't really think I'm a good, faithful Jew anymore. somehow, faithful Jews, faithful Christians and Muslims are supposed to say "G-d works in mysterious ways, and we must submit to his will, because he is good, he is all that is good, divinity is perfect."
but - I can say this. I love G-d. and I love Torah. I love it despite it's terrible shortcomings, which I accept as just that, shortcomings, I accept our terrible history, because it is a part of who we are today, it is a part of what drives us to the decision, to others, do not what is hateful to yourself.
I love G-d because G-d is something unknowable, something not understandable - and I pity G-d. because however much of the bible comes from his hand, and however much isn't - he's responsible for all those murders. he's responsible for every death in history. I - for a long time I've not understood how someone on the throne of all creation, with all that power and all that knowledge - how they could be sane. to create creation, and to create us. It is in general, to me - a terrible mistake to create something with it's own mind and tell it "You must choose to love me, for that is the right thing, and without my love, you are nothing." it's dangerous and it is wrong.
I love Judiasm, I believe it is a religion that has grown. we see that, don't we? we see that, despite our possibly genocidal past, Jews grew to be lovers of Life, of Knowledge, of the Search for Truth. it is this way for many religions. Mind you, Christianity started w/ the death of it's savior and G-d didn't set them to mass slaughter for quite a while. Please forgive my being casual about that, but I figure it's important to note that Jews are not the only ones who can say G-d told them to kill people.
it's a terrible terrible mess though. and ultimately I have to face what I don't believe. I do not believe G-d is perfect. I believe the spirituality of G-d grows with mankind. I believe he grows as he watches us grow, as my parents have grown for raising me. I'm only so lucky they didn't have a nasty streak in my youth comparable to G-ds.
I actually - I actually only today just found a quote that somewhat reflects how I feel about G-d. and of all places, it came from an old DC comic book. John Constantine: Hellblazer Issue 114. One of the big stories in this Comic book series is sort of what we're talking about. that G-d's a bit nutters to go around commanding us to commit genocide, and to move whole nations to teach lessions to the Jewish People - 'cause that's what we're taught all this death, and the later diasporas, were about, that G-d wanted us to understand what it takes to make a nation, and wanted to remind us that we're nothing without his love, which we recieve by being good to each other AND doing sacrifices at the proper times and whatnot - so G-d's a bit nutters to demand we go around committing mass murders and then say "LOVE ME!"... anyway, here's the quotie. as spoken by King Arthur to the title character.
oh G-d please don't let me get sued. be offended all you like but don't let me get sued. and if anybody who runs these forums thinks I might get sued, please warn me and knock this post off quicklike!
"Our God is ... Confused, John, and we are helping him at every turn. That is our purpose. By each of our actions, we mirror his soul. 'Tis your duty to God, then, to decide who you'll be."
this probably was in turn quoted from something else. it's part of a feeling I think people get when they have to face that people have done horrible horrible shit for their faith in a power greater than death.
scary stuff, ey?
but, yeah. Ultimately, I don't think the story's over. I don't think G-d is dead, I don't think he's perfect, I don't think he's any kind of ghost, really. G-d is someone with too much power and too much responsibility and we're here to help G-d understand itself. maybe we're enough, or maybe we're not the only ones helping G-d to understand itself. but that's not important yet.
I don't know where I'm going with this yet, but I'll post what I've got for now.
Posts: 58 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
I'm sorry I hadn't followed the forum, and I'm sorry for my latest post. I'm too - immature in my ideas and my writings to stay on here. this'll be my last post. sorry folks.
Posts: 58 | Registered: Apr 2005
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