The Jews are God's chosen people

By D. R. Khashaba

The question of religion is becoming oppressive. The onslaught of religious militancy worldwide is threatening to drive human culture and human civilization millennia back.

I have just seen an article by Charles Murray (“Jewish Genius”, Commentary, April 2007, (link). I have no intention of dealing with the main theme of the article. I wish merely to point to two statements that I find particularly stupefying. But first, since the article has something to do with Jews, I beg you before rushing to the charge of anti-Semitism, to have a look at my recently published Hypatia’s Lover (2006) and see my treatment of Jewish characters and Jewish events there.

Professor Murray speaks of "two examples of great Jewish accomplishment ... The first is the fully realized conceptualization of monotheism, expressed through one of the literary treasures of the world, the Hebrew Bible. ... The second achievement is not often treated as a Jewish one but clearly is: Christian theology expressed through the New Testament .." If Murray meant us to regard these simply as literary achievements, on par with the Iliad or the ancient Egyptian myths, I would not trouble to oppose him. But Murray obviously means to present these as achievements in some profounder sense. To do that we have to accept without question the truth and the moral superiority of the concept of monotheism and of Christian theology. Along with these we have, naturally, to accept the ferocious wrath, the caprice, the cruelty of the revealed God, both Hebrew and Christian.

Murray, after searching inconclusively for an explanation for Jewish genius concludes, "At this point, I take sanctuary in my remaining hypothesis, uniquely parsimonious and happily irrefutable. The Jews are God's chosen people." Unless I have missed the irony of the article as a whole, I can only congratulate the whole of humankind, minus the Jews, on being granted the status of second-class servants of the Almighty!

D. R. Khashaba

Cairo, April 3, 2007.

http://khashaba.blogspot.com


http://www.Back-to-Socrates.com

Comments

Anonymous said…
I never really understood that concept. God creates all mankind but then designates one Middle Eastern tribe to be chosen over all the other people he created.

You could probably conclude that the Jews were somehow better than all his other creations. But then you read the Bible and find that the Jews were always doing things to make him unhappy, to the point that he was often forced to abandon them, leaving them to be raped, murdered and enslaved by their enemies. It sort of makes me glad not to be one of his chosen people.
Anonymous said…
I grew up with,and had many Jewish friends,but as far as them being god's chosen,...total bullshit!

peace,freedy
Anonymous said…
Hi Freedy,

I have a Jewish spouse. He doesn't feel particularly chosen, considering Jewish history and the words of the OT. If this is chosen, I'll take not chosen any day.
Anonymous said…
Khasaba, Chosenness does not mean the Jews are superior to others. The teacher in the class often chooses one student to lead the rest of the class.
That does not mean the teacher is treating others inferiorly. It is only for the sake of instructing. Similarly God chosen Jews to give His Word and the Plan of Salvation to us.
You said that Hebrew God is a wrathful GOd. But look at the cross, where GOd offered His begotten Son for your sins and my sins.
When you don't care what God provided for you through the cross, God is saying,'as you like, and face the consequences'.
Only after walking on the cross will we enter into hell. So, don't blame God for punishing sinners. Sinners who blatantly violate the laws of God, what about them?
I answered this question more deeply in my video: Is God cruel? at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvIrV52v4uM
Anonymous said…
Paul: "But look at the cross, where GOd offered His begotten Son for your sins and my sins."

Blah blah blah fucking blah blah...

Paul has yet to prove anything he says. He just spouts the same old crap everyone has heard a million billion times. Time to throw the broken record AWAY.

Prove at lease this ONE SENTENCE TO BE TRUE, Paul! Prove it to me! Evidence! Evidence! No more fucking assertions! EVIDENCE! For 'Christs' sake, PLEASE?!?? -Wes.
Anonymous said…
What? The Jews were the first ones to formulate the idea of monotheism? Someone needs to consult their history books. Zoroastianism predates Judaism, and it has concepts of one God ("Ahura Mazda" the "one uncreated creator of all"), along with a whole bunch of other supposedly unique features of Judaism and Christianity.
Jim Arvo said…
paul said "You said that Hebrew God is a wrathful GOd. But look at the cross, where GOd offered His begotten Son for your sins and my sins."

Okay, got it. Let's see if I have this straight. Say I murder your entire family, and your dog too for good measure. But then I decide to pardon you for the crimes committed by your distant ancestors by cutting off my own finger. That makes me benevolent, right? Did I get that right?

paul said "When you don't care what God provided for you through the cross, God is saying,'as you like, and face the consequences'."

Paul, you are very confused. I (we) don't believe in your god. That is quite a different statement than "I don't care about what god has provided." But you don't see that, do you? Let me put it this way. Are you spurning Allah by refusing to bow in supplication five times a day? Are you, in effect, saying to Allah, "I don't care about your gifts!"? You would say that's ridiculous, right? Allah is a made up deity, right? (Or, minimally, a caricature of the "real" god.) Therefore, you are not spurning Allah for the very simple reason that there is no Allah to spurn. Agree or disagree?

About your YouTube video. You state that one must take the grisly violence, the genocide, the infanticide, etc. of the Bible as part of a "Big Picture"; one in which god can be seen as the hero for wiping out entire communities of people for their abysmal behavior. Frankly, Paul, that kind of thinking scares me. YOU scare me. Look at how you have rationalized the most horrific violence imaginable as a noble and loving act. You liken it to the necessary evils of war, which were necessitated by the greater evils perpetrated by Hitler. Can you not see the difference? Had Truman been in possession of the perfect weapon (to use Sam Harris's term) that could have rendered the evil-doers harmless, and without injury to a single innocent creature, he would not have hesitated to use it. The carnage of warfare was a consequence of our feeble abilities and the crudeness of our weapons. In contrast, the god you worship purportedly chose to wipe out entire civilizations by enlisting bronze-age humans with their even cruder weapons to slaughter everything in sight; men, women, children, infants, animals. That, paul, is beyond despicable--to foment such ghastly violence and suffering UNNECESSARILY is simply unspeakable. Let's hear how you justify that, Paul.

Can you not see that the Bible was written by men to justify their own ghastly acts? What would it take, Paul, to have you recoil in horror from the Bible? What would have to appear on its pages for you to see that it is not the work of an infinitely compassionate being? Is there anything terrible enough? Or can you justify anything in exchange for the promise of paradise? If it's the latter, is there much separating you from a suicide bomber, Paul?
Anonymous said…
I must admit that I have not read every response generated because of time. However I would like to emphasize as I believe if this would finally come out that there is no "Jewish" identity any more. All the Arabs and Jews share the same DNA and if this should be made widely known I believe peace should prevail since the middle east entities believe they are fighting amongst distinct difference when in reality they are fighting amongst themselves.
Steven Bently said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Steven Bently said…
We must remember that religious, beliefs and myths were invented to alter a persons mental perception, as evident with Pauls comments as well as Unblinded, and various religious nut cases, etc.

Religions and beliefs and myths were invented for the sole purpose to skew and take away and distract people's ability to think with reason for themselves.

Can you imagine if the Bible said that a superior race of people were coming from outer-space to kill all the christians before Jesus comes, how many people would tunnel underground to live from fear of what the bible said?

Look how many people live in constant fear of the written word by men, in religious books.

They let a book with pages of ink written by men, control their every thought.

Look at the power a book has upon the people of this world.

Religious books, a powerless conglomerate collection of pages of commands and ignorant ideas written by men, over 2000 years ago, not one thing written in those books can be proven to be true to this very day, in 2007.

We're on this planet and these religious books control the very way people act and percieve this world, based upon the world view held by men over 2000 years ago, the human race as whole should be ashamed at their foolishness.

Jews God's favorite people...ha ha ha

Can anyone go to a shopping mall and pick out a Jew or a Muslim or a Christian? Hell no, neither can anyone else.

Religious titles are self-claimed titles for the brainwashed and demented, infected with religious dementia, unhealthy altered mental state.

Religious books and beliefs were invented to alter a persons mental perception, to change and infer a different way of thinking, in other words to brainwash.
Joe B said…
That explains something that has been puzzling me for a while... well, actually only since I saw last night's performance of Spamalot in Philadelphia.

ARTHUR:
Have you heard of this "Broadway?"

"ROBIN:
Yes sire...and we don't stand a chance there.

ARTHUR:
Why not?

ROBIN:
Because...Broadway is a very special place, filled with very special people, people who can sing and dance, often at the same time!
They are a different people, a multi-talented people, a people...who need people...and who are, in many ways, the luckiest people in...the world. I'm sorry sire, but we don't stand a chance.

ARTHUR:
But why?

ROBIN:
Well...let me put it like this.

In any great adventure, that you don't want to lose, victory depends upon the people that you choose.
So, listen, Arthur darling, closely to this news: You won't succeed on Broadway, If you don't have any Jews.


So, there it is. Let's all go find our grail, and always look on the bright side of life. Unless your one of god's elect; in which case, get your guilt on 'cause daddy dearest is going to be home soon, and he gets pissed easily.
Anonymous said…
Anony: "All the Arabs and Jews share the same DNA and if this should be made widely known I believe peace should prevail since the middle east entities believe they are fighting amongst distinct difference when in reality they are fighting amongst themselves."

What makes one Jewish?

1-Parents - Biology (DNA)

2-Choice - Conversion to the belief system (Judaism)

3-Place of Birth - National identity (Israel).

Jews accept other Jews, based on how one became Jewish.

If everyone only focused on DNA, then we'd all be kin at some point... However, it's the number "two" reason that creates turmoil... When someone "chooses" a belief system, and implicitly within the doctrine it states that Jews are the chosen people... it offends others. Hence, why Constantine-I, attempted to eradicate Judaism, it was exclusive, and didn’t unite his empire.
Anonymous said…
paul, you said that god chose the jews to be "instructors"? What did the jews teach us? Have you read the bible? Yes, I'm sure you have shelves of zondervan paperbacks, but have you read the bible? Read the bible, dummy, and your sorry excuse for a religion will evaporate.

The jews were an ignorant, backward race of towelheads who made up a lot of shit about how they were once great warriors and conquerors.And you call them teachers? Read that foul shit called the word of god. Read it. And those who wrote it are my teachers? Never. I would sooner join the nazi party than follow the bible.
mike said…
PauL,
The true test of love is how one treats their enemies, not those who love you. Christ claims to have such love for people, yet he wants to kill everyone, like a dictator, that does not come under his rule. Wow, just like a human being. Even Jesus taught that it was wrong to take revenge, yet he does, or will not, abide by his own words! What a total hypocrite. And we are to serve a hypocrite? He wants mere, fleshly man, to leave by a standard that he himself willnot?

IF the head is corrupt so will be the body.
mike said…
excuse my last post, it is live not leave. I was furious when I wrote. Also, he does not instead of does.
Anonymous said…
Well here we go...

If christ in not real why would yoo set up a whole website trying so hard to disprove him? Do yoo belive that jesus walked on this earth 2000 years ago? because there is 100% proff so basically yoo cant disbelive he was a real person because its a fact... Now what does it say about jesus christ in these places where it is proven that he lived? it says "he was a great man" "not a mirical maked just a great man" now what did jesus do when he was alive? he preached to the unbelivers and healed the sick that is what i belive he did but yoo obviously belive that he didnt... so if he didnt here is clearly a loony cos what kind of man walks about saying he can do miricals? not a normal person... so if he was a "loony" as yoo belive then why would the history books say he was great? Nobody on this earth can get into heaven if they have comited a sim.. NOBODY so god made a way for every person too be sinless... he sent his only son jesus christ to live a perfect life (so too be a "great man") then to die on the cross so when we pray the prayer god looks down on us and sees the life of jesus not our life... so in gods eyes we are sinles... also thousands of years before jesus was even born it was predicted by many people... Also on this website mainly yoo post about belivers likk pastors who have "broken the law" cant yoo see that that is the only way yoo can try and get around the hole christian faith? My email address is j_o_n_i@hotmail.co.uk for any type of email... i.e... ridicule... questions... etc

Thanks for reading
Spirula said…
elwisa

Why would anyone here want to bother emailing you after your drive-by posting of a mindless piece of inarticulate drivel laden with gross factual errors, fallacious arguments, and grammer/spelling/punctuation so mangled it could be labeled road-kill-english? As far as I'm concerned, it indicates either a piss-poor education, a life of willful ignorance, or a severe case of learning disabilities.
Astreja said…
Elwisa asks: If christ in not real why would yoo set up a whole website trying so hard to disprove him?

Because, right now, there are small children suffering from mental traumas caused directly by the "convert-or-burn-forever" mentality of Christianity. In my opinion, the sooner Christianity (and similar hell-happy belief systems) are eradicated, the better off we will all be.

Do yoo belive that jesus walked on this earth 2000 years ago?

Quite frankly, no. I do not.

because there is 100% proff so basically yoo cant disbelive he was a real person because its a fact...

Then why is there a five-year research project currently underway to determine if there is any real evidence of this person? It is not a fact. It is merely dogma, repeated by believers for so long that they think it to be a "fact."

what kind of man walks about saying he can do miricals?

Better question: Why do *most* books from *most* religions attribute miracles to the figureheads of their belief systems? Because it impresses the naïve and the stupid, making it easier to bring them on board and take their money.

Nobody on this earth can get into heaven if they have comited a sim...

Then I guess Jesus isn't there either.

According to the gospels he was a liar: Told his disciples he was not going to the Feast of Tabernacles in Judea, but went anyway... in secret. Claimed he was coming back within the lifetime of his followers, and didn't bother to show up.

Accessory after the fact to donkey theft, on Palm Sunday.

Guilty of verbal abuse, for comparing a woman to a dog.

And a vandal: He cursed a fig tree for not providing figs out of season... Bet the owner of the tree was reeeal happy about that. Sent a herd of pigs off a cliff -- I claim animal cruelty here, too.

All in all, not a pretty picture of your religion.
boomSLANG said…
Oh, puh-leeze.....you guy's aren't really buyin' this, are you? WebDave? Jim?....is that you? Yoo hoo?...'game's up. Wes? Dave8? Uberjeff?...is this one of you guys clownin' around?...playin' silly little games? If so, you've gone overboard in caricaturing the fundy position this time. Please, it's sooo obvious.

LMAO(laffin' mye ass auff)
Anonymous said…
Well, boomSLANG, it's not wittle ol' me... but, like you... I'm hoping that it's someone foolin', because if they aren't, they're fool-in all the way :-)
Steven Bently said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jim Arvo said…
BoomSlang, it wasn't me. Honest. Yoo think i cood right like that evin if i tryed?
Steven Bently said…
Dear elwisa, I'm sorry you've wasted your time here, because this is a true Jesus teaching died-in-the-wool, Christian website.

Did you not see the real picture of Jesus on the front page?

We strictly adhere to the teachings of Jesus from the scriptures that Jesus wrote and hand scribed by himself only.

Thusly we ascribe to the following written scriptures wrote by the hand of Jesus himself: (please read slowly) _____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________

Nada, nothing, zilch, zippo, a big fat zero.

Therefore since Jesus never claimed to have wrote one word in the Bible, we can only presume that the words he was attributed to as having been spoken by Jesus was either fabricated, embellished, dreamed-up, gossip, envisioned, or inspired by the help of halucingenic drugs, or alcohol or by frontal-lobe trauma.

Surely God the creator of the universe and of language could spell words???

Surely the one to perform all those blessed miracles, could spell words???

Who wrote the Bible? a God, Jesus, Satan, Shammu?

Ans: Men! Sheep herders...whom had no formal education...men who had no scientific knowledge of the Earth...men who thought that the (heart) was the center of all thought and emotions, surely a God would have told them about the brain???

Infact the word brain is not in the Bible, why not? Because it doesn't take much brains to believe in such nonsense.

So you're worshipping words that were written down by different people that claim to have been spoken by Jesus some 50-60 years after Jesus' death.

Jesus could have came back from heaven to write his true story, because there is nothing for Jesus to do in heaven, there's no electricty, no running water, no automobiles, no computers, just kissing the bible God's ass all day and night.
Courtney said…
Jim Arvo -
Damn you are good (referring to your first comment)! You explain the biblical nonsense in such a clear, concise manner that anyone could see the reasoning. Bravo.

Oh, and, please, I do hope that "yoo" person was a joke. So sad if not.
Anonymous said…
Nowp! Knot mee! -wEs..
Anonymous said…
Nowp! Knot mee! -wEs..
Dave Van Allen said…
Not me. I don't spoof. I don't think spoofing is funny.
Anonymous said…
Dave8
Your are correct in that "biology" does contribute to ones being Jewish but this biology is shared by the Arabs as well. The rest of the points of being Jewish is of a political basis. This makes God a politician and racist of which I don't think even theists would want to accept that.
Anonymous said…
Looking through yesterday's responses, I noticed a post by
someone named Elwisa who claimed
there is "100% proof" that Jesus
walked on the earth. 100% proof?
That's news to me!

Outside of the Bible, there is
almost no mention of Jesus at all,
save for that written by the historian Josephus, and that has
become very suspect in recent years. And previous posters to this website (including the Webmaster) have shown the books
that bear the names of Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John were written
decades later, and were probably
not even written by any of those
men.

And what kind of logic is it that giving evidence someone didn't
exist proves they existed?
Anonymous said…
Anony: "Your are correct in that "biology" does contribute to ones being Jewish but this biology is shared by the Arabs as well."

Biologically speaking, we all seem to be somewhat related. We all bleed red, but that isn't why there is so much hatred. It's all based on the language of politics.

It seems pointing out to the Arabs and Jews that everyone is biologically connected, has to be more influential than emotional and political language.

Anony: "The rest of the points of being Jewish is of a political basis. This makes God a politician and racist of which I don't think even theists would want to accept that."

Supernatural theists are non-rationalists, and use the "word" God, in any manner that benefits them. If a supernatural theist wants to hate someone else, they can make an irrational argument using the irrational "word" God, as support. An irrational "word" can mean anything a person wants it to mean.

Rationalists hold to an ideology that clashes with non-rationalists. If you are trying to make sense/rationalize why people aren't getting along in the middle-east between Jews and Arabs, start with trying to understand why people use irrational ideologies as opposed to rational ideologies.

I'd suggest it's not biological. It's likely a learned behavior, based on culture and nationalism.
Anonymous said…
And a vandal: He cursed a fig tree for not providing figs out of season... Bet the owner of the tree was reeeal happy about that. Sent a herd of pigs off a cliff -- I claim animal cruelty here, too.

Whats so roung about cursing a fig tree? if someone cursed at yoor house would yoo be offended? no not at all

Jesus cast demons out of humans then the demons went into pigs jesus did not force them into the pigs then the pigs ran off the cliff nothing too do with jesus ALSO they were wild pigs ALSO in that time people would kill lambs for sacrifices so i dought there was much on animal crulte about that.

Accessory after the fact to donkey theft, on Palm Sunday.

The donkey was given too him because he is the king of kings

and grammer/spelling/punctuation so mangled it could be labeled road-kill-english? As far as I'm concerned, it indicates either a piss-poor education, a life of willful ignorance, or a severe case of learning disabilities.

I have dislexia (see cant even spell it) and A.D.D and no this does not make me a thicko who belives in anything.

"100% proof" that Jesus
walked on the earth. 100% proof?
That's news to me!


Ever herd of something called Jesus's spear? the spear which was driven through jesus's side at his crusifixtion? or how about in the Quran where it stats many times that "jesus was only a prophet from god" ALSO in many other books it stats that jesus was alive and a "great man"

Also many people said stuff about matthew, mark, luke and john well if yoo did not know then these were 4 men who lived far away from each other also what they wrote was a different time periods of each other so if it was "wise tale" then how come it is all so similar? if it was ecsagerated dont yoo think that they would be totaly different?

Also when i was writting this just before it was posted my comuter closed if this aint a devil attack what is.

Again my email address is j_o_n_i@hotmail.co.uk

Sorry for any spelling mistakes
Anonymous said…
Ge elwisa, we would like to discuss religion with you but, your computer is posessed by t he devil and we dont want to go to hale. Thanks ford the laffs
Anonymous said…
Elwisa:

Yes, we've all heard about the spear that was stabbed into the side of Jesus. Remember, the people who post here are ex-Christians, many of whom have years
of Bible study under their belts.
I don't think you can tell anyone
here something they haven't heard
before.

My point is, a story about someone,
whether in the Bible or elsewhere,
is not proof that the event actually happened, or that person
actually existed. We've all heard
about people like Paul Bunyon and
Pecos Bill, and the things that
happened to them; but we know they
weren't real people. And you're
right, Islam does believe Jesus
existed; but you're going to find
no one at Ex-Christian.net gives
the Quran many points for accuracy,
either.

And I don't agree with your mother
that there is a Satanic attack going on; this is a forum for, among other things, an exchange of
ideas and opinions between Christians and ex-Christians. I know some of the letters here get a
little rough, but the vast majority
of people who post here wish no ill
will toward anyone.

I was sorry to read you have dyslexia (I'm not sure of the spelling, either!). I can imagine
this causes difficulties for you
when trying to write.
Spirula said…
I have dislexia (see cant even spell it) and A.D.D and no this does not make me a thicko who belives in anything.

Sorry, to read about your learning disabilities (I suspected as much being a former teacher, it's spelled dyslexia by the way).

No it doesn't make you a "thicko", but you are being one. It's called willful ignorance. It comes from the refusal to think critically, read works of historians, anthropologists, comparative religion scholars and others who look at the bible from an objective point of view. And, of course, using plain common sense.

All of us here were once living that "life". Being spoonfed our beliefs, fearful of an angry god, feeling the need to be forgiven, wanting the fellowship of others that believed as we did. It's a cozy little world of group self-delusion and denial of reality. All because of fear, manufactured guilt and the desire of some (church leaders) to control the behavior and ideas of others.

But, for us, the belief in that which is unbelievable and nonsensical, belief in a contradictory "holy" book full of deplorable behavior by both "believers/chosen ones", their leaders, and their god (which still is easily documented even today), for us, it all came to a difficult, self-critical, painful end. No, prayers are not answered and we know it.

We've lost relationships with loved ones, relatives and friends. But that is the price to be paid for coming to grips with the truth, accepting reality, and having a morality based on sympathy, compassion, empathy, and cooperation instead of fear.

Ask yourself, if the "truth" of the bible is so clear, why are there over 30,000 denominations of Christianity? That's a lot of different Christians, so convinced they have "the truth" they can't abide the thought of worshipping or fellowshipping with other Christians that don't agree with them. Think about it.

Maybe some day you too will see the light.
Astreja said…
Elwisa said: Whats so roung about cursing a fig tree?

If the Bible story is to be believed (not a good idea, in my opinion), the curse supposedly destroyed the ability of the tree to bear fruit. Imagine someone coming into your yard and poisoning an apple tree so that it never blooms again.

if someone cursed at yoor house would yoo be offended? no not at all

Speak for yourself. I would indeed be very offended by such an action.

Jesus cast demons out of humans then the demons went into pigs jesus did not force them into the pigs then the pigs ran off the cliff nothing too do with jesus ALSO they were wild pigs ALSO in that time people would kill lambs for sacrifices so i dought there was much on animal crulte about that.

Doesn't matter if they were wild pigs or domesticated. The pigs died. I stand by my verdict of animal cruelty.

The donkey was given too him because he is the king of kings

Read your Bible, please. Matthew 21. The disciples found an ass and a colt tied up, untied them, and took them. They were told to say 'The Lord needs them' if they were challenged. Possibly Jesus and the disciples counted on the challengers mistaking this comment as a message from the local landlord: Kind of like going to Fred Smith's house, stealing his car, and saying "Mr. Smith needs it." Nonetheless, they took the animals without asking first, and had a ready excuse. In my opinion, that's theft.

All in all, I expect better behaviour from a supposed 'god'.

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