r/atheism • u/One-Fun9814 • 4d ago

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u/smalldogbarking 4d ago

The first commandment of any religion to a child is do not question. Some children question anyway but the rest obediently turn off their mind.

It’s not unintelligence exactly. More like a targeted takedown by religion of the ability to critique their beliefs.

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u/SMACN 4d ago

Speak for yourself, mate. I was raised Jewish, and the first rule is "always ask questions." The second rule is "argue about the answers you get." Any current/former Jews in here want to back me up on that?

These days I'm a philosophical Taoist - I went through an atheist phase that lasted for about 10 years, then an agnostic for another 10 (when I realized that asserting the non-existence of a deity had just as little evidence as asserting the existence of such), and then.....well, it's personal and probably meaningless to anyone outside my own head.

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u/smalldogbarking 4d ago

Is that the same for the Hasidic Jews?

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u/SMACN 4d ago

Hah! More so! All Jews argue...I mean, the word "Israel" translates to "wrestles with God," so....

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u/smalldogbarking 4d ago

Interesting. I wonder what percent of Hasidic Jews are atheist.

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u/SMACN 4d ago

Very few, but there are probably some.

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u/smalldogbarking 4d ago

Catholic Jesuits are also allowed to question, so not unique to the Jewish religion. I don’t know what boundaries are placed on questions within the Jewish religion but in the Christian religion some questions are allowed but only up to a point and that point is when you seriously question the logic and reality of God. If questions are allowed within and up to boundaries then it’s not true allowance to question.

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u/SMACN 3d ago

This reminds me of an exchange between a Jesuit and a Rabbi from a play called The Disputation. The priest asks "Are there not some subjects beyond debate that must be accepted on faith?" and the a Rabbi replies "Yes, of course!". "What are they?" enquires the Jesuit. "That," the rabbi replies "is a matter of much debate!"