[E. Evans]

The great American pragmatist philosopher, I forget his name, defined truth as an idea or belief, that, which when you act on it, produces the consequences you expect. Something can be true and not accurate. For instance, the Chinese have a belief that drinking cold beverages is bad luck. The water qualitiy in ancient and medieval China as in most civilizations, left a lot to be desired. So drinking cold beverages might make you sick just not for the reasons you think. Most kinds of googly-eyed mystical explanatios are just mental shorthand for observations about subtle phenomena. Monotheistic mysticism is no different. Science and Religion have very different goals, ie they are trying to produce very different consequences. Religion is meant to guide decision-making on a social and personal level. Science is designed to generate accurate predictions on the part of disconnected observers or (omnipotent) experimenters. Science is more accurate but usually much less useful than religion. Science generates more questions than answers. Religious answers may be cloaked in googly-eyed mysticism, but that doesn't mean they're false or random. Social science does a fair enough job at predicting the behavior of large, homgenous groups of poeple that, on a policy level, scientific predictions and prescriptions should be taken into account but on any smaller level, religion is a much better guide.

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Name : E. Evans, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 24, City : Troy, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : Database Developer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[E. Evans]

I consider 'messianic Judaism' to be a cultish and thinly veiled attempt by fundamentalist protestants to convert Jews. My understanding is that most Jews for Jesus congregations receive funding from Protestant missionary concerns. I find all attempts to convert my people very offensive. The very existence of Jews for Jesus gets me very angry every time I think about it. It is spitting on the graves of my ancestors who were burned at the steak during the crusades, who were killed in the holocaust, that is the depth of the loathing I have for Jews for Jesus. If you plan on joining their group I wouldn't make mention of it to regular Jewish people.

User Detail :  

Name : E. Evans, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 24, City : Troy, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : Database Developer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[E. Evans]

The law is very important in Judaism. Also, the written word is elevated to the sacred. You find a lot of Jews in professions that are reading/writing intensive because that's what Jewish culture values. So you find a lot of Jews in politics, elementary & secondary education, law & as writers. You don't find a lot of Jews in things focusing on mechanical ability or the plastic arts like engineers, architects, real estate developers or experimental science. Jews do a lot of things to increase the tolerance of the societies they live in like intentionally pushing the envelope of acceptibility. Judaism places a big emphasis on justice so particular Jews may be arrayed iconoclastically against the status quo. Lastly, Jews have a more positive attitude towards sexuality than Christians. These things all mean that Jews may be quite conspicuous regardless of how successful they are. Also, European Jews during the middle ages were prohibited from farming and were the only people who had compulsary universal education, from within the Jewish community. So, Jews eked out livings as Tailors, scribes, traders, peddlers, money-lenders, and jewelers. Jews were called the fourth estate of feudalism because they did things the nobles, serfs and clergy weren't allowed to do. Which is why a lot of Jews have names with Silver or Gold in them... they're descended from Jewelers. Jewish emaancipation in Western Europe happened in the 1700's, in Eastern Europe not till Industrialization and not completely till communism. Many Jews, especially the Orthodox, are still active in those medieval occupations today, for instance, the diamond trade. Few Jews are to found in the halls of agribusiness.

User Detail :  

Name : E. Evans, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 24, City : Troy, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : Database Developer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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