taratemima | rare moment

Well, I have little to do, need to find a way to pass in my Symbolic Logic Tarski's World homework, and I am hungry, forgot my bus pass, and worried I lost it.

I am catching up on old Friends of Ruth posts. A line struck me: "It seems to me that the Torah condemns all those who worship any god that is not the true Creator," and in the reply "I am coming to the conclusion that I don't have a clue what the word "condemns" means."

I sometimes go over the concept of 'idolatry' in my head. It's one of those fighting words that rankles religious people. Are you talking worship of a god with a different name from the Creator? How can I be sure these are not one and the same (something the Hindus and some neo-pagans with a pantheist bent would argue). If the belief in a god is not necessary, but self-examination and self-denial is emphasized (i.e., Buddhism), is it still idolatry?

It seems that you are mostly likely to get a shit storm going if you suggest that Christianity is idolatrous. Neo-pagans, Buddhists, Taoists, Hindus, will see the whole term as at best, a different opinion, or an attempt of a worshiper of a tribal deity to smear them. To say that would cut Christians to the quick, considering that they take a chunk of their theology from the Tanach. However, they take even more from mystery cults and Greek philosophy. Pagan sun gods and all that. And what's with making a 2000 year old human the same as the Creator?

While it makes me giggle to see some Orthodox Jewish and conservative media folks ranting about the decline of morals and aligning themselves with *gasp* idolaters, I am not sure if I am right, or even if I should tell my views off-line. You can ignore e-mail, but I'd insult a lot of acquaintances, friends, and family with viewing most religions as worshipping something that is human-made and faulty. No one likes having their religion called faulty.

But most are faulty for my purposes: answering "Why am I here, and what I am supposed to do, with this urge to write and an easily breakable and often selfish heart?" By what standard should I put their religions or no religion? Does it push them to lead a decent life? Does it give them something to lean on in times of trouble? Do I measure it by adherance to gurus and priests, by the rules of the religion or society? How do they get a portion of what--final understanding of their actions upon the world, ethereal green fields, clouds and harps, a better, shinier next life, what comes after death? How can I be sure that this god is not made by my hands, but is still something I can accept with my heart and head?

I don't know. I don't think I ever will.