Guest Post From Rav Elchanan Wasserman

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I couldn't have said it better myself.

My debate with my skeptic friend

Skeptic:

How could you say the Torah is a Divine book when it seems to be very wrong about the creation of the universe, the flood etc.

Me:

That you could ask such a question shows how puny is your intellect. What you do not understand is that Torah & Science are on different planes.

Skeptic:

What the Hell is that supposed to mean? What happened? Did the Big Bang happen or was Adam made from clay? These are two very different stories. If the Big Bang happened, then the creation story is wrong. It’s false. It’s not on a different plane.

Me:

Science is trying to figure out what is real and true. Religion is trying to figure out what has meaning.

Skeptic:

Then you admit religion is wrong.

Me:

No. It is on a different plane. The meaning plane.

Skeptic:

You are not making any sense. Look it. If I were to go back 10,000 years. Were there or were there not people there? If those people existed, isn’t the Torah wrong when it says Adam was created from clay.

Me:

The answer to your question depends on which plane you visited. The “meaning plane” is at a 37 degree angle from the “what actually happened plane.” Two planes in a 3 dimensional topology at 37 degree angles would only intercept in one line. As any child knows, the Ruv spoke about Adam I and Adam II and there are actually two universes. There are two emunahpshutas and two Earths. One on each plane. They only intercept over one line.

Skeptic:

Ok, so what about at that point of interception?

Me:

That corresponds to the one detail the Torah got right.

Skeptic:

And which was that?

Me:

Hmm….. I can’t think of any at the moment. But I’m sure there is at least one. God isn’t that stupid.

Skeptic:

That’s is ridiculous. I give up. I’m out a here.

Ad Kan.

And, there you have it. Once again, I have bested a skeptic in a debate and forced him to run away.

Response to Richard Dawkins

Response to Richard Dawkins

One time I heard a video on youtube* by Richard Dawkins.** Dawkins said religion is an “accident of geography.” What did he mean by that? Basically, the idea is that almost everyone in the world thinks their parents have the right religion. It would be a most remarkable coincidence if this was by chance. The more likely explanation is that people are following in their paths of indoctrination. Thus, Dawkins would say, that I, a Jew of Jewish parents only believe in Judaism because I was born to Jewish parents.

Nice try Dawkins, but not so fast!!

Dawkins violates a key epistemological ontology by inferring a metaphysical tautology.

In other words, Dawkins is right when he considers religions in general, but it would be a false jump of logic to conclude that that is true of Judaism as well.

Here’s the way I see it. Judaism is the right religion. There is evidence to support it. Jews also raise their kids to be critical, thinking people. Most Jews therefore go to university and take courses in comparative religion, evolution, archeology, philosophy, biblical criticism, cosmology, and history and carefully consider all the evidence. They correctly conclude that Judaism is the right religion. The people that are biased towards their parents’ point of view are everyone else in the world. So, Dawkins would ask, is it coincidence that all the non biased people happen to be those people with Jewish parents? Not at all! It is the Jewish system of fair rational logic that we bring up our children with that imbues them with a sense of intellectual honesty. In short, we are not biased, but everyone else is.
Besides, Jacob Stein converted.
Vehal lehavin

* 21st century yetzer hurrah box
** On my neighbor’s computer

Unquestionable Proof of the Torah

The 6 point method:

It would seem to me that one can easily prove the Torah is divine in 6 simple irrefutable steps:

1. The universe must have a creator. How else did it get here?
2. The creator must have wanted humans to know about him – why else would he have created the world?
3. That revelation must have been through miracles, so it follows one of the world religions is accurate
4. Non monotheistic religions are stupid, so either Islam, Christianity, or Judaism is the right religion
5. Islam and Christianity are corruptions of Judaism, so Judaism is the right religion
6. OJ is authentic Judaism.

Vekal Lehavin.

Disclaimer

Important Note:

This blog is an attempt to highlight the frustrations of a member of the Jewish community. It is not meant to be taken literally. Its intended audience is those who agree with the author’s views. Please do not read if it will offend you.