Funny, you don't look Jewish!

I was watching a documentary on Jerusalem today and they were discussing how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam were all prevalent in the city and what sort of effect this has on the three belief systems.

An Israeli being interviewed made a comment that I have heard a thousand times before, but for some reason I suddenly looked at it in an entirely new way.

Before I tell you what the comment was, let me set the stage for what I am about to suggest.

There is a term in psychology (which I can't remember) that says that no matter how beautiful the logic of an argument is, if it is based on a false premise to begin with then it negates the whole argument.

In other words, if I start out with 1. A lie or 2. A misinformed or distorted viewpoint then it doesn't matter how precise and accurate any argument is from then on - it doesn't matter! (I am sure someone will write and tell me what the term is!)

Now, let's get back to what the comment was! The Jew said, "Since we are the chosen people................" and that's when I had an epiphany and said to myself”; Wait a minute! We have gone under the assumption for thousands of years that the Jews are the "Chosen People" but who told us that? Why, the Jews of course!"

I know it say so in the Bible, but who wrote the Old Testament? The Jews!

Now I am not saying that this was a deliberate deception on the part of the Israelis those many thousands of years ago, but rather that they came to believe it over a period of time since they were amongst the first tribes with the cohesiveness of a religious doctrine.

It could have slowly developed from a bit of wistful thinking into something more concrete and finally into a full-blown conviction that was eventually written down as "Gospel!"

This concept of being special or "Chosen" was both a blessing and a curse to the Jews. It is the glue that has held them together for all these thousands of years where many other cultures have disappeared into the mists of time, but it also set them apart from the societies in which they lived and caused them untold grief over being "different" and "outcasts."

A grief that went so deep as to even end in the Holocaust.

The very thing that made these people overcome untold hardships over the millennia is also the very thing that set them apart and ostracized them.

Let me quote from my book "The Plain Truth About God-101" (what the church doesn't want you to know!)

** "God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh."
- - Voltaire (1694-1778)
Or this;
** "The more you complain the longer God lets you live.”
--Anonymous

Your Pondering Pal - Al