From: pharvey@mipos3.intel.com (Paul Harvey)
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Subject: Re: Who do you kneel to when you pray?
Date: 30 Sep 92 00:27:52 GMT
	<1992Sep29.211442.23640@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
Organization: noitazinagrO

In article <1992Sep29.211442.23640@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> 
radzy@ICSI.Berkeley.EDU (T. O. Radzykewycz) writes:
>If I understand things correctly, then Christianity, as
>currently practiced, *does* claim that no other gods exist.

More or less right, there is the holy trinity of Father/Son/Holy-Ghost
but these are really just one God, right? All other Gods are false Gods or
Christian Devil worship. All other religions are false religions. Note
that even the Christians don't have a unified "story". Fundamentalists
consider Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses to be Christian Devil worshippers
and on and on. There really is no definition of exactly what a Christian is
other than we are and you aren't or, the one I prefer, if you say you are
Christian then you are Christian. The Universalist/Unitarians are very
moderate Christians and they believe that all are saved and that all religions
and deities are valid. Conversion is BIG in Christianity.

>And Judaism claims that other gods *do* exist, but that it is evil
>to worship them.

No. Judaism claims that there is but one God in Israel, meaning there is but
one God for the Jewish Tribe. Other tribes are on their own. This is why
there is no real conversion pressure in Judaism. It's only valid for Jews
or if you insist they may let you in to the club, and even then, one can be
Jewish and not follow Judaism. There is no Hell for non-believers in Judaism,
thus no default punishment as in Christianity. There is no Christian Devil in 
Judaism, thus no one tempting your fate. But the Lord did start as a God of 
War, so you may not have to worry about the Christian Devil, but that doesn't 
mean the Lord is gonna take it easy on you. And The Lord is actually fairly 
transcendent. Moses asks, by what name shall I call you? Answer: "I am that 
I am". The Lord creates the human in His image, man and woman He creates. So
He's not necessarily male. But, the religion does represent patriarchy
asserting its right to rule over animal and Goddess worshipers.

>But the common thread between the two is "Don't worship any
>other gods/goddesses.  I'm too jealous."  Gimme a break.  Isn't
>that a bit like saying "If you have any other friends, then
>you aren't one of *my* friends."  So juvenile!

I would say that in Judaism, what you have is a War God, the stern, fair
but just, tough as nails, father type. The War God never spares the rod. And
what He does will hurt Him more than it will hurt you, but you will feel pain.
In Judaism, the Lord is declaring, as a man would, His right to rule His
people, far above any animal or female Gods. Despite what Christians may
try to claim, the Lord of the Israelites is seldom compassionate, loving, or
gentle. He is nothing short of a patriarchal War God, a man's God, if you will.

Now Christianity on the other hand: Really what this represents is a poor
translation of the Hebrew scripture, the Septuagint, and the Persian 
Light/Dark dualism and the Greco/Roman Lord of the Underworld and the
emphasis on conversion or marketing started by my namesake Paul and continued
to this day by TV ministers and such. So, if your goal is to convert or
market, then this is what you say: You are a sinner by default, by default
you are going to Hell at death where the worst imaginable tortures will be
yours in eternaty. But, this does not have to be. If you except the Free
Gift of Christ, then you are saved. You will go to Heaven on the coat tails
of Christ, who died for your sins. What is the free gift? All you have to
do is accept Christ into your life and you get to spend eternity in Heaven
with all the other Christians. Sounds like a simple marketing concept don't
you think? But remember, if you don't except the Free Gift, then you are
damned to eternal Hell. So, why chance it, right? Why not believe just in
case it is true. What do you have to lose? All you have to do is give up
your heathen and pagan ways and caste off your heathen and pagan gods and
except Jesus into your life. With a deal like this, it's hard not to
convert to Christianity, don't you think? Of course in the past, the choice
was even easier to make. Basically, it was convert or die.
Newsgroups: alt.pagan