Interfaith Understanding

[Yael]

Over the years I have had more than a few 'interfaith-dialogues'. I live in a world filled with people who are not like me and I guess I would prefer to find a way for us to not only get along, but to help each other become better at living out our respective faiths. I have several Christian friends where we have this kind of relationship, and I would like to add a few more.

I started reading at this site because I had many years of dealing with a fundy relative before I finally broke it off with them completely. I can relate to bits and pieces here. I read about the Jewish fundie world, which is light years ahead of the Christian fundy world in craziness, but my scars didn't come from their world, not yet anyway, they came from this world.

I guess I like hanging out with people who, in spite of everything they might have gone through, still care, still found their way into a life that is meaningful for them. We may not view a lot of things the same, but, hey, it's OK to talk about God, talk about a text. I like having that as part of my day, it helps me stay motivated to keep learning and walking on my own path.

I know there are likely a number of people here who think I can't have any relationship to God because I don't believe as they do, so I want to share my views on this.

One of the things I find fascinating in Torah is the requirement for us to sacrifice one of the gods of the Egyptians, a lamb, in order to obtain our freedom from slavery. Could you imagine? We took this lamb they worshiped, killed it, ate it, and smeared blood on our doors to advertise to all what we had done. Very freeing yet scary. I’m sure some of us worshiped their gods as well, but we had to make our choice right there, which way, their gods or our God? What if we were wrong? That blood was a sign of defiance, not any remedy, it wasn’t for us, the blood was placed outside where we couldn’t even see it! The blood told others that we don’t worship this god! When Christians begin talking about ‘the blood of the lamb’, my response is the same, we don’t worship this god!

In Torah the tribes are arranged around the Tabernacle in a certain way so that each of them can put their talents to the best use. Each tribe had a unique role to play, one was not the same as the other and since they were facing four different directions, they did not even look at the world in the same way. Yet all of them faced the center, where God was dwelling among them. Why can we not live the same today? There was/is no need to vilify Torah or Judaism in order for Christianity to have a purpose. Our views on life are quite different, but so what? We are facing different directions!

There's a Jewish woman, Amy Jill-Levine who teaches NT at a Christian seminary. I find her story quite fascinating, how in the world, why in the world? Amy-Jill Levine: Reassessing Jewish-Christian Relations She's an interesting woman. Almost as interesting as me!

[C_Fresh]

I to have enjoyed my time on SFL. Having come out of fundamentalism it has been nice to hear other people's experiences. I don't agree with everyone here but I'm glad everyone posts. I think it is helpful to see other points of view. Sometimes they may show you something you hadn't considered before. I think it helps make for a more rounded and balanced person.