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Originally Posted by The An-Jel  Quote:
Originally Posted by epicureious Quote:
Originally Posted by The An-Jel
Israel is at the moment a case in point I think in this debate. They have the fire power and nukes on their side and they are still here. The Communists in China are still here, the Christians in America are still here, the Russians with all of their disassociative qualities are still here. Power, physical power, has a lot to say against the conviction of beliefs. God obviously does not intervene and any religion and culture can take that to the bank. After WWII the Jews are given a homeland, given the power to defend it, wow they are thriving. What does that say?
| I'm guessing you're trying to say might makes right? Your examples span an entire 50 years. Looking at the past 5,000 Mark Twain said (not me):
"The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then . . . passed away. The Greek and the Roman followed. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what they always were, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of parts. … All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but they remain. What is the secret of this immortality?" | Yes and so has Christianity at the moment and so has actual Philosophy. Actual Philosophers have stood the test of time because even with people damning them they have survived and eventually as with all the brutal regimes they fall. Simple survival takes over and it isn't Jewish or Christian it is the spirit of the Universe as it is whether there is a God or not that pushes a human to carry on under the simple guidelines under which it was created. |
An Jel you sidestep the issue. Christianity and philosphy are not peoples or nations. They are movements and ideas. The unique parts about both Judaism and Hinduism is that neither were started by one person -- they are cultures. Three million people received the covenant which kicked off the state of Israel on Sinai. Christianity, if you haven't noticed, was started by a Jew. Islam was started by one of Abraham's grandchildren by way of his wife Hagar. Actually philosophies come and go usually by way of one person.
My point was not whether there was a God or not, and how unreasonable the concept, but that Israel and India have survived with and without firepower, disproving your assertion that might makes right and is the only reason for survival. The Roman Empire and the Greeks were better armed than the Huns and the Vandals. So, you must agree with me since now you're saying that God is not the cause of this mysterious fluke of survival. So we agree that it is possible for weaker and minorities to survive even genocidal attempts for some reason, we just have not established why.