People Should Know

[onionsoupmix]

My friend from Israel is going through a very rough time. She recently left a terrible marriage, complete with mental and physical abuse.

She waited until she couldn't take it anymore, sold her jewelry, took her three children and moved out. Her husband refused to give her a get and also refused to get a job. After she left, she had to pay him

Comments

[ext_675596]

"I wrote it so that you, regardless of your gender or your religious affiliation, force yourself to take a good long look at the status of women in the Ultra-Orthodox world."

Let me ask you a question. I know a woman who came before a local family court judge who happens to be an atheist regarding a custody dispute, and he screamed at her "No child would rather live with his father than his mother! You must be a terrible mother! You need help! You are crazy! You need a psychologist! Maybe even more than a psychologist!"

First of all, I would never bother writing a post about that since anyone reading could, correctly, ask "How do we know you didn't just make this up?" Notice that on my blog I always carefully give reliable sources for any assertions I make.

Secondly, imagine how commentators would jump on me were I to extrapolate, based on this one (alleged, fictional?) incident "I wrote it so that you, regardless of your gender or your religious affiliation, force yourself to take a good long look at the status of women in the Ultra-Orthodox world."

However you get away with this type of post because so many Internet readers are eager to believe anything negative about Orthodox Jews.

It's just antisemitism. You know there is a movie about an Orthodox Jew who became a neo-Nazi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Believer_(film)

[onionsoupmix]

So, to clarify, it is okay to extrapolate about atheism from the actions of a few atheists, but it's not okay to extrapolate about Judaism from the actions of a few Jews? Gotcha.

Actually I already knew that from reading your blog. Nothing new in the world of hypocrisy.

[ext_675596]

I don't need to point to a few atheists. It's actually almost impossible to find a well documented case of a decent atheist, as I've pointed out.

http://jewishphilosopher.blogspot.com/2008/01/chandra-good-atheist.html

[oneironstring]

A quote from my prior Christian life popped into my mind as I read your responses to JS. I think it's good advice:

"Cast not thy pearls before swine."

[onionsoupmix]

I know. You are wise. I am masochistic :)