Don't sweat it.richardf8July 11 2005, 12:48:37 UTC
Given how I feel about that symbol personally, I think I have a notion of why being associated with the Star of David could be irritating to you.
Actually, I'm fine with being associated with the Star of David. It's been a symbol of Judaism for a good many generations. What I'm not fine with is the "ooo, it's a magic symbol" response to it, as if the Jews chose it for occult reasons, when it was something we acquired at the behest of others. To my mind, it is stripped of occult meaning and signifies only that a space in which it appears is a Jewish space.
I apologize for offending you, but I still don't regret posting the entry. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have learned everything that reading this entry taught me, and neither would my readers.
Oh, Please, don't sweat it; you opened asking whether it was offensive and whether it was accurate, so I answered you. And I thank you for asking. I would not have wanted to let such a teachable moment pass.
The fact that her account of Judaism seems to be your first encounter with it is what makes her work so disturbing - if you can be misled by it, what about all the people who get their hands on it who don't have access to a real Jew to question about its contents. They will come away with a perception that Judaism is as she says, and that is what makes her work problematic.
I do not regret your posting it either, precisely for the educational opportunity that it represented. I worry about those people who would read it (the book, not your entry) and go away thinking it to be truth.
Actually, I'm fine with being associated with the Star of David. It's been a symbol of Judaism for a good many generations. What I'm not fine with is the "ooo, it's a magic symbol" response to it, as if the Jews chose it for occult reasons, when it was something we acquired at the behest of others. To my mind, it is stripped of occult meaning and signifies only that a space in which it appears is a Jewish space.
I apologize for offending you, but I still don't regret posting the entry. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have learned everything that reading this entry taught me, and neither would my readers.
Oh, Please, don't sweat it; you opened asking whether it was offensive and whether it was accurate, so I answered you. And I thank you for asking. I would not have wanted to let such a teachable moment pass.
The fact that her account of Judaism seems to be your first encounter with it is what makes her work so disturbing - if you can be misled by it, what about all the people who get their hands on it who don't have access to a real Jew to question about its contents. They will come away with a perception that Judaism is as she says, and that is what makes her work problematic.
I do not regret your posting it either, precisely for the educational opportunity that it represented. I worry about those people who would read it (the book, not your entry) and go away thinking it to be truth.
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