Offensive Quotes

[QueenMean]

Maradnu,

You know I have to wonder how you manage to live a life relatively unscathed with all the assumptions and presumptions you make about people, expecially with that condescending and judgemental attitude to go with it. I am not Christian. I am not religious at all. Religious people tend to be like you, prone to emotional snaps that lack logic and make you look foolish and I think that's something to be avoided at all cost. I do find it interesting however, that you allow whole hosts of "offensive" posts to remain unchallenged, but this relatively mild comment, which you warped out of all perspective, led you to pitch a wig? It's interesting how the slightest jab can cause the religious fringe to lose their heads, while comments that liken women to cows and what not, pass without a murmur. Cheers.

[maradnu]

Last word

"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. "
— Henry James

[smoochie222]

Last Word

When will it end?

[bansaisequoia]

"Judaism is incomplete. Jews are still waiting for their messiah, are they not? That is what the quote is saying."

Christians, depending upon their beliefs, might be waiting for the second coming of the Messiah. However, if someone called them incomplete because they're awaiting a second coming of the Messiah, I could understand how they might take umbrage. I may disagree with maradnu as to the severity of the offence of this quote, but I still uphold his right to voice his opinion.

[Seekerof]

WEll...I do not like anything that TRIES to hurt or demean another or another's race, ethnicity, religion or any other relationship or group he or she identifies with....however, I do think we should all try to be more tolerant and patient with others and not react too quickly if someone does make a statement that could be offensive....and finally though it is up to the person whose group or identity is being derided to say if he or she is offended and is that is the case....the one who did offend should stop.....Seekerof

[welk53]

Author of the Quote

If any of you bothered to read, you'd know that the author of that quote, Weiss, is a Jew, went through the concentration camps in Europe and wrote a book about his experience. That is a quote from his book. Therefore, it is very unlikely this is a racial problem, since it is written by a man who is Jewish by nationality, if not by faith. What a tempest in a teapot.

[Libra1946]

Offensive Posts

As already stated, it is extremely obvious to everyone that this is a game forum, period. There are thousands of other appropriate places for "off topic" posts, regardless of whether it is offensive or not. Bottom line, this is NOT one of them. We are here only to enjoy cryptograms, nothing more and nothing less.

Trolls are a sad fact of life like hackers, spam, Trojans and all other malware. We have to tolerate it if the moderators don't see fit to manage this site a tad more efficiently so that we are not so bothered by such that we unsubscribe. They either care or they don't.

[kb83]

This has been an interesting discussion. On the one hand, I tend to agree with Maradnu that seeing Christianity as completed Judaism is offensive to me as a Jew, if that means seeing Judaism as being replaced by Christianity, i.e. no longer necessary. However, the quote does not quite say this. It has an important "or" in it. And in that sense, it makes the very important point that, for many Christians, if Judaism is still valid, and Christianity does not "complete it" or supersede it, then there is no need for Christianity, since it does not add any new ethical ideas. I think this creates a fundamental issue that the very existence of Jews who do not convert is a challenge to the necessity and therefore validity of Christianity (in the traditional way of thinking). And I would argue that this is a large part of the roots of Christian antisemitism. Mind you, it is also possible to see Christianity and Judaism as two ways to the one God, i.e. parallel roads, not an "either/or". And after all, the "or" part in the quote is that it (Christianity) is nothing, and that, you might say, is the choice you make if you remain Jewish, and choose not to convert to Christianity. But I think the liberal and enlightened trend in Christianity as epitomized by Pope John XXIII and the 2nd Vatican Council is the view of Jews as the "older brothers" of the Christians, who therefore are due the respect one gives one's brothers.

[Anachronismatic]

Interesting rescue from the forum graveyard...

I grew up with an extremely negative view of Christianity. Sometimes it comes out in my comments, and I apologize to those I've offended. I don't need to be so negative to make the point that just because something was written in a religious text, it's not necessarily fact.

As someone with Jewish heritage who isn't religious, I don't see the offense in the quote. I don't agree with it, but there are many things I disagree with that shouldn't cause offense. The problem is more that many of us have views we consider sacred, whether it's religion or the idea that man is altering the climate in some significant manner or that COVID couldn't possibly be the result of gain-of-function research in China.

Holding ideas sacred is a form of control and I think that's responsible for most conflict in the world - wars, our current, senseless red/blue divide, our innate mistrust of strangers and even friends.

My views on religion come from my mother, who grew up in a Catholic working-class town where the local priest would preach about how the Jews killed Jesus. So some of her classmates started throwing rocks at her as she left school. Her father walked into the church and had some words with the priest and things calmed down a bit, but the tension was always there and her bias against gods and religion became mine. I grew up in a much nicer college town, but there was still constant antisemitism. One kid I knew in the seventh grade was beaten nearly to death, lost an eye, simply because his family displayed a Menorah during the holiday season.

Things seem even worse today, with so many people, especially younger college students and their professors, taking to the streets to chant about how every Jewish person should be driven into the sea. I feel guilty sometimes that I escape most of this and don't have to take a stand because I'm not religious, don't have an obviously Jewish name and I "pass" (which is Jewish-speak for not looking like the famous character actor who played Wambaugh on Picket Fences).

[opallady]

I have never understood the thing about hating Jews because they supposedly killed Jesus. How would you like to be held accountable for something some remote ancestor of yours or an acquaintance of an ancestor did 2000 years ago? Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were all Jews, as were some of the Apostles. How can you claim to love Jesus and hate Jews?