Is Humanity Innately Evil and In Need of the Forgiveness of Jesus?

It is bothersome when Christians focus on how bad they are, such that they proclaim how badly they need Jesus’ forgiveness. This is a mistake because when Hashem created us; He created us “Good.”

Genesis 1:31 (courtesy of www.chabad.org), “And God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good, and it was evening and it was morning, the sixth day.”

That goodness did not fade away. The incident of Adam and Eve in Gan Eden does not mean that since then, humans have been hopelessly evil or wicked. Nowhere does Gd say something so disparaging as to say humanity, His creation, is evil. Quite the contrary as Isaiah teaches (60:21), “And your people, all of them righteous, shall inherit the land forever, a scion of My planting, the work of My hands in which I will glory.”

Focusing on the evils that are possible because Hashem has given us freewill is not even half the story.

Psalm 139 says, “For You created my mind; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will thank You, for I was formed in an awesome and wondrous way.”

We should take pride in ourselves and be thankful that we are Hashem’s creation, and not blaspheme it through constant proclamation of our iniquities. Truly, Hashem made us good, and our goodness out of the womb is a reflection of the wisdom He used to create each of us with when we were formed. Rather than focusing on our iniquities, we should be thankful for all that Hashem has given us.

Philanthropy - Should We Give Money to Charity? – Yes! - Every One of Us!

Even a pauper should give to charity.  The eminent capitalist philosopher Adam Smith believed that monetary systems would somehow be guided by an “invisible hand.”  According to Adam Smith, free market existence would essentially provide the same goodness for us that Gd provides.  He might as well have said that money is like God because the invisible hand, god which is money, has done away with the basic principle of religion; that it is necessary to give to charity.  Thus, Adam Smith believed that just given laissez faire capitalism, then charity would not be necessary.

From - http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/invisiblehand.asp - quoting from Adam Smith’s book "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations"

"Every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it ... He intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for society that it was no part of his intention. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good."

Adam Smith was wrong.  The monetary system of the world can be likened to the plumbing system of a vast building.  The belief that an invisible hand fixes all the plumbing isn’t true.  Real hands and active participation are required to fix both plumbing and monetary problems.  In order for the system to run, maintenance is often required.  The belief that laissez faire capitalism will take care of problems is akin to believing drains never clog.  We all know that in a given plumbing system, the drains can clog, so why would anyone conclude that the world’s monetary system isn’t similar?

Torah takes charity even further, suggesting that not only is His justice a part of this world, but that we are an extension of the hand of justice.  Ethics of Our Father's 3:13 (courtesy of www.chabad.org)

Rabbi Akiva would say: Jesting and frivolity accustom a person to promiscuity. Tradition is a safety fence to Torah, tithing a safety fence to wealth, vows a safety fence for abstinence; a safety fence for wisdom is silence.

To one whom has been given wealth, charity is paramount to keeping it!  Hashem commands us to participate in justice, such as charity because He likes it when we imitate His just and upright ways (Deuteronomy 28:9).  God sees to it that justice occurs, but we should hope for betterment greater than that through participation in religious activities, such as charity.  It is 

Hashem’s will that we give to charity, and this is what is promised in return (from Ethics of Our Fathers 4:9):

“Rabbi Jonathan would say: Whoever fulfills the Torah in poverty, will ultimately fulfill it in wealth; and whoever neglects the Torah in wealth, will ultimately neglect it in poverty.”

The Journey to Eden

Following our seemingly endless slavery in Egypt, on the way to a homeland I call Eden; we encountered a sea of hope, and faith.  The end was almost in sight, but we were unsure of ourselves.  We said, “What if Hashem abandons us?  What if this is all a fluke?”  We had seen miracles, but we had also experienced great horrors.  Indeed, we were scared.

We didn’t yet know if we could trust in Gd, and to this day some of us still question such things saying, “How can a loving and powerful Gd allow something such as the Holocaust?”

We need to dream or Gd can never part the sea for us.

We need Hashem, because nothing short of a miracle is what we should expect when we have the Author of the cosmos on our side.

Faith in Hashem's Providence

I am really liking Pandora. Today is my first day trying it because we now have internet. This stuff is so inspirational for me to practice while it is playing in the background. It has occurred to me that all this guitar practice may one day lead to a paying job. However, if I have one student who is successful, - even if it is learning only patterns that help with memory, not necessarily a gig - and has no money, I would take that over several students that were not serious, but padded my bank account. Gd is not money. Work with what you have, money or not, and I have a firm belief that anything is possible with faith.

In defense of the Torah: Rebellious Sons, and Their Punishment. Part 2

Atheists, and others, may object to capital punishment, saying that the Torah is, “cruel and immoral.”  However, we find loyal Jews commenting the same with respect to rebellious sons in Talmud.  Many people have a hard time wrapping their heads around the idea that such people can exist.  However, psychology does know of sociopaths; defined as - people born without a conscious that can never have one, and will do evil at every chance (evil rebellious children that only become evil adults), and such people, rebellious sons, should be considered as candidate for the punishment of death.  That is, psychologists believe that the premise of some religions - that everyone knows right from wrong - is not true.  This is the psychological diagnosis: “Antisocial personality disorder,” for which there is no cure.

It is not even a sociopath’s fault that he or she is a sociopath.  This disorder is simply something they are born with, and live all of their life with.

There is no diagnosis most psychologists believe is more despicable.  Even psychologists usually have less compassion for sociopaths.  Sociological disorders are the only diagnosis professionals commonly feel this way about. A psychologist would be more likely to say murder should be forgiven, than say that sociopath is not a waste of flesh.  Psychologists generally respond with compassion for every other psychological disease.

The Torah requires three eye witnesses to put someone to death, a trial, and several other measures, such as a warning and an acceptance of a warning (intent), and that the person does it anyway after the warning, to prevent a miscarriage of justice.  Assuming, Judaic law (a utopian ideal for me), I believe that if three licensed psychiatrists (read “elders” Deuteronomy 21:20) diagnose a child as a sociopath, then that son should be put to death because the world will be better off.

I do not believe in capital punishment by pelting anyone with stones.  Sociopaths should be put to death by lethal injection.  The Talmud says that, “When one sins it is as if their heart turns to stone.”  Thus, I believe death by lethal injection is humane and correct replacement to the old way of pelting criminals with stones, as lethal injection causes a person’s heart to turn to stone.

In defense of the Torah: Rebellious Sons, and Their Punishment. Part 1

~ “Put to death the rebellious son.” - Moses

Maimonides counted the command relative to this as 106 (Leviticus 19:26, Deuteronomy 21:20).

The definition of a rebellious son is who is, “Stubborn, gluttonous, and an alcoholic.”  In modern times, drunkard should be inclusive of a son who is a drug abuser.  To put to death a rebellious son is an obligation, meaning it is a good deed or mitzvah, yet this is something that courts of justice would have to support in order for it to be legal in the USA.  It is a command specifically for Jews and not gentiles.  However, I support gentiles adhering to this particular verse.  I am a Judaizer, which of course is forbidden according to Christians, but hopefully Christians will change for the better.

The following is text of the idea in question.  It is quoted from the 1917 JPS (Jewish Publication Society) Corrected Bible.  This Bible is free to download at www.sacred-texts.com

From Deuteronomy (JPS):

21:18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, that will not hearken to the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and though they chasten him, will not hearken unto them;

21:19 then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

21:20 and they shall say unto the elders of his city: 'This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he doth not hearken to our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.'

21:21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die; so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

“The Lord Laughs at the Wicked,” but Jesus does not because Jesus was not the Lord

The Psalms say, "The Lord laughs at the wicked..." But, why didn’t the “Gospels” record Jesus laughing at the wicked?

NIV Psalm 37:13 ”but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming.

From chabad.org Psalm 37:13. “The Lord will scoff at him because He saw that his day will come”

To be sure, laughing at wicked people is a good deed according to the Torah because the Torah commands people to emulate Hashem. www.jewfaq.org reports that it is a mitzvah to, “To imitate His good and upright ways (Deut. 28:9)”

This is not problem for me as a nonChristian. But, laughing at people is out of character for Jesus,o? Jesus got angry. For example, when Jesus threw a temper tantrum at the Temple, he was angry.

The Hebrew language differentiates between ethics with respect to an evil person versus the ethics with respect to a wicked person. This is important because the definition of a wicked person is, “One who says ‘’what is mine is mine, and what is yours is mine.” A wicked person is precisely the kind of person who would be gypping people at the Temple, and instead of laughing at them as scriptures tells us to do, Jesus went postal. Literature sacred to Christians might be more believable if Jesus laughed at the behavior of folks at the Temple. I don't believe laughter occurs even once in the New Testament.