Well, why not? Jews admit to having come from paganism. There are pagan
customs that exist in Judaism (in a Judaised form). One of the Biblical
words for God, "elohim" is in a plural construct because the Jews were
originally polytheistic. I mean, if one accepts the idea that an old man in
the sky looks out for us, no mater who HE is or who WE are, what is so
ridiculous about him allowing his followers to perform this ritual or that
ritual for whatever whim he may have?
First... the Laws were not given by God, but by man. (This is the
rationalist speaking). So, to admit that the reason sacrifices exist is
that they are an allowance to people who were previously pagan seems to me
to be pretty honest, and probably very close to the truth! (If you remove
the God part.) Sacrifices are unnecessary. They accomplish nothing. They
exist as a social phenomenon.
My idea? Well, I think that sacrifices kept the priests well fed. But
obviously, since pagan Semitic peoples out of which the Jews evolved
practiced sacrifices, it is logical that the reason sacrifices exist in
Judaism is as an extension of the pagan roots. Like I said, remove the "God
permitted it" and you are probably close to the truth.
As far as I can tell, there is no God. Judaism is as ridiculous as any
religion. But what makes you so adamant that sacrifices are so very crucial
to it?
>Savoia
>
>Who said it's hard to understand? I knew they must have some way of
>getting around it, which probably includes an interpretation of the
>word "forever". Come to think of it, the fact that no temple exists
>probably plays a part in the excuse for no sacrifices...
yoel-
Oh yeah- you are probably right! In fact... I am sure you are! If a temple
existed, I am sure that there probably would be sacrifices. But Judaism is
not and never was sacrifices only. There is more to it than that, and this
is mentioned in the Bible. Judaism existed apart from sacrifices. This is
why the Christian assertion that a blood sacrifice was crucial for
forgiveness is not biblically based. It just isn't.