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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   32787 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of June 12, 2023

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Can you make your point more clearly?

Yes, many Christians and many Jews have bizarre, mistaken theological views. But that's nothing to do with my point. Sure, there are lots of woke Jews, like the one in that TikTok you linked. But there are also many woke Christians. The issue at hand is wokeness, not Judaism or Christianity.

You then linked this to a prayer in the Aleinu (a noticeably non-woke prayer that is over a thousand years old), which, yes, prays that false gods will be banished, and all the human race will return to worship God.

There are two problems with this.

Firstly, there is no apparent connection between the woke Jewish girl in the TikTok and the content of the Aleinu beyond the phrase tikkun olam. That phrase is used very widely by Jews. You might as well point out that there's an entire chapter on the necessity of Social Justice in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Secondly, the Aleinu is totally innocuous. Praying that idols are destroyed and everyone worship God? That's basic Judaism, sure, but it's also basic Christianity and basic Islam. Hatred of idol-worship is deep in the DNA of all Abrahamic religions. You wrote as if there's something scary about Jews praying that all the world abandon idols and worship God, whereas in fact that is believed by the majority of the human race.

I think you are attempting to draw massive, unsupportable, and conspiratorial conclusions from the existence of woke Jews.

Indeed, the Aleinu is recited at the end of each of the three Jewish prayer services, so anybody who takes HBD seriously would likewise look closely at the prayer for insight into the psychology of this ancient people, let's look at the text you link:

It is our obligation to praise the Master of all, to ascribe greatness to the Creator of the [world in the] beginning: that He has not made us like the nations of the lands, and has not positioned us like the families of the earth; that He has not assigned our portion like theirs, nor our lot like that of all their multitudes. For they prostrate themselves to vanity and nothingness, and pray to a god that cannot deliver. But we bow, prostrate ourselves, and offer thanks before the Supreme King of Kings, the Holy One blessed is He, Who spreads the heavens, and establishes the earth, and the seat of His glory is in heaven above, and the abode of His invincible might is in the loftiest heights. He is our God, there is nothing else. Our King is true, all else is insignificant, as it is written in His Torah: And You shall know this day and take into Your heart that Adonoy is God in the heavens above and upon the earth below; there is nothing else.

We therefore put our hope in You, Adonoy our God, to soon behold the glory of Your might in banishing idolatry from the earth, and the false gods will be utterly exterminated to perfect the world as the kingdom of Shadai. And all mankind will invoke Your Name, to turn back to You, all the wicked of the earth. They will realize and know, all the inhabitants of the world, that to You, every knee must bend, every tongue must swear [allegiance to You]. Before You, Adonoy, our God, they will bow and prostrate themselves, and to the glory of Your Name give honor. And they will all accept [upon themselves] the yoke of Your kingdom, and You will reign over them, soon, forever and ever. For the kingdom is Yours, and to all eternity You will reign in glory, as it is written in Your Torah: Adonoy will reign forever and ever. And it is said: And Adonoy will be King over the whole earth; on that day Adonoy will be One and His Name One.

So this prayer absolutely corroborates my suggestion that Tikkun Olam is a reflection of a Jewish psychology that can and should be understood in HBD terms, and provides an explanatory factor for Jewish influence in Gentile culture.

So you call this prayer "totally innocuous", I call it deeply meaningful. They recite it three times a day, so it obviously carries a profound meaning. The prayer emphasizes a racial distinction between Jews and non-Jews and says that non-Jews worship a false god. What are the false gods of the Gentiles? Their idols, their historical symbols, their ethnic identity. It's no wonder that the woman in that video relates Jewish agitation in these various radical social movements against the traditional Gentile order and ethnic identity as fulfilling Tikunn Olam.

It's about psychology, not conspiracy. It's the Jews themselves who relate this behavior to Tikunn Olam, I'm just the messenger here.

I'm not sure what HBD has to do with it. Certainly the Aleinu tells us something about Judaism as a religion, and in this case what it tells us is that Jews believe that Israel is a nation set apart, chosen specifically to worship God, and that eventually God will reign and all people will worship God.

This... isn't sinister and doesn't imply anything about genetics? It doesn't centre a genetic distinction as such - if you read the Aleinu in good faith it's clear that the distinction is that of covenant rather than idolatry. How are Jews different to other people? They are different for they prostrate themselves to vanity and nothingness... but we bow, prostrate ourselves, and offer thanks before the Supreme King of Kings. They key principle is being called to worship God. This certainly isn't a frightening thing, particularly because Christians and Muslims entirely agree with this duty.

No one is going to be surprised to discover that Jews believe that they are a people specially called to worship God, set apart from the other nations of the world. You need to do a bit more work than this to show whatever it is you want to prove about Jews genetically.

Here's a contrast. There's a fixed liturgy of Catholic daily prayer. Priests, monks, and nuns are required to say these liturgies every day. This liturgy includes the Benedictus, during Lauds, and the Magnificat, during Vespers. Here's what they say:

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption.

He has raised up the sign of salvation

in the house of his servant David,

as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones,

his prophets through the ages:

to rescue us from our enemies

and all who hate us,

to take pity on our fathers,

to remember his holy covenant

and the oath he swore to Abraham our father,

that he would give himself to us,

that we could serve him without fear

– freed from the hands of our enemies –

in uprightness and holiness before him,

for all of our days.

And:

He has put forth his strength:

he has scattered the proud and conceited,

torn princes from their thrones;

but lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things;

the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel,

he has remembered his mercy as he promised to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children for ever.

What HBD conclusions would you draw about Catholics from this?

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