- As a young person, I was taught that there are three
things one must never discuss...... politics, religion and sex. My response
was "what else is there to talk about?" I have always found
those topics interesting to study, question and discuss.
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- I call myself a "truth seeker," and my pursuit
of truth has led me down some long and winding roads. I was born of
Jewish parents, became an atheist in my late teens (it seemed so hip) and
ultimately became immersed in psychology. From the readings of Carl Jung,
it was a short hop into the realm of metaphysics My metaphysical pursuits
led me to Hinduism where I experienced Shaktipat with a Guru. Next came
Buddhism, which, although peace loving, lacked the passion I craved. Eventually,
a book about Vedanta introduced me to Jesus Christ.
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- As a child of Jewish parents, the mention of the name
Jesus had been verboten. This was, in part, because my mother had been
raised in a neighborhood in which part of the celebration of Easter included
throwing stones at my mother and her family and calling them "Christ
killers" However, I had not had my mother's experience. The Christ
according to Vedanta was a loving being.
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- I took to the words of Jesus and was baptized in 1991.
Christianity was fine until you got past the teachings of Jesus and entered
the realm of Paul's "hell fire and brimstone." The "exclusivity"
of the religion and the need to chapter and verse people over the head
with two by fours, sent me running from the church.
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- The Wiccan religion was probably my favorite. It was
a nature loving teaching with magical content. I did the readings and
participated in some rituals. And yet, at the end of the day, I am a solitary
practitioner, practicing nothing. I have eaten the center of the Oreo
and tossed the outer parts into the recyclable bin. Isms hold no spell
over me. I believe in a loving Creator but that is where my belief ends.
And, if I should one day find that I am wrong, I will merely place the
disillusion in the large pile which has gone before. After all, who wants
to live in illusion?
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- Growing up, I had always heard that Israel was a Jewish
refuge.....a homeland for people who had been oppressed for centuries.
Israel, I'd been told, was a democracy, a little good guy surrounded
by a pack of big bad guys who were hell bent on driving the innocent state
into the sea.
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- "Why?" I asked.
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- The answer was muffled. It was something about jealousy
and anti-Semitism. My gray matter descended into a fog of distortions
and divisiveness. I remained innocent.
-
- This myth of innocence began to unravel when, I began
reading The Spotlight. Don't ask my why, but it touched a nerve. Call
it intuition if you like, but something in that paper rang true. I was
appalled by the efforts, of some, to silence that voice, since, in my innocence,
I still believed in "freedom of the press." However, "the
powers that be" must have been successful and The Spotlight dimmed.
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- Enter the Internet. Those who know me think I have
too intimate a relationship with the Net. I spend a great deal of time
on it, when I am not working. I read "controversial" sites and
listen attentively to Internet broadcasts. It is here that my innocence
was lost. I am no longer a political virgin.
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- My myth of Israel was shattered. Through such Jewish
voices as Ralph Schoenman, Norman Finkelstein and Lenni Brenner, a whole
new picture of the "homeland" was emerging. I read the "Hidden
History of Zionism" by Schoenman and "The Holocaust Industry"
by Norman Finkelstein. I began researching the writings of Lenni Brenner
and attended a meeting at which he spoke. I listened to the lectures of
the late Edward Said. I was learning that Zionism was a dangerous geo-political
movement and the part that the Rothschilds had played in establishing the
state of Israel. I was learning about the Rothschilds' unholy relationship
with the Nazis. I was learning about the atrocities that were being perpetrated
on the Palestinians. I wondered "How could people who had suffered
so much turn around and do the same thing to the people who were living
on that land?" I was questioning everything I had been taught.
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- According to Lenni Brenner's book, Zionism in the Age
of Dictators (Ch7) the Zionist party was the only other political party
in Nazi Germany that enjoyed a measure of freedom, and could publish a
newspaper. The reason: Zionists and Nazis had a common interest, making
German Jews go to Palestine. (http://www.marxists.de/middleeast/brenner/ch07.htm)
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- Another example from Brenner's book (Chapters 24 &
25) tells how the World Zionist Organization in Switzerland turned their
backs on the Jews' cries for help. The Zionists sacrificed their brethren.
-
- The quote reads:
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- "For instance, in November 1942, Rabbi Michael Dov-Ber
Weismandel, a Jewish activist in Slovakia approached Adolph Eichmann's
representative, Dieter Wisliceny: "How much money would be needed
for all the European Jews to be saved?" Wisliceny went to Berlin
and returned with an answer. For a mere 2 million dollars, they could
have all the Jews in Western Europe and the Balkans. Weismandel sent a
courier to the World Zionist Organization in Switzerland. His request
was refused."
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- The Zionists knew that "unless large amounts of
Jewish blood is spilled, we won't be able to establish the state of Israel
nearly as easily after the war."
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- Zionism, as we see now, has had disastrous consequences
for both the Jews and the indigenous Arabs. And now, there are dire consequences
for the whole world.
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- How many Jews are aware of what is going on in Israel?
How many Jews are aware of how they have been and are being duped. Since
I interface with many different types of people, all shapes and colors
and ethnicities, I have always been curious as to their perception of events.
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- I have some Orthodox Jewish piano students. Occasionally,
I will get into a political discussion with the parents. My purpose is
to understand their point of view. I was quite surprised when one of them
told me about the huge split in the Orthodox (not Hasidic, which I will
get to later) community.
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- "There is an extremely large segment who are anti-Israel,"
according to Mrs. L. and she is heartsick about what is going on in the
Middle East. When I said "It's a land grab and is going to hurt
the Jews in the long run, " she agreed.
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- Last October, my son hit a young Hasidic girl with his
car. (or should I say, more correctly, MY car) She turned out to be fine
but it began a dialogue between the Hasidic mother and myself. She even
invited me to lunch. She is a member of the Satmar sect and is vehemently
opposed to Israel.
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- In September of this year, a refusenick" named Adam
Keller spoke at the local College. He had been jailed for refusing to
fight in the occupied territory and said that he wouldn't even spit on
Ariel Sharon. (there are many who might disagree with this last sentence)
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- Some of my friends have discussed the innate problem
with Judaism and the implicit racism therein. I am avoiding this topic
because, in my experience, "feeling superior" is a disease that
has infected many groups of people. I am sitting in a country that slaughtered
millions of indigenous peoples and claimed land that was not ours. I
am sitting in a country that feels it is the best country and has the right
to march boldly onto foreign soil and take the resources of other lands.
"Feeling superior" is an egoic disorder that is pandemic.
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- The Jewish people are an extremely mixed group. The
reformed or merely "cultural" Jews (whose only relationship with
the religion seems to be around holiday time) seem pro Israel although
they don't know why. The ones I have listened to have no knowledge of
the Talmud nor do they feel "chosen" When you scratch the surface,
you may find a scared person hiding underneath. They have been brainwashed
into believing that there is an anti-Semite under every rock.
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- Among the varied groups, one often finds enmity. A
few years back, the news ran an interview with an Orthodox Rabbi who had
made a statement that the modern Jews were not Jews at all. It was not
well received.
-
- Anyone who listens to the mainstream media thinks that
Israel is a helpless country who has to be constantly on guard against
terrorist threats. Loudmouth talk show hosts screech about suicide bombers
while never mentioning Israeli crimes. Through the effective use of "fear"
and the virtual media blackout, people are kept in darkness. People have
swallowed and choked on a veritable feast of lies.
-
- I watched a video called "Palestine is Still the
Issue" by John Pilger. It showed the abominable conditions under
which the Palestinians live and the subhuman way in which they are treated.
A Jewish man, who had lost his daughter to a suicide bomber, though devastated,
told the host that he understood the frustration of the Palestinians.
Why has this documentary never been shown on network television?
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- Friends of mine refer to the Babylonian Talmud with its
vile philosophy. I have read some of it online and am appalled by it.
Friends of mine are angered by the phrase "the chosen people"
and so am I. I don't know why certain Jewish people would feel "chosen"
and my question would be "chosen for what?"
-
- I asked an Orthodox female Osteopath about a line in
the Talmud which stated that it is preferable for Jews to lie down with
animals than with (insert a gentile slur....I am too sickened to do it)
However, this woman asked "How could that be?" "Abraham
was commanded to lie down with Hagar?"
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- What have I described? A chaotic mess? A diverse group
of people who seem to have more disagreements than similarities? The only
thing they appear to have in common is the word "Jew" and most
do not know the "whys" and "whats" except that they
popped out of the womb of someone who told them that they belonged to a
particular group. This is not the world that I have chosen to create for
myself.
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- At the end of the day, the people I call "friend"
come from many diverse families of origin. They do, however, have one
thing in common. It is their distance from "Organized Religion"
They have little, if anything, good to say about it. It's divisiveness
is repugnant. It's history is bloody. And the " God loves me more
than you" mindset is infantile at best, and homicidal at worst.
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- Judy Andreas can be reached at
- JUDE10901@AOL.com
-
- www.judyandreas.com
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- c. 2004 Judy Andreas
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