Are Jews offended by endless abuse of the Hebrew scriptures by atheists?

Question

When atheists assault "the Bible" - they are not aware it is a compendium - they focus almost entirely on what they and Christians know as the Old Testament. As I understand it,these texts are deemed sacred by all practicing Jews. So: do Jews take the view that attacks on their scripture - crude and insulting - are not actually attacks as long as they are presented as as attacks on Christianity,or do they genuinely not find it offensive to make such attacks? If I were Jewish,I'd be offended; I'd call it religious bigotry - which it is. Let me put it this way: do Jews view attacks on Hebrew scripture as anti-Semitic,or don't they? Any Jewish people out there tonight?

Answer 1

I think Jews take things with a grain of salt. They have lived with persecution a long time.

Answer 2

Personally I get far more offended when Christians who do not know any Hebrew lecture to me about what my scripture says.

I find that most Atheist attacks on the "OT" come from a Christian misunderstanding of it. As such I brush it off because it dose not affect me.

All in all though I am not offended by legitimate criticism that Atheists often use. If I have an answer I will politely answer them. If not I will say that I dont.

Answer 3

well the way I see it is that alot of the arguments are, wether the "attacker" knows/intends or not, specific to christians, and *not* actually applicable to the old testament and/or Judaism.

sometimes its annoying when people don't appriciate how different Judaism is from christianity, or that the problems they might be referring to, are specific to Christianity...

theres just alot more important things to worry about than people inadvertently talking bad about the bible. have enough trouble with people who are intentionally being hateful towards jews, no point in taking something personal that isn't intended that way.

and like others said, jews generally are less easily riled about such things, and save it for situations that its worthwhile. like the Mel Gibson thing. I think more NON-Jews made a fuss of it than jews did. I mean for goodness sakes he made a passion play movie!! its no shock that hes an antisemite. for Jews its just kinda a "... and your point is? so another person who hates jews. whats new?" sorta business as usual sorta thing.

if people who are rich and powerful being openly and deliberately antisemetic doesn't ruffle much feathers, why even care that an uneducated atheist overgeneralizes?

Answer 4

I've never heard any Jewish person complain about Atheists, on here or in real life. They are good folk and also are not prone to taking literal interpretation of their holy book like Creationists are. So when Atheists or anyone else points out that it is impossible for the universe to have been created in 6 days, you'll never see a Jew get all riled up, they understand that the creation story is an allegory.

Answer 5

Actually, I dont find it as bad as the endless abuse of the Hebrew scriptures by Christians trying to push Jesus onto the Jews..

And to add to the answer above me, I love hearing about the "no mixing of any two fabrics" that is NOT anyplace in the Bible at all... but then again, the athiests got the idea that it was from the christians, so it's not like I can blame them for it..

Answer 6

I find the Jews having more important thing to do everyday of their lives and oftentimes it is all for the greater Glory of God. They will react alright but they will not waste their time so much on that like their counterpart who immediately gather people on the street and burn effigy of whoever or shout on the street throw stones almost forever without wondering if their child is hungry or if they have food to eat the moment they're home.
They are just the type that will not give the other cheeks when it gets slapped. Stay farther because retaliation can be deadly. Honestly, I like them doing that instead of a teachings that give evil the right to hurt again and again.

Answer 7

I hope so. I'm not a racist or a bigot. I just don't like faschists. The muslims and the jews are no different than the nazis. There are lines in the bible that tell people that it is their responsibility to kill almost everyone in this country.

Deuteronomy 22:22-24 says anyone who has sex outside of marriage must die you must purge the evil from among you.

The jews used to believe that they were the only people that could get into heaven and they still believe that they are god's chosen people. That is the most racist thing you could ever say. Jews are bigots. Their sacred texts are @#$%^&*!. I hope they're offended, because they're words offend me.

Answer 8

Well, it's a good thing you're not Jewish now is it? Because to Jews, Judaism is more about "Being a Jew" and following the culture of Judaism than it is about the religious texts. Sure, you get your nuts like you do in all religions, but the Jewish layman is not so obtuse as to be offended by an atheist like Christians are.

Answer 9

We're aware- but most of the time we just ignore it unless its intermingled with an attack on Jews or Judaism. We actually don't care what atheists have to say, their opinion is meaningles sto us and their understanding of the hebrew and the related explanations minimal to zero. So why should we care what people who are meaningless to us think? Their attacks are childish, simplistic and devoid of merit- and thus their is no need to respond except where necessary to combat anti-Semitism.

Answer 10

no. we know far more about our scriptures and the reasons and meanings behind what is written than any atheist or christian, and this knowledge makes us secure in our certainty that our religion is a good one no matter how twistedly they try to interpret it. we kind of view it as an ignorant child who has no idea what a book is saying but still think he is an expert.

in fact, some of the interpretations of biblical verses they come out with actually make me laugh. its hard to be offended at something you find so funny. for example, did you know that the hebrew scriptures permit sex slavery?