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Some highly Anti-Semitic statements by a famous athlete and former athlete are prompting some Anti-Semites to bring up the Talmud.
If you are citing seemingly problematic teachings in the Talmud (or Koran for that matter) here are the questions you should be asking yourself:
If you are citing seemingly problematic teachings in the Talmud (or Koran for that matter) here are the questions you should be asking yourself:
Why don't you trust Jews (or Muslims, etc.) to explain and interpret their own texts?
Why are you suspicious of this group’s stated interpretation and not those of other groups?
Why are you assuming that these texts aren’t balanced out by others?
With any other complicated texts, you would speak to professors, religious leaders, or other experts about these texts. Why, with regard to the Talmud or the Koran are you specifically choosing to understand it through Youtube and Google?
Why are you assuming that these texts are the primary reasons for unethical actions by any of its group members ?
Why are you assuming that these texts should define an entire corpus? Why are you assuming that it should define an entire religion?
Why are you assuming that, because this group’s religious texts say this, that they put it into practice more so than difficult texts by other faiths?
Why do you have the power to interpret these texts rather than that religious group?
Why are you attributing the ugliest contemporary statements by extremists to the essence of the group’s texts/religion when you wouldn’t do so for others?
Why are you accepting the opinions/interpretations of ONLY this group’s biggest extremists?
If are told that that is not what the text means or even a correct citation or translation, why are you not trusting them to tell you the truth?
All religions have difficult texts, and if you come across such a passage, you might ask a member of that religion, but be prepared to LISTEN and LEARN. If you cite these texts without answering these questions, you just might be a bigot.
