They focus on right action (though certainly faith is present as well) so to them (and any of the Jewish members correct me if I’m wrong) the actions and ethics of the Torah are what is in focus. If you’re going to understand a person’s religion one must try to view it through their lens and language.
How often do we complain about Protestants completely getting our beliefs wrong because they refuse to view us through our lens. Lets not do the same to our Jewish members.
It has seemed to me that a lot of Jews are atheists, from a Christian perspective. But hearing what I am hearing from Jews on here, I’m not sure that perspective is sufficient for understanding. I’m getting the impression that some significant number of Jews (understanding there are variatinos) have something almost like a “Masonic” notion of God; that a Supreme Being exists, or likely exists, or possibly exists but that we can’t know a great deal about that Being; that it’s pointless to try to know it, and that there isn’t a personal sort of relationship with that Being. It’s more like God-as-principle. Am I close here?
I recall debating with a Jew once about whether it made any sense to be ethical or moral if there is no afterlife. The Jew, who didn’t believe there is, was very big into acting morally simply because it was rational to have a society in which the good of all is sought. That made zero sense to me, because, in the absence of a judge in the matter, my notion of what’s good for mankind is just as valid as anyone else’s, no matter how destructive my actions might really be. On the other hand, I could tell he thought I was kind of a barbarian for “requiring” an afterlife in order to be moral. There was just no place where our thinking processes met. Oh, and he kept kosher too, which I could understand from a cultural standpoint, but not otherwise.
From a Christian perspective, some of the things Jesus says in the Bible about a relationship between God and man seem obvious. But perhaps they only seem obvious because the Christian believes in them. Thinking of God in terms of a loving Father did not not seem obvious from the perspective of the Jews in the gospel, or Jesus would not have talked about it at all. I get the impression that must have been a radical thing to say at the time and in that place.
I have a great deal of respect for Jews in general, though they can be just as bad or good as anyone. I will say, though, that most of them I know are very polite, but in a way that I think they’re always wary that I will turn into a loutish “goy” in front of their eyes, like the wolfman in the light of the full moon. I can understand how Jews could feel the need to be just a bit wary of Christians.
Finally, it would be a great mistake for anyone to assume there are not huge numbers of thorougly secular Muslims. Going only by those I know and have known, I would say that’s the great majority.
