Re: klezmer experience

[david lowther <dlowther...>]

David writes:

no, they are deluded schmucks.  who but a deluded schmuck would trade his
god in for a cheap foreign knock-off?

the important thing to remember is that the prozelytizer (of any belief)
sincerely believes in the truth they are pushing at you.  for them, any
other belief is a lie.  despite the obnoxious behaviour that leads to it
does lend a thin moral justification for what is done.

as regards to the duplicitous tactic of using christianized aspects of
judaic culture to ensnare the intellectually challenged, how is that new?
the christians did the same to the romans at the very beginning, taking
their festivals and gods (like saturnalia and pan) and using them for
propaganda purposes.

it is no coincidence that christmas comes immediately after saturnalia
(which fell on the winter solstice).  when better to preach guilt and
repentance than when your target is hung over, and feeling doubts over the
totally unlicensed behaviour saturnalia encouraged?  who better to turn into
"the devil" (note the horns, tail and cloven hooves) than horny old pan?

i have always looked at saul of tarsus as a used god salesman, and despised
the tactic.  small wonder that such a nebbish could make no impact on the
temple scene other than a coat check boy at the stonings!  consider his
convenient vision that allowed his potential gentile converts to keep their
old diet.  how can any faith based on the writings of such a shameless
opportunist be anything but manipulative?

and how can any jew who actually falls for the presentation of joshua ben
joseph as the messiah be anything but a deluded schmuck?

that in no way makes them any less jewish, despite all their own
protestations and denial.  so let them play klezmer, the same way the
funamentalists who thirty years ago called rock and roll "satan's music" now
use it in their own services to attract the young.  at least some may
remember where they came from, and find their way home.

prediction:  twenty years from now (if not sooner) there will be gospel
hip-hop.  probably is now, for that matter, but we have been mercifully
spared to this point.

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