what a sensible way of settling a difference of opinion

[winterbadger]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6959892.stm

A commercial crematorium in Israel has been heavily damaged by fire, hours after its secret location was revealed in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish newspaper.

The crematorium near Tel Aviv opened two years ago to fierce criticism from Israel's orthodox community.

Ultra-orthodox Jews believe Jews should be buried according to religious tradition, not cremated.

Police found signs of forced entry at the site believe Wednesday's fire was started deliberately.

...

A founder of Israel's Zaka organisation, a voluntary emergency response team which collects body parts from accident or bombing sites for burial, denied his group was involved.

However, Yehud Meshi Zahav told Israeli Army Radio he thought an arson attack on the crematorium would be justified.

Yes, of course, we will all need all of our body parts intact when the Resurrection comes, because, goodness knows, God isn't powerful enough to actually recreate our bodies, only to reanimate them...

Comments

[cmlc.livejournal.com]

I've given up expecting religious people to make any sense. All religion is fundamentally irrational to start with, as far as I can see :-)

[winterbadger]

Yep. I think it really *has* to be. After all, it's about believing in something for which the true only evidence is inferential and subjective or documentary but of such age and corruption that no judge would ever allow it as evidence. Its premises are untestable, and its followers regularly insist that things that are demonstrably untrue are real.

I still identify with the faith community that I was raised in (somewhat) and the one I joined later in life (a bit more) but for reasons of social and cultural familiarity, not because I can bring myself to believe in some supernatural actor that is intimately and lovingly involved with humanity: it's simply too clearly obvious that that is not the case.

[cmlc.livejournal.com]

You've made me remember something I hadn't thought of for years. My mother once advised me not to be too hard on churchgoers. It gives the old ladies something to do, she said; it gets them out of the house and meeting friends once or twice a week. Which is nice. As long as nobody actually believes in it, religion isn't so bad :-)

What I can't take about religion is all these poisonous hate-filled lunatics who won't live and let live.

[winterbadger]

As Tom Lehrer used to say "There are people who won't love their fellow man, and I just HATE people like that!"

The problem is that people are so set on finding something that separates them from others and makes them feel superior. I loved the report on NPR here the other morning by a correspondent in Sri Lanka, who found that, despite their being a lot of ethnic violence there, a lot of the Hindus he met worshipped in mosques, some of the Muslims were helping to build a temple for a poor Hindu village, and the Buddhists, well, of course the Buddhists were all for seeing all religions as different paths tot he same truth.

[wolfette]

Yes, of course, we will all need all of our body parts intact when the Resurrection comes, because, goodness knows, God isn't powerful enough to actually recreate our bodies, only to reanimate them...

heh heh - yes, that's always been my thoughts. If He can take a pile of bones, or even dust (depending on how long you've been deceased and where you were buried) and re-incarnate your "soul" into it, then He'd bloody well better be able to re-clothe it in decent flesh, or I don't wanna come back!!

(and if He can do that, then an urn full of ashes is no problem for Him)

[winterbadger]

I love some of the ultra-orthodox superstitions; they are just great. Did you know, for instance, that there is a secret network of tunnels all over the world, so that once the Moshiach comes and we are reanimated, our bodies can get back to Jerusalem posthaste without having to bother about borders and mountains and oceans? So cool!

[wolfette]

that sounds like the Scots "Low Road", where Scottish souls travel home from abroad - you'll never find a Scottish ghost in a foreign country (unless he doesn't realise he's dead)

"Oh ye tak the High Road and Ah'll tak the Low Road - and Ah'll be in Scotland afore ye"....