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Let’s bring back the Sabbath as an act against ‘total work’

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221–230 of 285 posts

Re: Let’s bring back the Sabbath as an act against ‘total work’

#221
post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a common misconception. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_ethnic_divisions

I’ve heard about converting to Judaism. If it is an ethnicity how can that be possible?

>I’ve heard about converting to Judaism. If it is an ethnicity how can that be possible?

I am not qualified to offer an opinion on Judaism specifically, but people have been "converting" to different ethnicities for all of recorded history.

I personally have a Scottish last name; but that branch of my family is catholic, which is a little unusual, but not impossible. Tracing back the paperwork, my "Scottish' ancestor arrived in America on a boat that came from Ireland during the famous famine in the mid 1800s. Now... maybe it was a Scottish person who just happened to be living in Ireland... but it seems a lot more likely to me that it was an irish dude who looked around, saw the difference in how people were treated, and gave his landlord's name to the immigration agent. I'm imagining the guy running around new york hamming up a brogue James Doohan style. But, I mean, today? I get to claim I'm as Scottish-American as anyone else, and there's not a lot you can say otherwise.

But there are countless stories like that where a person integrates themselves into another ethnicity to the point where they are accepted and they (or their children) become indistinguishable from other members of that ethnicity.

This is one of those major problems of racialism; most people define ethnicity by "looks like X" which often doesn't really line up with, well, anything.

Re: Let’s bring back the Sabbath as an act against ‘total work’

#222
I’ve removed work emails from my phone 4 years ago. That’s way more effective than turning everything off for 24 hours. First I’m still reachable if there’s an emergency. Just call me (people don’t call anymore so that almost never happens) and if no one calls I know it’s because everything’s fine. Second it’s all the time, not just the Saturday.

Re: Let’s bring back the Sabbath as an act against ‘total work’

#223
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also sounds like the perfect antidode to social isolation, eg having to meet with people who live nearby, nobody on a hard schedule, common activities and practices, etc.

In Germany almost every shop is closed on Sundays, with a similar idea behind it. Only the most necessary jobs are done (firefighters and hospital workers) and there is free time for everyone to relax. Now just to tone down the electricity usage.. (but actually Sundays is a good day to use electricity in your home because the commercial use is so much lower)

> In Germany almost every shop is closed on Sundays, with a similar idea behind it. Only the most necessary jobs are done (firefighters and hospital workers) and there is free time for everyone to relax.

This was how it was in the UK when I was growing up in the 70s and early 80s. Not much traffic on the roads and a noticeably slower pace of life.

I don't want to go back to that, because with hindsight there were downsides to it, but as an adult I miss that simplicity for myself and my children.

Re: Let’s bring back the Sabbath as an act against ‘total work’

#224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am Jewish and don't observe but know a lot that do and also talk about how great it is to be able to leave everything behind on the Sabbath. I can definitely see the value in disconnecting one day a week. However, they also do a lot of really weird things that I can imagine creates even more stress, just for the sake of interpreting religious law as strictly as possible. For example, my friend's cousin accidentally…

"Do people really believe God is maintaining a database [...]" Well what do you think Oracle is ;) ?

Actual book title, look it up on Amazon: The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison: *God Doesn't Think He's Larry Ellison

Re: Let’s bring back the Sabbath as an act against ‘total work’

#225
post #200

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Uh. It's both, man. EDIT: Downvotes? For stating a fact about Jewish ethnicity and religion? OK, I guess.

Not possible.

You are making it difficult for us to assume good faith. What is wrong with the explanations that have been provided to you?

Re: Let’s bring back the Sabbath as an act against ‘total work’

#226
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Germany almost every shop is closed on Sundays, with a similar idea behind it. Only the most necessary jobs are done (firefighters and hospital workers) and there is free time for everyone to relax. Now just to tone down the electricity usage.. (but actually Sundays is a good day to use electricity in your home because the commercial use is so much lower)

> In Germany almost every shop is closed on Sundays, with a similar idea behind it. Only the most necessary jobs are done (firefighters and hospital workers) and there is free time for everyone to relax. This was how it was in the UK when I was growing up in the 70s and early 80s. Not much traffic on the roads and a noticeably slower pace of life. I don't want to go back to that, because with hindsight there were dow…

There's nothing stopping you starting your own tradition in your own family, before your children get too old.

When my daughter was younger, and got her own phone we made a point of telling her (and observing) that there should never be a phone out while you are eating with people. And that it was rude to ignore people and be on your phone when in company.

She's now in her early 20s, and is hardly glued to her phone at all. She'll arrive a a persons house (or back to our house) and just dump it and her keys etc. on a table and ignore it unless it sounds a notification. It's so refreshing to see that when you know that most 20-somethings are welded to their phones 24/7.

Everything you teach kids shapes their view of the world going forward. Make Sunday a quiet day again. Create quality family time. Your kids may protest now, but they'll thank you when you are older.

NB. Also from UK, and I too miss the quiet Sundays we used to have.

Re: Let’s bring back the Sabbath as an act against ‘total work’

#227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm Jewish but not religious anymore, and I know a lot of people that keep Shabbat that talk like this. Frankly, I don't buy it. If we have a problem with detaching from technology, then, stopping all usage of it only one day a week is maybe 90% as unhealthy. It would be like saying you have a healthy relationship with smoking because you don't smoke at all for one day a week, but after that you can chain smoke 24/6.…

Unlike smoking, which all humans can survive without, society hasn't yet been configured in a way where we can survive and improve our lot without work. So, even if your point -- that disconnecting one day a week is still 90% as bad as disconnecting all the time -- were to be true, it's also moot because that's not an option. If your point is conditioned upon technology, rather than work, I would ask you to determine…

Isn't the concept of a weekend at least as old as Sabbath, ie thousands of years?

Re: Let’s bring back the Sabbath as an act against ‘total work’

#228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of the things in the Bible are also physical health items. Of course, modern technology and health practices have rendered much of the directives obsolete unless you get stuck in a really primitive part of the world.

There are few if any specific directions about health in the new testament.. unless you count "don't worry" as a health directive. The new testament is said to be "a better contract", not contradicting, but replacing the old testament. Again, though, the stories should be taken with salt. They thought the earth was flat, but human brains were largely the same. If situations were occurring then, and they still occur t…

I said Bible not New Testament. The Old Testament has most of the health directives.

You might want to look at the ‘they thought the earth was flat’ thing. There is quite a lot of data to show that a lot of people didn’t think that.

Re: Let’s bring back the Sabbath as an act against ‘total work’

#229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In Germany almost every shop is closed on Sundays, with a similar idea behind it. Only the most necessary jobs are done (firefighters and hospital workers) and there is free time for everyone to relax. This was how it was in the UK when I was growing up in the 70s and early 80s. Not much traffic on the roads and a noticeably slower pace of life. I don't want to go back to that, because with hindsight there were dow…

There's nothing stopping you starting your own tradition in your own family, before your children get too old. When my daughter was younger, and got her own phone we made a point of telling her (and observing) that there should never be a phone out while you are eating with people. And that it was rude to ignore people and be on your phone when in company. She's now in her early 20s, and is hardly glued to her phone…

> There's nothing stopping you starting your own tradition in your own family, before your children get too old.

We kind of do. Saturday has emerged as the "getting things done around the house" day, and for individual stuff. Then we eat together in the evening (something that isn't always possible Monday to Friday) and play board games or watch a film together. We try to make Sunday a day for family, go out somewhere or do things together at home. Doesn't always work out that way - children's homework, the weather, internet distractions, etc. But I agree that it is important to try.

Re: Let’s bring back the Sabbath as an act against ‘total work’

#230
post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's perfectly acceptable to be secular and still consider yourself to be Jewish. http://www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htm

Based on your understanding Christianity is also an ethnicity?

Many people treat it that way.

If you're "Christianed" or "Baptised" CofE and Catholics will both mostly consider you Christian even if you're an atheist by confession.

The issue is that religious actions become cultural actions. And that religious leaders claim people as their own.

People who live in Thisistan are Chrewslims; or people whose parents were Chrewslims are also that. Silly.

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