Comments on: Rabbi Sacks, God is not brain science

By: Dror Ben Ami

Dror Ben Ami — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 10:51:41 +0000

Everyone “knows” Judaism passes thru the mother, right?
Then why is it that not a rabbi has even attempted to answer this.
$10,000 Torah Challenge!
Can You Prove from the Torah that Judaism Does Indeed Pass Thru the Mother?
http://drorbenami987.hubpages.com/hub/Torah-Metaphors-A-10-000-Challange

By: David Kywi

David Kywi — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 20:32:30 +0000

YES INDEED ALL IGNORANCE

By: Naomi Blumenfeld Arnold

Naomi Blumenfeld Arnold — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 18:46:41 +0000

Genetic coding for communal association and even differentiated for religious orientation is possible.

I question the soundness of equating altruism and theistic obedience. Too many environmental variables.

By: Tamir Hargittai

Tamir Hargittai — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:34:48 +0000

Sachs is stating the obvious, obvious that is for atheists: religion, and it makes no difference what religion or idol worshiping, all serve exactly the same purpose, and that is to add divine credence to desired social behaviour as required by a given society, whatever that may be. A belief and adherence to a same set of principles and codes of behavior also help cement unity, unity of purpose and cooperation, which has been key to the success of organizations, societies and civilizations. So in that sense Rabbi Sachs is right, that societies with the strongest sense of unity and purpose may have the best chance of evolutionary survival… which may best be brought about by religion. This of course means clearly that God and religion is a human invention and not really divine, although I am not sure Rabbi Sachs intended for this to be the conclusion.

By: Koen Pauwels

Koen Pauwels — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:17:07 +0000

thanks the author and Rabbi Sacks for interesting articles…always great to see Kahneman cited! Allow me to take issue with Rabbi Sacks' argument that "Religiosity as measured by church or synagogue attendance is…a better predictor of altruism". At least for church attendance, research proves this wrong in my native country: church attendance is actually correlated with lower altruism to people outside the immediate in-group. In fact, every religion I encountered is experienced in at least two ways: spiritual/inclusive (the 'love others as thyself' version the Rabbi alludes to) and parochial/exclusive (the 'my religion is better than yours' and 'i live it better than you do' version we see so often). I agree with Gene that religion should not solemnly be judged on community building, but on what exactly it teaches and on its practice.

By: Jorge Alvear

Jorge Alvear — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:48:10 +0000

Lots of nonsense

By: Jorge Alvear

Jorge Alvear — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:48:10 +0000

Lots of nonsense

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:25:19 +0000

Pirkei Avos tells us to know how to answer the heretic in his own terms, and this is what Lord Sacks is doing. It's one short article for a specific audience, not a theology. For that you would need to read a few of his eighteen books. Like Lord Jakobovits before him, Lord Sacks is the acceptable face of Jewish Orthodoxy.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:25:19 +0000

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:21:42 +0000

Lord Sacks was writing one brief article for the NYT, as he often contributes to The Times and BBC over here. If you want his theology you may have to read a few of his eigteen books which are geared to a wider audience. Pirkei Avos tells us to know how to answer the heretics in their own terms, and that is what he tried to do.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:21:42 +0000

By: David Kywi

David Kywi — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 07:21:31 +0000

Perfect example of Chutzpah, Gene Matanky, who are you to question anything that CHIEF RABBI SACKS may say? When you achieve a fraction of what Rbbi SAcks has acieved, only then can you question his comments.

By: Michael Lerman

Michael Lerman — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 06:17:10 +0000

It is really a sign of the times when Rabbis are competently talking of genes and their effects on human behavior.

By: תרבות בבירה

תרבות בבירה — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 00:17:49 +0000

Almost all these comments are now irrelevant…

By: Meir Moses

Meir Moses — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 00:01:25 +0000

Rabbi Sacks does not deny the role of religion as a method for 'transcendency'. He simply outlines a broad 'baseline' that is absolutely common thought in Judaism. Noahide laws are one such a baseline – laws that do not cover 'transcendency'. Humans experience religion in many ways and on many levels. For some, it is a practical guide to living life in a physical, ritualised manner where there is less emphasis on a God that lives amongst us, for others the emphasis is on the spiritual. Sacks deals in realities to a large extent, not notions of a 'Living God' (really? You mistakenly attribute broadness of thought to Sacks and at the same time invoke a 'Living God' – whatever that might be?)