Quote:
Originally Posted by GeddyBass2112
Keeping kosher though is a bit of a tricky one- I believe that although we do not know the reasons for these laws on what we can eat, we also do not know the reward for keeping them, or the punishment for not keeping them. We should also uphold major or more difficult mitzvot as strictly as we uphold minor or more easy ones.
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Geddy, I have read that some Jewish people feel the kosher law to kill animals by slitting their throats was originally intended as a way to make slaughter more humane, in keeping with the feeling some view as a Jewish religious law that people should not cause unnecessary suffering to animals:
Judaism 101: Treatment of Animals
A question I have that relates to your original post (in which you asked religious people, "What is your level of observance?") is how people decide the degree to which they are observing or following a religion, since following particular religious laws may not fully fulfill the intent of the laws. Which is more important when determining the degree to which you follow or observe a religious law: following the intent of the law, or following the law itself?
For example, if a Jewish person wants to follow kosher laws, should she be following the letter of the law or the intent? If she feels she should follow a law not to cause animals unecessary pain, then should she consider that slaughtering animals by slitting their throats causes them pain that can be reduced or eliminated by rendering the animals unconscious first (
Discussion of research that shows that Kosher or Halal Slaughter without stunning causes pain)...even though rendering animals unconscious first violates the kosher law?
Whose level of observance of religious kosher law would be greater...the person who follows the kosher law and eats only animals killed in a kosher way, or a person who violates the kosher law by eating animals rendered unconscious first (so they experience less pain)...or the person who doesn't eat any animals at all (which would naturally be a kosher diet with respect to animals, since meat and dairy would never be mixed)?
Also, since people do not physiologically need to eat animals to remain healthy, a question I have about kosher laws is how people rationalize the slaughtering of animals if they also believe that a religious law prohibits causing unnecessary suffering to animals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RVCA
That is untrue. Not all atheists hold beliefs about the existence of deities. Many atheists simply lack belief. Therefore, atheism cannot "technically be a religion", at least not in the traditional and most popular sense of the word.
For further information and a clearer explanation:
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I like this video very much since it explains that atheists include people who lack belief in gods as well as people who believe no gods exist, which are different positions with respect to the question of whether there are dieties.