Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by WJW 2178 days ago
God can't be stupid since (by axiom) he is all-knowing, perfect and presumably cares about the laws he sets. Therefore, any loopholes in the laws were put there on purpose and the believer is actually extra virtuous for paying close enough attention to notice the workarounds.
1 comments
reallydontask 2178 days ago
How do we know that the laws were set by him and not say a person who thought god was talking to him and somehow convinced people that they came from god?

How do we know that the loopholes are not there to test the to the letter followers versus the spirit of the law followers?

and how do we know which of those groups does god prefer?

link
WJW 2178 days ago
Those are all fair questions, but they are about axioms and whether you should accept them or not. I was trying to describe the thought process of someone who has already accepted the axioms as set out in the old testament and is now trying to interpret the rules for modern times in an internally consistent way.
link
reallydontask 2178 days ago
that's fair enough but say that we accept that the rules do come from god and he is all knowing, etc ..., the second question still stands and is the gist of the comedian's jibe

How do we know that to the letter vs to the spirit following is the right course of action for the follower of the religion?

link
LegitShady 2177 days ago
>letter vs to the spirit

What is the inherent spirit of the law in only eating animals that chew their cud and have split hoofs? Or fish that only have scales and fins? The inherent spirit of not wearing linen and wool together?

There are plenty of places where religious jews go beyond what the law says because rabbis have deemed it important. The prohibition of not eating meat and milk together come from "not eating a kid in its mother's milk" but rabbis said it applies to all meat and all milk.

I'm not sure how legitimate it is to think you know or can determine the spirit of religious laws you don't know the details of.

link
reallydontask 2177 days ago
> I'm not sure how legitimate it is to think you know or can determine the spirit of religious laws you don't know the details of.

That is precisely my point. Rabbis might say X or Y, that doesn't mean that it pleases God one way or another.

You can take the view that the loopholes are there to be found and thus prove your commitment, the opposite view or just the view that some are ok and some are not, this is all very theoretical given the impossibility of knowing what the relevant God thinks, as arguments could be made for both situations.

link