Judaism is the answer
Posted: October 1st, 2012, 10:54 am
Considering all the anti-Jewish threads here, I think a pro-Jewish thread is in order. So I will explain why Judaism is the best answer to the failure of modern culture.
If you are revolted by modern culture, then the question is what are the alternatives. One solution is to be a hermit, and I do this to some extant. It is fairly easy to live in modern America and have virtually no meaningful contact with other people. I suspect that this is quite common. But I don't think this is a satisfying solution for most people. People are naturally social/tribal and would generally prefer to be part of a group that they can relate to. People only withdraw because they reject modern culture and can't find an alternative culture. There are two places to look for alternative cultures, in other countries and in religion.
Because we live in a global world with global communication, the cultural differences between counties are disappearing. One of the best objective measures of cultural decay is the illegitimacy rate. This has been high in dysfunctional countries for a long time and is now rising in most of the rest of the world. Any country with a high or rising illegitimacy rate can be ruled out. This leaves very few choices. The most promising choice is probably Japan. But even in Japan the average age of marriage for women has been rising and is now at 30 years old. This isn't sustainable and will either devolve into feminism or will have to be corrected somehow. Japan is a possible option but needs further investigation.
The three major religions today are Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. I have spent time investigating Christianity and I have concluded that Christianity is not a viable option. Looking at national illegitimacy rates, one can see that the highest illegitimacy rates are found in Christian or formerly Christian countries. For whatever reason, Christianity is unable or unwilling to defend itself against modern liberal culture. I attended a Greek Orthodox church where I live and those members who I could most relate to were older. Their children and grandchildren were generally not active in the church. The recent news story about p***y Riot is another example of Christianity's unwillingness to defend itself from Liberalism. There may be a few obscure Christian sects like the Amish and Mennonites who do offer real alternatives, but they are too obscure to be serious options.
I know very little about Islam. I have tried to read the Quran several times but it has never made any sense to me. And for whatever reason, Islamic countries tend to be dysfunctional. So I personally rejected Islam as an option but I would be interested in other people's experiences with Islam.
I love the Jewish Bible (Old Testament), so Judaism is an obvious choice for me. But today's Judaism is mostly Rabbinic, based on the Talmud. And I hate the Talmud, its reasoning being twisted and wholly lacking common sense. On the plus side, Orthodox Judaism has shown real strength in pushing back against liberalism and modern culture. For those willing to shut down their brains, Orthodox Judaism provides an ideal religion. Orthodox Jews follow detailed laws like programmed robots, and this keeps them out of trouble. Since the vast majority of humanity doesn't seem to have any desire to think, I would say that Orthodox Judaism is the best religion for most people. But for those of us cursed with an active intellect, Orthodox Judaism doesn't work.
Since no religion is a good fit to join, the best one can do is to find the best religion to associate with. And here I think Orthodox Judaism is a clear winner. One can associate with Orthodox Judaism without considering oneself an Orthodox Jew. This would not be possible with Islam and would be pointless with Christianity. So this is the basis of Reactionary Judaism, to create our own sane religion but to be part of a community of Orthodox Jews based on what we have in common with Orthodox Judaism rather than focusing on how we differ.
If you are revolted by modern culture, then the question is what are the alternatives. One solution is to be a hermit, and I do this to some extant. It is fairly easy to live in modern America and have virtually no meaningful contact with other people. I suspect that this is quite common. But I don't think this is a satisfying solution for most people. People are naturally social/tribal and would generally prefer to be part of a group that they can relate to. People only withdraw because they reject modern culture and can't find an alternative culture. There are two places to look for alternative cultures, in other countries and in religion.
Because we live in a global world with global communication, the cultural differences between counties are disappearing. One of the best objective measures of cultural decay is the illegitimacy rate. This has been high in dysfunctional countries for a long time and is now rising in most of the rest of the world. Any country with a high or rising illegitimacy rate can be ruled out. This leaves very few choices. The most promising choice is probably Japan. But even in Japan the average age of marriage for women has been rising and is now at 30 years old. This isn't sustainable and will either devolve into feminism or will have to be corrected somehow. Japan is a possible option but needs further investigation.
The three major religions today are Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. I have spent time investigating Christianity and I have concluded that Christianity is not a viable option. Looking at national illegitimacy rates, one can see that the highest illegitimacy rates are found in Christian or formerly Christian countries. For whatever reason, Christianity is unable or unwilling to defend itself against modern liberal culture. I attended a Greek Orthodox church where I live and those members who I could most relate to were older. Their children and grandchildren were generally not active in the church. The recent news story about p***y Riot is another example of Christianity's unwillingness to defend itself from Liberalism. There may be a few obscure Christian sects like the Amish and Mennonites who do offer real alternatives, but they are too obscure to be serious options.
I know very little about Islam. I have tried to read the Quran several times but it has never made any sense to me. And for whatever reason, Islamic countries tend to be dysfunctional. So I personally rejected Islam as an option but I would be interested in other people's experiences with Islam.
I love the Jewish Bible (Old Testament), so Judaism is an obvious choice for me. But today's Judaism is mostly Rabbinic, based on the Talmud. And I hate the Talmud, its reasoning being twisted and wholly lacking common sense. On the plus side, Orthodox Judaism has shown real strength in pushing back against liberalism and modern culture. For those willing to shut down their brains, Orthodox Judaism provides an ideal religion. Orthodox Jews follow detailed laws like programmed robots, and this keeps them out of trouble. Since the vast majority of humanity doesn't seem to have any desire to think, I would say that Orthodox Judaism is the best religion for most people. But for those of us cursed with an active intellect, Orthodox Judaism doesn't work.
Since no religion is a good fit to join, the best one can do is to find the best religion to associate with. And here I think Orthodox Judaism is a clear winner. One can associate with Orthodox Judaism without considering oneself an Orthodox Jew. This would not be possible with Islam and would be pointless with Christianity. So this is the basis of Reactionary Judaism, to create our own sane religion but to be part of a community of Orthodox Jews based on what we have in common with Orthodox Judaism rather than focusing on how we differ.