What does religion offer to mankind? Apart from stipulating prayers and fast, certain food, circumcision, baptism, dip in the holy water, et al; they don’t offer much to the mind. They lock their adherents into a cage of traditional culture, hardly allowing them to breath, repressing their soul instead of elevating it. No wonder for the last 2000 years or so, there has not been any religious movements. Today the religions have just been as they have been drawn up nearly 2000 years ago.
Man is seen as a greedy, gluttonous, selfish, self centered, inconsiderate, insensitive, egocentric and narcissistic organism. All these great qualities can characterize our society as a whole transcending any religious affiliations.
Remembering Marx’s argument that Capitalism is based on the recreation and quest of profit, where each person is supposed to fulfill his obligation to secure and protect his self interest, has created this typical characteristic of peddlers, traders and money lenders.
Does this philosophy of {trading, peddling} lending money give rise to the thought of linking Judaism with Capitalism?
First and foremost is the hypocrisy of it all – a Jew is prohibited to loan money at interest to another Jew, though he is permitted, to lend money to non-Jews and can well earn interest. Does it become a moral obligation and a duty to lend money without interest to Jews and a necessity to lend with interest to non Jews?
We have also perceived Jews as intelligent organisms, destined to live in chaos and triumph over odds. The character and thought process of a Jew’s mind equips him to prosper under capitalism.
Questions:
Is the pursuit of money distinctively either capitalist or Jewish or both?
How about linking Judaism with Communism?
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