When I say you might be talking to me - I define myself as a Torah observant Jew or rather a struggling Torah observant Jew which really means struggling to be a Torah observant jew. I keep shabbos and kashrus (to the best of my ability ) I put on tefillin and daven every morning - often with a minyan and I learn and teach Torah on a daily basis. I do NOT consider myself religious - I am a scientist . I am a tech entrepreneur in software - after many years on Wall Street , I have been working to “fix” healthcare IT for almost 10 years .
I read this article as well as others you have written with great interest. You might be talking to me - but I need to start by asking you : how do you define these “extremists “ that you refer to as “messianists” ? How do you define and differentiate between what you call “traditional and religious “ and the other extremists? I know of many (Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins) that would call anyone who believes in the “Eternal” or a purposeful creator as a dangerous extremist. In other words - how would you defend yourself to Sam Harris, who considers people who believe in god as not just delusional- but dangerously so?
When I say you might be talking to me - I define myself as a Torah observant Jew or rather a struggling Torah observant Jew which really means struggling to be a Torah observant jew. I keep shabbos and kashrus (to the best of my ability ) I put on tefillin and daven every morning - often with a minyan and I learn and teach Torah on a daily basis. I do NOT consider myself religious - I am a scientist . I am a tech entrepreneur in software - after many years on Wall Street , I have been working to “fix” healthcare IT for almost 10 years .
I read this article as well as others you have written with great interest. You might be talking to me - but I need to start by asking you : how do you define these “extremists “ that you refer to as “messianists” ? How do you define and differentiate between what you call “traditional and religious “ and the other extremists? I know of many (Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins) that would call anyone who believes in the “Eternal” or a purposeful creator as a dangerous extremist. In other words - how would you defend yourself to Sam Harris, who considers people who believe in god as not just delusional- but dangerously so?