From time-to-time I hear from secret Orthodox Jewish atheists who mistake me for a member of their club.
"How", they ask me "do you put up with the lying?"
My standard reply is that, first, I'm not an atheist, thank you very much, but even so I don't think its "faking" to say and do things when you don't believe in the underlying idea.
Ralph Kramden, eg, knew there was nothing magical or mystical about the Royal Order of Raccoons, or whatever his fraternal organization was called, but he liked the social benefits so played along (which is what everyone else in the club was doing, too.)
College fight songs are chock full of untruths, yet loyal alumni sing them lustfully. Same for national anthems. We sing - no matter how absurd the words may be* - because we wish to express our loyalty to the community and because it feels good to be part of something old, and larger then ourselves. In other words, truth may be an important value, but its not the only value, and sometimes other values matter more, and that's fine.
* EG: How "glorious" is Canada?
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"How", they ask me "do you put up with the lying?"
My standard reply is that, first, I'm not an atheist, thank you very much, but even so I don't think its "faking" to say and do things when you don't believe in the underlying idea.
Ralph Kramden, eg, knew there was nothing magical or mystical about the Royal Order of Raccoons, or whatever his fraternal organization was called, but he liked the social benefits so played along (which is what everyone else in the club was doing, too.)
College fight songs are chock full of untruths, yet loyal alumni sing them lustfully. Same for national anthems. We sing - no matter how absurd the words may be* - because we wish to express our loyalty to the community and because it feels good to be part of something old, and larger then ourselves. In other words, truth may be an important value, but its not the only value, and sometimes other values matter more, and that's fine.
* EG: How "glorious" is Canada?
Search for more information about ### at4torah.com
