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It shouldn't be. I don't think more than 20% of the people in this subforum venture out of it to the rest of CD. They come here to battle and that's it.
I don't know about that. I spend plenty of time in Great Debates and History, and plenty of other forums. I try not to bicker or battle too much. Next post will be on something surprising about me.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about me is my religious identity. I am an observant Reform Jew, which sounds like an oxymoron. At the end of this post,
Spoiler
spoiler alert, I tell why this is surprising
(do read spoiler).
On January 5, 1973 I experienced my first major loss in life,my father's death after a battle with cancer. see When Should a Parent Tell Their Offspring That Other Parent is Fatally Ill? What was called the "Sunshine" hot line was my major outlet since my particular crop of high school associates were not of the maturity to be of any assistance. though my old classmates were even, in general, friendly. Many came to the Shiva, or condolence call, for my father on January 7, 1973, the day of his funeral. After my father's death, and that afternoon, per Jewish custom, the Rabbi was in our living room asking for input for the eulogy. He taught me more about Judaism than I learned in the last year of Hebrew School. I left the first class day after my May 2, 1970 Bar Mitzvah. Not that my parents discouraged me; one less car pickup and dropoff on days I didn't ride my bike.
Basically I was on the path to becoming an oxymoron, an "observant Reform Jew." I also amped up my reading on Jewish topics. The book While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy by Arthur D. Morse was probably one of the best books I've read. And necessary to understand why FDR was no friend of the Jews.
During the ensuing summer, which I was on a teen tour, I made a decision that I largely needed new friends, from the "other Junior High School." My first call when I got home was to the friend that chided me on my lack of pride in Judaism. On a n unseasonable (for late August) 98° day after we both came back from different teen tours we gathered first at his house, in the swimming pool, and then cycled the four miles to my house. Given his relative maturity (though he was not the "15 going on 60" type) and high IQ I decided to lay things out, to later seek his help at "breaking in" to the other 4/5 of the grade as well as to my religion. Just before the gathering I took myself to the Jewish Museum while my mother attended a Shiva call. He more than obliged and we are still friends.
Now you wonder, why is any of this surprising? Because my parents actively encouraged a belief that organized religion was responsible for most warfare and suffering in the world and as a naive 13 year old I believed them. Most of my friends, though Jewish, had a barely passing interest.
Status:
"Do not pass GO, do not collect $300 (used to be $200)"
(set 3 days ago)
Location: TN
600 posts, read 273,828 times
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Hmm, there's a bunch - I hold back a lot during the odd job interview. But for here, I'll say I have an interest in languages. I was roughly fluent in German at one point, taught myself Spanish to a decent level, and self-learned a fair amount of Japanese and Korean. Smaller dabbles include Kikuyu, Swedish, and Farsi.
And don't forget English - lately I got back into old-fashioned book reading. That's a whole 'nother topic though.
I don’t have a single tattoo on my body or a single piercing.
Either do I. It's always been a point of contention with my daughter who recently can't seem to stop getting tattoos. All the piercings she's had over the years are now closed up, the multi colored hair of 15 yrs is gone, but there's no "I'm bored of this now" options with the tattoos.
All I have are a lot of scars from accidents and surgeries! LOL!
My name isn't actually Bob, and although I admit I'm not as svelte as I used to be, I'm not really fat either.
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My religious identity
