Ben Shapiro's reasons for depression

Trademark

Wed, Aug 16 2023, 7:27 am

WhatFor wrote:

The argument would be that if you hold that the Trinity is avodah zara, and you hold yourself out to be a frum Jew, then you shouldn't be endorsing things for non-Jews that violate the 7 mitzvot bnei noach.

Just answering your question in the post I'm responding to. I'm not saying what he should and shouldn't do, just that that's the argument for why he shouldn't. And one of my biggest pet peeves is to hear frum Jews talk about "Judeo-Christian" values which Ben tends to do. There's nothing Christian about my values, thank you very much.

Also always hated this term.

sushilover

Wed, Aug 16 2023, 8:52 am

WhatFor wrote:

And one of my biggest pet peeves is to hear frum Jews talk about "Judeo-Christian" values which Ben tends to do. There's nothing Christian about my values, thank you very much.

You are overthinking a pretty simple term.

This concept came into use during the Cold War. Instead of saying that America opposed Communism from a Christian standpoint, we said that America opposed Communism from a Judeo-Christian standpoint.
I can't see anyone being offended by that (unless you support Communism).

If the Muslims formed a coalition with us with shared values, then I would have nothing against the term "Abrahamic values" or something like that.

When politicians speak out against slavery/murder/injustice/ or any societal evils, should they do it in the name of Christianity, or should they acknowledge that all of the concepts that are good and enduring in their values stem from Judaism?

Fox

Wed, Aug 16 2023, 1:11 pm

I read this post from Rabbi Yaakov Menken on Twitter (X), and I thought of this conversation -- along with many others about the term "Judeo-Christian" or responses to Christian ideas.

The incident it refers to concerns a woman ("Ms. Marbach") who posted a pretty standard profession of Christian faith. Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) responded, claiming it was antisemitic.

The following is Rabbi Menken's commentary:

Quote:

As a practicing Jew, I feel like I need to say more about this. It is common for non-practicing Jews (which Rep. Miller, as far as one can tell, appears to be) to be very defensive about the faith of others, especially if they somehow feel excluded.

Observant Jews are not.

Whether it is Miracle Hill Ministries or Holston United working exclusively with Christians, Mormons declaring Jews to be Mormon after their departure from this life, or Christians purportedly supporting Jewish rights and Jewish life in the Jewish homeland solely because of the need for all Jews to be in Israel for the "rapture" (which is undoubtedly true for some, but I've heard it denied too many times by Christians who are very honest about their beliefs)... we're not bothered.

We're not bothered because we have our own beliefs, and we are confident in those beliefs. We are quite certain that G-d knows how to sort it all out in the World to Come.

We are obviously the last ones to whitewash a millennium of European Christian history with Jews. None of us view the Crusaders with respect. But that's not what we find in America today.

If a person believes as Ms. Marbach does, and as a result is kind to Jews, supports our rights to live in our homeland (and defend ourselves), and to educate our children, observe our Sabbath and consume kosher food here in America, what, precisely, is the problem?

What we see in Rep. Miller's tweet (X?) is a display of his own insecurity. He lacks confidence in his own religion enough to brush off her proclamation of a different belief and move on. I would love to see him learn more about the glory of his own heritage.

persephone8

Wed, Sep 06 2023, 8:28 pm

leah233 wrote:

He never claimed that deeply religious people don't get depressed. He said the reason so many people are depressed is because they lack religion and traditional families.

Most studies indicate that he is correct. Deeply religious people with traditional families have a significantly lower chance of being depressed than those who don't fit that description.

For anyone who enjoys some light reading, here is one such study about religion and depression.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p.....trend)

About traditional families vs non-traditional families though, most studies have found that there's very little difference in terms of depression and mental health, that children are just as well of either way as long as they're raised well.