Hogwash in Judaism

Excerpts from the beginning. Most of the time I am shooting my anti-religion arrows at Christianity and Islam. Today Judaism is the target. "Hogwash" means refuse given to hogs. As Jews we are not supposed to possess hogs. Why are we then as a society even in the possession of hogwash? The humans are meant to swallow it, according to our religious leaders. My positions on Judaism are meant as much to resume debates as to initiate new ones, although I certainly do that too. The old party of the Epicureans, known as that in life but Sadducees in the history books, got everything right. I am a throwback to them. They would never have ceased opposing the imposition and sanctioning into public life of harebrained foreign beliefs had they not been essentially annihilated defending the last of the Maccabee kings Antigonus against Roman legions brought to put a usurper Herod on the throne. Before they could recover the state got away from us for 2,000 years and survival came first. But an accident and a delay do not decide the contest of ideas nor can they crown error as truth. We begin again. I am not an atheist although my grandfather was, a defining influence on my life. I also would not describe myself as secular. I am the father of three children and I managed to get through that stage without throwing out one baby with the bath water. Why do it in other aspects of life? There is a decided difference in tone in this book compared to how I approach Christianity and Islam. The Christians murdered 3.5 million Jews over 1,000 years of persecutions and the Muslims have tried several times to destroy our state. They gave us no quarter; they get no quarter. In this case you are talking about internal political controversies. These can get pretty heated as well and spill into violence and at one time there was a six-year civil war costing 50,000 lives fought over many of the issues to be discussed here. But when all is said and done, you are still on the same team, like it or not, and you have to learn to get along. Nor am I approaching this book in the manner of the proverbial French army, fighting the last war. The future is what counts. I am also a journalist not a scholar so I don't get paid by the number of trees I identify. I keep my eye on the forest. Whom am I writing this book for? I can't answer that question. I am talking about the past but this is not a history book. I must go to origins to explain issues. I am talking about the future but the only people who might be interested naturally are those who have been brought up as Sadducees. There are none. In my other anti-religion books I can expect readers among non-Jews. Here I am not writing for non-Jews. So why am I doing this? Orneriness. That's just the way I am.