Last night, on a 62/55 voted they became a theocracy.

After a decade of political wrangling and hours of impassioned debate, Parliament on Thursday passed a contentious basic law that in effect enshrines Israel as the Jewish nation state, a move hailed by supporters as “historic” and denounced by detractors as discriminatory, racist and a blow to democracy.

They'll be making Judaism hereditary next lolz...no...wait...

Is there any country in the world right now that isn't heading back towards the dark ages, I mean apart from the Netherlands of course

I'm actually rather fond of Judaism, comparatively speaking, because it doesn't include the concept of hell in its doctrine. Telaviva Israel!

zulumoose wrote:Is there any country in the world right now that isn't heading back towards the dark ages, I mean apart from the Netherlands of course

Ireland. Which is kinda funny to me.

zulumoose wrote:Is there any country in the world right now that isn't heading back towards the dark ages, I mean apart from the Netherlands of course

We're getting there too. On the hand by the rise of both low-brow and 'high'-brow populism and the other hand an increasingly lazy government that keeps putting things off.

Keep It Real wrote:I'm actually rather fond of Judaism, comparatively speaking, because it doesn't include the concept of hell in its doctrine. Telaviva Israel!

No, just genocide, rape and killing children for being disobedient.

Unwise IMO to throw out the baby (the absence of the concept of hell) with the bathwater (the above etc) - Judaism stands alone as far as Abrahamic monotheism is concerned RE hell - a precious rock of sanity for the credulous and those with a sufficiently vivid imagination to be terrorised to fuck by the idea of eternal torture.

Looks like all of those people who use, "I prefer a secular country to a theocracy" to justify Israeli's treatment of Palestine can shut up now.

Animavore wrote:Looks like all of those people who use, "I prefer a secular country to a theocracy" to justify Israeli's treatment of Palestine can shut up now.

I have always been on Israel's side because compared to the countries surrounding it its government is reasonably democratic and secular. That was the only reason for my support. It's gone now.

...Israel’s Parliament enacted a law that enshrines the right of national self-determination as “unique to the Jewish people” — not all citizens.

The legislation, a “basic law” — giving it the weight of a constitutional amendment — omits any mention of democracy or the principle of equality...

Any reason to support Israel is pretty much gone now in my book as well. I was always on the fence about the Israeli/Palestine conflict because coming from N. Ireland and S. Africa as I do I am keenly aware of how badly such conflicts are understood by outsiders, and how fanatically biased the majority of supporters of each side are.

Israel did, until now, appear to value keeping up appearances of having the moral high ground in some ways. I guess their true colours are now on display, and it's not pretty.

Keep It Real wrote:Unwise IMO to throw out the baby (the absence of the concept of hell) with the bathwater (the above etc)

You're not throwing out the baby.
There is no baby. The absence of a hell isn't a thing, hence the absence.

Keep It Real wrote:Judaism stands alone as far as Abrahamic monotheism is concerned RE hell - a precious rock of sanity

There's nothing sane about worshipping a genocidal, rape and slavery supporting tyrant, just because he won't send you to hell.

So the country populated by people who have for over two millennia been targeted for countless pogroms and genocides by numerous religious and ethnic groups, and is surrounded by hostile theocracies that want nothing more than to destroy it, has finally become a hostile, genocidal theocracy.

I can't say I'm all that surprised, frankly. Humans tend to behave the way you'd expect them to behave, given their history and their environment and their circumstances.

Well, another democracy bites the dust. Ain't that a bitch. Once upon a time, I actually thought democracy would ultimately prevail against tyranny, eventually. Ah, the idealism of youth...

for over two millennia been targeted by the world's two biggest religions

???

Which biggest religions would that be?
Neither Christianity nor Islam have been around for two millennia yet, never mind been large enough to target others.

Fixed it. Satisfied?

Arabic has been removed as an official language.

zulumoose wrote:Any reason to support Israel is pretty much gone now in my book as well. I was always on the fence about the Israeli/Palestine conflict because coming from N. Ireland and S. Africa as I do I am keenly aware of how badly such conflicts are understood by outsiders, and how fanatically biased the majority of supporters of each side are.

Israel did, until now, appear to value keeping up appearances of having the moral high ground in some ways. I guess their true colours are now on display, and it's not pretty.

Who's occupying the moral high ground these days, as far as nation-states are concerned? Occupying the moral high ground sort of demands that you do something to claim it, rather than not doing shit that would push you off it.

When push comes to shove, nation states attempt to preserve themselves, and the result isn't always pretty. A nation-state's best strategy these days is to stay below the moral high ground radar.

Who is playing the victim?