If Angels Were to Govern Men….

 

James Madison was a very wise man, but if classical liberals have any failing, it is that we assume that other people are like us, that most people want to be free, that we desire maximized choices.

It is not so.

We flail about when we have too many choices. Offer any child the choice between chocolate and vanilla ice cream, and they make a decision pretty easily. Offer them a choice of dozens of flavors, and the challenge can be so intimidating that they can end up opting to have no ice cream at all! So while we claim to want free choice, most of us really want someone else to make it all simpler.

Behavioral studies have shown us that people consistently prefer predictable (but unremarkable) lives, to lives that may be more dynamic; we even use volatility as a pejorative when discussing the stock market. Our fears, not our dreams, are what guide most of our choices in life.  

Mankind consistently seeks limits, either externally or internally imposed. We fear the unknown so much that we tend to embrace anything that promises to reduce uncertainty and quell our fears. It is the intoxicating elixir of modern liberalism.

This is why most societies who try elections for the first time invariably elect strongmen, tyrants. Sure, these larger-than-life tough guys may be bad people, but they seem to know what they are doing, and that gives comfort to the insecure. They make our lives easier by reducing the number of choices, even at the cost of limiting the range of these choices.

This explanation has also historically explained religious faith. Religion quiets the soul in no small part because it offers answers to the Big Questions: “why are we here?” and smaller questions: “How do I find peace?” Every successful religion, whether we would consider that faith to be “true” or not, works in part because it quells the fears that beat in every breast.

People are created insecure, and the natural world does nothing to ease that insecurity by itself, so we find ways of coping. Formal religion is one method, but when people eschew traditional faiths, they seem to invariably turn to placebos – at the minimum reflexive and irrational reliance on habits. Over time, without a religious bulwark, most people will descend still further into superstitions, tribalism, and neo-pagan worship practices like tattooing and recycling – all to limit the choices that modern life has laid before us. In the modern age, the single most popular religion of all, the most consistent way to ease our insecurities by limiting our freedom, is liberal government.

So while it sounds great to blame someone else for what is wrong with our lives, it is rarely accurate to do so. It is we who let our fears limit our choices. But we hate to admit it! When we don’t like how things turn out, we love to blame other people. And then the cycle feeds itself, keeping us in a perpetual state of pickled adolescent immaturity.

My people are no exception. We annually relive the Exodus from Egypt, family by family, year after year – and we have been doing it for well over 3,000 years! Pesach is the annual touchstone for the Jewish people, the single most observed festival of every living Jew.

And yet, as my sons argued during the Seder, it seems that the Jewish people, for over 3000 years, have been getting a basic fact about our slavery in Egypt wrong. And we have done it because, although Jews are incredible change agents everywhere we go, we fall short when it comes to changing ourselves, and especially our victimhood culture.

Who enslaved the Jews? It is a simple, patently stupid question. The Egyptians did, of course. Everyone knows that! The Haggadah tells us so. We were innocent victims, oppressed by a stronger nation that believed that Might Makes Right.

But my sons pointed out that this “obvious” answer is entirely unsupported by the Torah itself. Not only does it lack support, but the Torah gives us another explanation entirely. Nowhere does it say that the Egyptians enslaved the Jews. Sure, they assigned us taskmasters, ramped up the demands, and tried to kill our newborns. But the Egyptians did not enslave us in the first place.

Here’s the punchline: The Jews enslaved themselves.

After their father, Jacob, died, the brothers were panicked, and they begged for Joseph’s forgiveness. But they also went one step too far:

“[Joseph’s brothers] went and fell down before his face, and they said “Behold we are your servants.” (Gen. 50:18 [the Hebrew word for “servant” and “slave” are identical])

The Jewish people enslaved themselves to the senior administrator of the kingdom of Egypt. And they did so for reasons that are entirely familiar to frustrated modern libertarians: fearful in the face of volatile uncertainty, they opted to restrain their freedoms in exchange for a predictable future.

What does Joseph say in response? He does not say “On the contrary! You are free men!” He does not avow the declaration in any way. Instead, his response is the same as that of every well-meaning welfare state big government bureaucrat ever since:

“Have no fear… I will sustain you and your little ones.” (Gen. 50:19,21)

In other words, Joseph could be trusted, because he was as good as an angel. We don’t need to worry about our freedoms when we are governed by angels! Alas, as James Madison put it, “If angels were to govern men, [no] controls on government would be necessary.” Joseph may have been a wonderful man; but the enslavement and welfare dependence of the Jewish people, once the first step down that slippery slope had been taken, had an inevitable conclusion: the complete elimination of the Jewish people. The Road to Serfdom is the easy path and it is almost always a one-way trip. Only direct divine intervention saved us just before the end.

But even though G-d delivered us from Egypt, we never quite grew out of the classic Jewish slave and ghetto mentality. Like Joseph’s brothers, we are too quick to shed the robes of freedom when offered the chance to wallow in perpetual victimhood, too quick to prefer dependable servitude over volatile freedom. By surrendering ourselves to Joseph, we opened the door to walking away from independence and free will, and we became capable only of biological multiplication and hard labor for a capricious overlord.

But we must never forget: we did this to ourselves. And while G-d took us out of Egypt, something for which there is no limit to the gratitude we should show, He did not do it just because He wanted us to be grateful: He did it so that we could make our lives productive and creative, to partner with G-d to ignite and spread holiness throughout the world.

And we work hard at it, handicapped because too rarely do we remember that we have to also heal ourselves, to realize that we are almost always our own worst enemies. External threats to the Jewish people, in Egypt and throughout time, are rarely diseases in their own right: they are symptoms of our own cowardice, unwillingness to tackle the flaws in ourselves and in the world for which we were given responsibility.

In order to grow, to become better and more complete people, we have to conquer our fears. In order to spread freedom, we need people to seek bravery, to eschew “safety.” We must stop blaming other people, and playing the Victim Identity Game. In order to grow relationships and holiness with mankind and with G-d, we need to confront the terrifying insecurities that define our human existence.

Just like the preservation of freedom, conquest over fear is a neverending battle. The shared reward is the sweetest thing of all: satisfaction that we have not squandered the opportunities that lie before us, that we have lived our lives to the fullest.

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  1. Nanda Panjandrum Member
    Nanda Panjandrum
    @

    I suppose I asked my “Seder question” (underneath that celestial chocolate-cake recipe) too quickly. Better the devil we know, than the angel we might not…? 

    • #1
  2. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Yes!  I hesitate to object to the incorrect history in the Haggadah-too much like talking politics at the Seder table.  And our version elides right over the fact that Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery in the first place-that’s how he got to Egypt.

    • #2
  3. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    …. too much like talking politics at the Seder table. 

    How can one not talk politics on Passover? It is all about freedom is it not? 

    Indeed, the Haggadah hits the trifecta: religion, politics and money in the same meal. Maybe that helps explain  why Passover has stood the test of time. 

    • #3
  4. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    And our version elides right over the fact that Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery in the first place-that’s how he got to Egypt.

    The Karpas, which we eat first,  is a reference to Joseph’s coat .. It was unequal parental love, combined  with sibling rivalry that sent us to Egypt  in the first place. 

    • #4
  5. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    I was wondering after @susanquinn‘s description of your sons and the Seder just what their theory was. Thank you!

    • #5
  6. Nanda Panjandrum Member
    Nanda Panjandrum
    @

    iWe (View Comment):
    The Karpas

    ? please elucidate, for your Christian friends – the foods/their significance…Thank you!

    • #6
  7. JoelB Member
    JoelB
    @JoelB

    I have never considered the interaction between Joseph and his brothers to be anything other than a family matter. Perhaps that is just a modern American perspective. Seeing it as an official oath of fealty to Joseph as a lord of Egypt changes the meaning of a “new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph” in quite an interesting way. Thanks, @iwe

    • #7
  8. aardo vozz Member
    aardo vozz
    @aardovozz

    iWe (View Comment):

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    …. too much like talking politics at the Seder table.

    How can one not talk politics on Passover? It is all about freedom is it not?

    Indeed, the Haggadah hits the trifecta: religion, politics and money in the same meal. Maybe that helps explain why Passover has stood the test of time.

    Yes. But given how family arguments over religion, politics, and money can go, I do wonder from time to time how families have stood the test of Passover!😊

    • #8
  9. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    Nanda Panjandrum (View Comment):

    iWe (View Comment):
    The Karpas

    ? please elucidate, for your Christian friends – the foods/their significance…Thank you!

    Alas, it is too long a subject for a comment feed. Remember that the Seder (and outside of Israel we have two of them) is designed to make people talk and question and argue about every detail, late into the night, every single year. It is another reminder that the process of Judaism is more important than the mere product.

    • #9
  10. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    aardo vozz (View Comment):
    But given how family arguments over religion, politics, and money can go, I do wonder from time to time how families have stood the test of Passover!😊

    It is a precarious thing, to be sure. Passover is not always a binding event, and sometimes real damage is done. It is one of the costs of freedom.

    • #10
  11. OkieSailor Member
    OkieSailor
    @OkieSailor

    Yes, just so. And not only did Joseph enslave the Hebrews, he also enslaved the Egyptians. He took a tenth of their grain (taxes) for ten years (if memory serves) and then sold what they had produced back to them later in their time of need. They were not compensated for the taking but were reduced to offering themselves and their progeny as Pharoah’s property to get it back. Sort of like a government that taxes it’s people for ‘retirement’ and then gives them a pittance to live on in old age as long as they behave themselves?
    Good government always serves to enhance the ability of the people to be productive for their benefit and to the benefit of all. But when government crosses a line into restricting Liberty to the point of enslaving its own people to the ‘beneficence’ of government it becomes increasingly bad, historically ending in enslavement of the masses to the masters in government. 
    When, in my youth, I pointed out this flaw in the character of Joseph who was highly revered in our Christian denomination as a ‘Type of Christ’, it was not at all appreciated. People like their heroes just the way they imagine them to be, they don’t like to have flaws revealed but we are all flawed. Recognizing one’s own flaws and working to overcome or get around them is an important element for success in life. Just as I need to see clearly the hills and curves in the road ahead to safely navigate a trip, I need to know myself, warts and all, in order to find the surest path in life. I think refusing to admit that my heroes were not perfect runs counter to this process by setting up an impossible standard for me to aspire to which guarantees failure.

    • #11
  12. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    One of your best posts ever! I love reliving that exciting discussion and how you encourage curiosity and discussion! Thanks! 

    • #12
  13. I Walton Member
    I Walton
    @IWalton

    Great post.  Everything in the Jewish or Christian holy books  offer  universal insights into man and his weaknesses and vulnerabilities.  In this case it is how all men become enslaved, seeking security from other tribes or nations or each other.  Security  became  essential  once we domesticated seeds.  A settled community works all year for a crop that is easily taken by invaders.  Then the security apparatus grows, demands more and people end up slaves.  Absent the security apparatus,  they are invaded and turned into slaves.   Some one here discussed Cain and Able in a similar vein.   Every line ignored or taken literally is at our peril.  I find these discussions endlessly fascinating.  I’d never get to the interpretations on my own.

    • #13
  14. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    Brilliant essay.  Thanks!

    iWe: Over time, without a religious bulwark, most people will descend still further into superstitions, tribalism, and neo-pagan worship practices like tattooing and recycling – all to limit the choices that modern life has laid before us.

    Great stuff!

    • #14
  15. Songwriter Inactive
    Songwriter
    @user_19450

    iWe: But we must never forget: we did this to ourselves.

    Somewhere in my study of the OT, I came to see the Jewish people as representative of the individual.  Every mis-step they made, I have made. Like the Hebrews, my problems are of my own making. And – as your post so aptly points out – fear lies at the root of my problems.

    On a side note, I was ignorant of the Madison “angel” quote, to which Milton Friedman alluded in his deft response to an out-gunned Phil Donahue.

    “Where in the world do you find these angels who are trying to organize society for us?”  (at approx. 2:22)

    • #15
  16. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Songwriter (View Comment):
    On a side note, I was ignorant of the Madison “angel” quote, to which Milton Friedman alluded in his deft response to an out-gunned Phil Donahue.

    I love this piece, @songwriter. Donahue certainly got his comeuppance, although I doubt he realized it!

    • #16
  17. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    iWe: Mankind consistently seeks limits, either externally or internally imposed. We fear the unknown so much that we tend to embrace anything that promises to reduce uncertainty and quell our fears. It is the intoxicating elixir of modern liberalism.

    Songwriter (View Comment):
    Somewhere in my study of the OT, I came to see the Jewish people as representative of the individual. Every mis-step they made, I have made. Like the Hebrews, my problems are of my own making. And – as your post so aptly points out – fear lies at the root of my problems.

    OkieSailor (View Comment):
    Good government always serves to enhance the ability of the people to be productive for their benefit and to the benefit of all. But when government crosses a line into restricting Liberty to the point of enslaving its own people to the ‘beneficence’ of government it becomes increasingly bad, historically ending in enslavement of the masses to the masters in government. 

    A lot to try to digest here and many valid points. I personally have great difficulty with any statement that attributes behavioral character and preferences collectively. The i and the We cannot be thought of in the same way. The ‘people’ do not make choices, individuals make them, but some don’t, they accept what is easily available and enslave themselves. They do this individually, perhaps their last significant individual act. I go for the i as opposed to the We.  I once posed a question here about Christianity and ‘individualism’, individual responsibility and action, not collective, being the touchstone. ‘Individual fear’ is the obstacle leading to failure and acceptance (enslavement) of the collective choices (limits). Christian doctrine gives us warnings about fear, I think. I guess I’ve lost my mind, huh?

    • #17
  18. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):
    The ‘people’ do not make choices, individuals make them

    The vast majority of people I know are followers, not mavericks. I want individuals to make their own choices, and they should. But in masses of people, mob mentality rules.

    I see a historical progression and growth: from groupthink to a world in which individuals are able to focus on making good personal choices and growing deep interpersonal relationships.

    • #18
  19. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    People find comfort in choosing to do what others do. It is how herds of animals or schools of fish operate. Though this is quite handy for “small” decisions (e.g. should I wear a shirt?), it is not the ideal way to make important decisions!

    • #19
  20. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    iWe (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):
    The ‘people’ do not make choices, individuals make them

    The vast majority of people I know are followers, not mavericks. I want individuals to make their own choices, and they should. But in masses of people, mob mentality rules.

    I see a historical progression and growth: from groupthink to a world in which individuals are able to focus on making good personal choices and growing deep interpersonal relationships.

    Yes, I was saying I would replace the use of the term ‘mankind’ with ‘the vast majority of people’ or ‘some or most of us’ so that it is at least qualified. 

    • #20
  21. Nanda Panjandrum Member
    Nanda Panjandrum
    @

    iWe (View Comment):

    Nanda Panjandrum (View Comment):

    iWe (View Comment):
    The Karpas

    ? please elucidate, for your Christian friends – the foods/their significance…Thank you!

    Alas, it is too long a subject for a comment feed. Remember that the Seder (and outside of Israel we have two of them) is designed to make people talk and question and argue about every detail, late into the night, every single year. It is another reminder that the process of Judaism is more important than the mere product.

    Ah, understood.  A link would be enlightening; or, I’ll search… just so I become familiar enough with terms to follow conversation. :-)

    • #21
  22. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    Nanda Panjandrum (View Comment):

     

    Ah, understood. A link would be enlightening; or, I’ll search… just so I become familiar enough with terms to follow conversation. :-)

    There is a wonderful history of the Maxwell House Haggadah here. All the commentaries are connected to Q&A with the Haggadah. There are endless “customized” modern versions, but the orthodox tradition is to basically all use the same underlying text, and the variety occurs in the conversation.

    • #22
  23. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    What conspires against us as individuals is that the Lord created us to come into existence and be protected in our infancy by our family who loves us. Thus we become successful and surviving social creatures.

    I read a great book–Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect–a few years ago by Matt Lieberman, who is a renowned neuroscientist. He made the important discovery that social rejection is processed in the same part of the brain as physical pain. Our social hardwiring is an important part of our survival apparatus.

    I read another book–Work Without Stress–by Derek Roger a couple of years ago that made the same point but from a different perspective. Roger was an emergency room doctor who realized one day that every time he asked a patient how an accident happened, rather than get the response he needed and was looking for–“My foot twisted this way when I stepped off the curb”–the patient would describe what was on his mind when the accident occurred–“My mother-in-law called me.” Roger decided to devote the rest of his career to finding out what caused stress and how to prevent it. He is one of the only experts on stress to have actually studied the physiological effects of it.

    Roger has come up with some definitive answers on how stress affects the body and why it is so dangerous over time. In the process, he has learned that the only destructive stress–the stress that causes the normally occurring chemicals in the human body to rise to dangerous levels–are those released in tense encounters between people. The chemicals were not released in situations in which we think of stress occurring such as deadline stress. The biological response occurred only in the context of tense exchanges between people, and that stress was made to last and cause its worst damage in our “ruminating” over the encounters for long periods afterward.

    At my daughter’s graduation from Colgate, the psychiatrist Robert Lifton spoke. He is best known for his studies on the perpetrators of the sarin gas attacks in the Tokyo subway system. He is a flaming liberal, but the words he opened his speech with have stayed with me. He said, “We all live in the constant tension between what we owe others and what we owe ourselves.” That is so true. It is difficult to be individuals within a group, to stand up when we have to and sit down when it would be better to do that.

    We need each other. The Lord saw a symphony orchestra in us. And Izthak Perlman as well. And the cheering flight guidance room where the team of scientists and engineers guided Apollo 13 into space and back. And the pilot Sully who had to trust his own instincts over the what everyone around him was saying to land his passenger jet in the Hudson River safely.

    • #23
  24. Nanda Panjandrum Member
    Nanda Panjandrum
    @

    Nanda Panjandrum (View Comment):
    I’ll search… just so I become familiar enough with terms to follow conversation. :-)

    I sought – and found – this very helpful illustration/explanation of the Seder plate and the Haggadah.

    • #24
  25. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    MarciN (View Comment):

    What conspires against us as individuals is that the Lord created us to come into existence and be protected in our infancy by our family who loves us. Thus we become successful and surviving social creatures.

    I read a great book–Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect–a few years ago by Matt Lieberman, who is a renowned neuroscientist. He made the important discovery that social rejection is processed in the same part of the brain as physical pain. Our social hardwiring is an important part of our survival apparatus.

    I read another book–Work Without Stress–by Derek Roger a couple of years ago that made the same point but from a different perspective. Roger was an emergency room doctor who realized one day that every time he asked a patient how an accident happened, rather than get the response he needed and was looking for–“My foot twisted this way when I stepped off the curb”–patients would describe what was on their mind when the accident occurred–“My mother-in-law called me.” He decided to devote the rest of his career to finding out what caused stress and how to prevent it. He is one of the only experts on stress to have actually studied the physiological effects of it.

    Roger has come up with some definitive answers on how stress affects the body and why it is so dangerous over time. In the process, he has learned that the only destructive stress–the stress that causes the normally occurring chemicals in the human body to rise to dangerous levels–are those released in tense encounters between people. The chemicals were not released in situations in which we think of stress occurring such as deadline stress. The biological response occurred only in the context of tense exchanges between people and that stress was made to last and cause its worst damage in our “ruminating” over the encounters for long periods afterward.

    At my daughter’s graduation from Colgate, the psychiatrist Robert Lifton spoke. He is best known for his studies on the perpetrators of the sarin gas attacks in the Tokyo subway system. He is a flaming liberal, but the words he opened his speech with have stayed with me. He said, “We all live in the constant tension between what we owe others and what we owe ourselves.” That is so true. It is difficult to be individuals within a group, to stand up when we have to and sit down when it would be better to do that.

    We need each other. The Lord saw a symphony orchestra in us. And Izthak Perlman as well. And the cheering flight guidance room where the team of scientists and engineers guided Apollo 13 into space and back. And the pilot Sully who had to trust his own instincts over the what everyone around him was saying to land his passenger jet in the Hudson River safely.

    Thanks, for this, (con’t)

    • #25
  26. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    (con’t from #25)

    Yes, I didn’t mean to convey any notion that the individual is not, or should not be, a functional member of various groups composed of other individuals, only that the role should be by choice not by some mandate outside that individual’s influence. I see that as a significant requirement that may not always be achievable by individuals even when preferred.

    • #26
  27. Nick H Coolidge
    Nick H
    @NickH

    iWe: most of us really want someone else to make it all simpler.

    Yep. And we really resist having that simplicity (even when it is just an illusion) taken away. Look at taxes. A big part of many of the “Flat Tax” reform plans over the years have foundered on the idea that people would have to pay the taxes directly instead of having them automatically withheld and paid by their employer. We reject the actual simplicity because it’s easier to just let the company do it for us. I think that what people want even more than simplicity is denial. We don’t want to have to think about difficult things. Let someone else handle it.

    And it’s only going to get worse. All the choices and hassle of health care getting you down? Let your employer handle that too. They’ll sign you up for a plan that handles the paperwork and payments and everything for you. and everything will work great (until it doesn’t). Teaching kids? Let the schools do it all (sort of). What about helping other people, taking care of widows and orphans and the needy? Charity?  The government can handle it (and create even more of the problem in the process). Don’t like having to make an effort staying in touch with old friends and distant family? Let social media handle it. Post your pictures and memories for them to see and check out theirs every now and then. Problem solved. We’re well on our way to not having to think about anything difficult at all.

    • #27
  28. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Freedom is a crazy hard thing to endure as Shelby Steele accurately notes. The idea that you are responsible for your own life isn’t easy in way shape or form. 

    Personally, I wasted my 20s. I committed suicide on about 8 years of my life. It ain’t easy to accept that.

    • #28
  29. Annefy Member
    Annefy
    @Annefy

    MarciN (View Comment):

    What conspires against us as individuals is that the Lord created us to come into existence and be protected in our infancy by our family who loves us. Thus we become successful and surviving social creatures.

    I read a great book–Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect–a few years ago by Matt Lieberman, who is a renowned neuroscientist. He made the important discovery that social rejection is processed in the same part of the brain as physical pain. Our social hardwiring is an important part of our survival apparatus.

    I read another book–Work Without Stress–by Derek Roger a couple of years ago that made the same point but from a different perspective. Roger was an emergency room doctor who realized one day that every time he asked a patient how an accident happened, rather than get the response he needed and was looking for–“My foot twisted this way when I stepped off the curb”–the patient would describe what was on his mind when the accident occurred–“My mother-in-law called me.” Roger decided to devote the rest of his career to finding out what caused stress and how to prevent it. He is one of the only experts on stress to have actually studied the physiological effects of it.

    Roger has come up with some definitive answers on how stress affects the body and why it is so dangerous over time. In the process, he has learned that the only destructive stress–the stress that causes the normally occurring chemicals in the human body to rise to dangerous levels–are those released in tense encounters between people. The chemicals were not released in situations in which we think of stress occurring such as deadline stress. The biological response occurred only in the context of tense exchanges between people, and that stress was made to last and cause its worst damage in our “ruminating” over the encounters for long periods afterward.

    -snip

    Having finally gotten a handle on stress, I love to recount my mother’s wise words: This stress is going to kill you. And your looks will go. (my mother could be deep and shallow at the same time)

    In 2012 + I hit some road bumps that made me realize what stress really was.  And guess what? My mother was right. All my hair fell out.

    When I got myself to a specialist she innocently asked if I was experiencing stress? The maniacal laugh answered her question.

    Then she asked: Anything you can do about it?

    I replied: Only if you murder about 26 members of my family.

    The treatment was horrific and I changed a lot of things in my life (sans felonies). My hair came back and I’ve vowed to never complain about a bad hair day again. For that matter, there’s a lot of things I don’t complain about anymore.

    • #29
  30. Annefy Member
    Annefy
    @Annefy

    @iWe: Your sons’ interpretation has been in my head for years, and one that I’ve repeated in conversation.

    I am by no means a scholar of the bible, (or anything else for that matter) so I’m thinking it got planted in my mind years ago. Possibly “This is My God” by Herman Wouk? I read the book many times when I was younger. I’d check, but it’s packed away for safekeeping after the author autographed it for me.

    • #30
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