Re: RELI: My secret is out

From: Spudboy100@aol.com
Date: Sun Jul 23 2000 - 18:40:42 MDT


Let's see, the name is Eliezer Yudkowsky and you really think people didn't
guess you were a Jew? Oy!

In a message dated 7/23/00 4:19:48 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
sentience@pobox.com writes:

<< For a long time, I have followed a policy of not discussing religious
 matters online. This is because my family is Orthodox Jewish - they
 believe in the literal truth of the Old Testament - and for many years
 it has been necessary for me to conceal from them my real beliefs.
 Today I sent them an email informing them that I am not, in fact,
 Jewish.
 
 For those of you who are curious about the history of the break, I am
 proud to say that my religious disagreements began at the age of five.
 I was spared the painful break, the sudden crisis of conscience from
 faith to reason, that often characterizes such transitions; when I was a
 child, people tried to sell me blatantly ridiculous concepts - like
 praying in a language you don't understand, or the idea that two
 contradictory opinions can both be correct - and I wouldn't buy them,
 although I wasn't allowed to say so. I never trusted Authority over my
 own perceptions - not at age five, and not at any age. And I'm proud of
 it.
 
 I don't remember the exact age when I crossed over from believing that
 Judaism had accumulated flaws to believing that Judaism was outright
 wrong, but I do recall that at the age of fourteen I believed that
 Judaism was just another memetically generated religion. But I still
 had to follow all the rules. If you've been wondering why it's only in
 the past month that you've seen any posts from me between Friday night
 and Saturday night, it's because Jews aren't allowed to use computers on
 the Sabbath. So it's been a very long nightmare indeed that has just
 ended.
 
 I would like to thank the six people who knew, and kept, my secret:
 
    Brian Atkins
    Sabine Stoeckel
    Peter Voss
    Louise Gold
    Natasha Vita-More
    Max More
 
 It helped a lot to be able to talk to someone, even for just a few
 hours. (Everyone I knew in Chicago was also Jewish.) >>



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