<p>The basic thought of religions is to promote peace,brotherhood and tolerance of one another. This is where the basic goodness of man orginates from. I totally believe in this thought. I must be one of the most uneducated and superstitous persons around.</p>
<p>07Dad, you can’t turn something manually on and off. Timers, however, are fine. Anything that is running all the time is fine. A modern thermostat makes the a/c issue easy. The fridge stays on and plugged in, though some observant families will unscrew the interior light bulb so that it won’t come on when the door is opened. Some will only open the door when the compressor is running, to ensure that opening the door doesn’t cause a temperature drop which would start the compressor.</p>
<p>My Jewish family members aren’t Orthodox, so I’m not sure they know the answer to…</p>
<p>What about health emergencies…surgeries…people who work in health professions…people who need these surgeries on these days… Is there some kind of understanding that life and death emergencies “trump” these laws?</p>
<p>I was in Jerusalem this year on the Sabbath. The hotel we stayed at has a special elevator for those who are observant so that those who ride it don’t have to press the buttons.</p>
<p>My understanding is that if something electric is already turned on, you can leave it on, but you can’t turn anything electric on or off or adjust its settings. Thus, the refrigerator and air conditioner don’t seem to be problems, as far as I know, because they stay on all the time.</p>
<p>Experts: Please clarify.</p>
<p>Yes, health trumps the laws, this was addressed upthread. While we were not Orthodox, my family was Conservative. My mother did not fast on Yom Kippur as she was seriously ill.</p>
<p>*My mother did not fast on Yom Kippur as she was seriously ill. *</p>
<p>That’s what I guessed. </p>
<p>Catholic fasting rules are similar…those who have health needs, etc, aren’t expected to fast.</p>
<p>Obviously, I don’t know much/enough about Jewish rules/laws, but since some Catholic rules/practices have their roots in Jewish rules/laws, I know that some Catholic rules/practices seem “silly” to outsiders, but they are a form of self-discipline…even if they also serve a religious purpose.</p>
<p>^That was covered several pages ago, but the answer is yes. (to post 283)</p>
<p>On the subject of the customs observed by some religions - I’ve experienced it at a few locations. For example, I was in Israel at a non-American hotel on a Saturday and they had the elevator programmed to stop at every floor so people wouldn’t need to push the buttons and I think they had the automatic entry door blocked open. Another time I was doing something at a Mormon church location and noticed they had no coke machines due to that at the time being something that particular religion discouraged. In Italy females couldn’t enter the cathedral without a head covering.</p>
<p>While in some of these cases, from my perspective, it may not make any logical sense I understand some of the reasons for it historically, which were often rooted in sound practical advice, often for health reasons (i.e. eating pork 2000 years ago could easily result in getting ill from a disease and Coke had drugs in it), from the leaders of the community, i.e. the religious leaders, and has since become tradition and custom. It’s clearly not ‘superstition’ any more than a graduation ceremony is superstition as opposed to just a tradition practiced at many schools.</p>
<p>People tend to like traditions, customs, ceremony. Take a look at the grad ceremonies I mentioned, New Year celebrations, fireworks on the 4th of July, parades, the ceremony conducted in various churches, awards, weddings, toasts at a group dinner (I assume POIH would never say “to your health” with a lifted glass), etc.</p>
<p>CC has this thread listed on their main page. I feel like it should have been locked yesterday.</p>
<p>I don’t get why people are in such a hurry to lock threads. The overwhelming majority of people agree - and it’s been an interesting discussion. If POIH wants to look like a fool that his business. I hope we’ve given him some food for thought.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Hmmm, I do not see this thread featured on the main CC Discussion Forum home page. I only see the thread when I open the Parent Forum. </p>
<p>Anyone else??</p>
<p>ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad: regarding Mormons and Coke…Mormons are supposed to abstain from caffeine.</p>
<p>It was on the main page under “what’s the chatter” but it has been replaced.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Actually the technical rule is abstaining from hot drinks. That means they can’t drink tea or coffee. Coke is ok, even though it’s caffeinated, because it’s not a hot drink. Hot chocolate is ok, even though it’s a hot drink, because it’s not a hot drink.</p>
<p>Really? Because the Mormons I know here have said they avoid caffeine because it’s considered a stimulant.</p>
<p>That was true of the Mormons I know, too. In fact they avoid chocolate for the same reason.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Started to read the posts backward and was surprised that so many people call them selves educated but still don’t ask question regarding superstitions.</p>
<p>If I’ve been in that gathering at an age of 10 or so I would have asked my parents why this girl was unable to speak at the Graduation.
If my parent had provided the answer the CC parent had, I would have been baffled unable to understand the rationale behind this.
So in my opinion this girl has made the mockery of the education system by taking the school hostage by the name of religious belief. Anything as senseless as this should not be encouraged but school officials under the pressure of law suites had to give in to such practices.</p>
<p>Rarely, I’ve seen such baseless explanation to guard superstitions such as Refrigerators are fine running on electricity because one has to eat food but we will take out the light bulbs, computers are fine and we will write but not save.</p>
<p>I’m not sure when all these people will get enlightment and actually understand that these are just superstitions what ever name you give it to these (beliefs, customs, traditions, or religion).</p>
<p>I don’t think I can carry on this debate with a set of people who are literate with graduate degrees, Phds, MBA but choose to abide by superstitions on the name of religion, custom, traditions; but in my dictionary are not EDUCATED.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>WoW, just wow. Throw out everything from before when? Yesterday?</p>
<p>If someone wanted to read up on the Orthodox rules (not a theological research project), what books would you folks suggest?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You need to go through the thread one more time to make sure you are able to find the real “fools”; very much obvious with their explanations to guard superstitions. May be you don’t have any ability to see that because “Birds of same feathers flock together”.</p>