05-20-2016, 06:08 PM
(05-20-2016, 03:42 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: The tradition of 'holy men on welfare' goes back on long way in Judaism. When the Hebrews left Egypt, Moses (and God, through Judeo-Christian belief) instituted a system where people would sacrifice animals or grain to atone for various sins and those sacrifices (whether slain or left alive, depending upon the sin) were in turn given to the sons of Levi (a.k.a. the priest caste) to eat or dispose of. Presumably, these sacrifices also fed all of the families and servants in the Levi clan as well.
An unfortunate (or fortunate, depending upon how you view it I suppose) by-product of this system was the creation of a legalistic theocratic hierarchy (the Sadduccees) who felt their well-being, and even prosperity as it were, depended upon their abilities to label something as a sin, accuse individuals within the society of committing that sin, and demanding appropriate sacrifices.
Is it any wonder that Christians would follow this example? But one factor of this system changed in Western Europe. After the fall of the Roman Empire, there was an ongoing trend to separate church and state that continues to this day. The Hebrews had the power of the state to back their system back in the day. And 2,000 years later, some would like to return to that system. This is particularly notable in Israel, where Hasidics have much greater political power.
I'll cut them some slack, when they prove to me that they're still lugging around the tabernacle and ark.
