This explains, at least partly, the secular jew. It seems like every time I'm reading something written by an author that calls themselves jewish, they make a point to mention, somewhere along the way, that they are agnostic, or otherwise don't believe in God.

This strikes me as nonsense. You don't get to claim to be part of one of the chosen tribes when you don't acknowledge he whom has chosen you. Jonah Goldberg comes to mind. They need to turn in their jew card, because at that point, they're just a white guy. No different than those of Italian, polish, Russian ancestry.

Most of their practices strike me, like with Islam, as superstitions to ward of an angry and vindictive God. Makes no sense.

Yeah, the ones who accept Jesus Christ the Son of God. The rest of them have fair warning and their parents called down a curse upon their children without their consent.

"When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. 'I am innocent of this man’s blood,' he said. 'It is your responsibility!' All the people answered, 'His blood is on us and on our children!'"

They are truly free to renounce their parents and their parent's actions but when they simply accept them they accept the duties their parents put on them. Just imagine the tormented spirit of a modern rabbinical jew saying to his descended, "Heh nothin personnel kiddo enjoy the burden of our actions hehe"

Two commandments to sum it up:

Matthew 22:35-40: "And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.

The only unforgiveable sin is blaspheming the Holy Spirit. (Mark 3:28-30). So you can blaspheme God the Father. You can blaspheme Jesus. You may not, however, blaspheme the Holy Spirit, whom now lives in you, Didact.

Protip: If you're afraid you've blasphemed the Holy Spirit, you haven't. The hallmark of blaspheming the Holy Spirit is not knowing Him, nor caring about whether you have blasphemed Him.

Well… not a heathen anymore, mate ))

Got saved back in mid-January or thereabouts.

I'll write about it at some point. Life has been all kinds of interesting since then.

Growing up Catholic, I never understood the morbid fascination with sorrow and suffering. The Seven Sorrows of Mary, Lent, the arduous task that is praying the rosary, etc. I've only recently begun to understand why: partly to understand Herculean task of dying for our sins, and the fact that we cannot reach the Joy that is promised us without first suffering. And since routine, everyday suffering isn't enough to awaken our ignorant eyes, we're going to suffer for fun and profit. Only then can you suffer gladly, and then truly begin to fulfill Jesus' commandment to us.

I'm getting there. Slowly, but surely.