Over the last few decades starting here in
the West and spreading out around the world
there has grown what some call a new
"religious" movement called Noahides. For
the record, the term Noahide obviously comes
from the name Noah, the man famous for
building the Ark. According to the Bible,
only Noah and his sons survived the ancient
flood, therefore all humanity is called by
his name, thus we are all "children of Noah,"
Benei Noah in Hebrew or Noahides. Mind you,
this term obviously is equally applicable to
Jews and non-Jews alike. Essentially Noahide
is the traditional Jewish term for all humanity.
The modern Noahide group bases its views on
the ideas described in Judaism that while
Jews are commanded by G-d to follow Judaism,
non-Jews on the other hand are obligated not
to follow any one religion but rather a
universal code of behavior. This code
stipulates belief and honor of the Supreme
Being, the standards of moral behavior, not
to steal, not to murder, not to act with
sexual immorality, not to eat the flesh of a
living animal (which some interpret
metaphorically to mean to live in harmony and
in balance with nature) and last but
certainly not least, to establish stable
societies and sane governments based upon law
and the upholding of these principles and values.
These principles in Judaism, however
universal, remained a mostly unknown and
uninteresting point of theology until
recently, when the revolving door of religion
began to swing both ways. In their religious
zeal to convert Jews many Christian
evangelists began a study of Judaism and
theology to better understand their targets
and how to better reach them. As many of
these missionaries continued their studies
into the roots of Christianity and the
foundations of Judaism, many of them were
persuaded to embrace the Jewish message
instead of getting Jews to give it up. Some
converted and became Jews however the
majority of the others saw that Judaism
proclaimed a path for all non-Jews that
liberated them from the divisive theological
imprisonments of one religion or another.
Judaism's message to the world was one of
liberty and justice for all, based upon the
same principles upon which the Founding
Fathers of the United States created this
nation. The relationship of these Jewish
principles to the Founding Fathers is by no
means a coincidence. Benjamin Franklin,
Thomas Jefferson and many of their peers
apparently were already familiar with these
ancient "Jewish" ideas about liberty and
freedom for in many of their earlier writings
some went so far as to call themselves Noahides.
Noahides and Noahidism is therefore no modern
spiritual/religious expression of any kind.
It is as old as the Bible and is as American
as is America herself. True "Noahidism" is
not a theology, a religion, a way of life or
path that is connected culturally or socially
with Judaism or the Jewish people. True
Noahidism is a universal code and philosophy
that proclaims the ability and rights of the
individual. As the U.S. Declaration of
Independence states, "We hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness." What greater truth can be
proclaimed? What greater ideals can be
followed? Noahidism was and therefore still
is supposed to be focused upon these
universal rights and principles for all
humanity.
Theology however can be a funny thing and
many people who embrace it also tend to crave
rituals and cultural expressions to express
their theological beliefs. Unfortunately,
many modern Noahides have sought to embrace
many aspects of Jewish practice and identity
that are foreign to their origins. Many
having left Christianity sought to replace
the Christian religion in their lives with
something equally religious and culturally
fulfilling, therefore they are in the process
of creating a pseudo-Jewish religion which
they feel is the exclusive definition of
Noahidism. This in my opinion is a terrible
mistake.
Noahidism is a universal code, a message of
liberty and freedom, responsibility and
justice, morality and righteousness for all
human beings. It is not a religion or a
theology. It has no unique cultural
expressions or ritual observances. It is not
a pseudo-Judaism and it should not bare any
resemblance to anything culturally or
religiously Jewish.
True Noahidism is about being a moral,
righteous and thus decent human being. This
message transcends all cultures, all
religions, all borders, all nations, all
ethnicities and all creeds. Our race is the
human race, a race of beings however
different from one another, but united in
that we believe ourselves, and this means all
of us, to be equally created in the Divine
Image. That which makes us special is that
which unites us all with a single common
destiny. We are all human beings sharing our
planet together. We come from one source and
are heading towards a singular destiny.
Humanity is humanity. We cannot subdivide
and live by different and conflicting
standards. The common denominator for all
humanity is the universal code; this is what
Judaism has called the "seven laws of the
children of Noah." Rather than investigate
these theologically, we should understand
them as they were meant to be, as the
Founding Fathers of these United States did,
as moral code that serves as a common
denominator for all humanity. I would hope
and pray that this code should be not found
offensive by anyone; after all it comes to us
from the same source that brought us the Ten
Commandments.
The message of Noahidism is not the exclusive
domain of the ex-Christian. Noahidism should
never be degraded to become an attack upon
Christian beliefs and good hearted, good
fearing Christian people. Just because many
Christians might have left the fold and have
adopted this more universal path does not
give them the right to act with a sense of
superiority or arrogance towards their own
past. Those who want to turn Noahidism into
a new religion are doing nothing more than
creating a new cult. Their efforts are
misguided and they are actually arousing
anti-Semitism towards Judaism by those who
interpret this growing cult as some form of
Jewish attack upon Christianity. This of
course is false; nonetheless many so-called
modern Noahides embrace their new faith and
attack their old one with the venom and vigor
of any newly converted zealot. Such behavior
is deplorable.
Today peoples of all traditional religious
beliefs are under attack. Today the attack
comes from a world secular culture that while
declaring itself neutral in all matters of
religion is actually hostile to it. If this
conflict were only in the realm of theology,
we might not consider the threat so grave.
Yet, the assault is not so much on theology,
the real push and shove is in the arenas of
morality, righteousness, fairness and
freedom. These areas are under terrible
assault and peoples of traditional religion
and moral values, regardless of our
backgrounds and theologies are all in the
same boat together, under attack and in
danger of being sunk.
Noahidism was and is supposed to embrace all
that is good about being human. The United
States of America was founded upon these
principles. Granted, although Founding
Fathers dreamed of a vision that many
Americans have failed to live up to,
nonetheless the vision is still great, even
though the behavior of those who claimed to
pursue the vision did not rise to the occasion.
The United States was founded upon the great
principles of Noahide universalism. The
message was that of freedom and liberty, of
moral obligations and righteous
responsibility. We cannot allow this message
to become lost because many of its bearers
did not embrace its truth. We cannot allow
the reinterpretation of history to destroy
the moral message upon which the United
States was founded. We cannot allow present
day secular social/political agendas to strip
away everything moral and right that made the
United States the great country it once was,
and can still be again.
The United States in spite of everything it
has done wrong and all the peoples, both
indigenous and foreign that it has hurt,
still proclaims a message and a freedom
unparalleled in all of human history. Rather
than to throw out the good with the bad, we
should all embrace the universal ideals that
the United States was founded upon and export
these ideals to the entire world. The world
does not have to become American, but the
world could use a strong dosage of morals,
discipline, righteousness and responsibility.
We can all benefit by learning the lesson
that united we stand and divided we fall.
The universal message of Noahidism is the
great common denominator that binds together
all of humanity. We do not need to bicker or
quarrel over liberalism or conservatism as
long as good hearted, righteous minded,
sincere and concerned individuals are in the
forefront promoting agendas of life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness. This is not
just an American agenda; this is a human
agenda and it transcends all national borders
and cultural differences.