My Ikrei Emunah - and they should be yours too.

ej correctly points out that when it comes to beliefs, I have quite a chareidi / kanoi approach. And why not? Correct beliefs are important, and I cannot abide stupidity, hypocrisy or willful ignorance. So here are my ikrei emunah. I do not believe these based on blind faith (which is absolutely worthless), but rather based on careful research.

Not only do I believe these to be true, but I insist that you believe them too (based on evidence and logic of course).

1. I believe with complete knowledge that some (currently) unknowable incomprehensible cause was the cause of the universe. Some people call that cause "God". Anything at all I say about God could just as easily be wrong as right, and in reality I (and everyone else) know absolutely nothing at all about "God", and probably never will. Having said that, there's nothing much wrong with an abstract belief in an ultimate good reality, as long as it doesn't cause you to crash planes into buildings.

2. I believe with complete knowledge that the bible is a composite man-made document, which evolved from oral and then later textual traditions, and was later edited into a book (or rather a set of scrolls). All the currently available evidence points to this truth, though it is always possible that this theory might be revised in the future.

3. I believe with complete knowledge that Judaism has evolved over the past three thousand years, and most likely will continue to do so. There is no such thing as "authentic" Judaism.

4. I believe with complete knowledge that Chazal were just ordinary people. Although there is no proof of that, there is also zero proof that they were anything but normal, hence the burden of proof is on those who say that they were special in some way. Rabbinic Judaism happened to beat out the other sects at the time, but that is just an accident of history.

5. I believe with complete knowledge that the idea of an unbroken mesorah stretching back to Sinai is a myth. Tenach itself is ample evidence that the mesorah was broken, plus it's quite likely that Sinai itself was a total myth.

6. I believe with complete knowledge that the idea of Moshiach was a later development in Judaism, and was originally based on the very natural idea that the Kingdom of David would be restored.

7. I believe with complete knowledge that the idea of Techiyat Hamaysim was a later development in Judaism, possibly influenced by Greek or Zoroastrian philosophies, and is a rather wacky idea anyway.