A fellow activist with whom I spoke on multiple occasions threw away a few stacks of postcards with this message on it because of thinking it was homophobic, religious propaganda.
But it seems Jehovah Phinias intend that message to be satire against organized religion.
Describing himself as a fourth generation secular Jew and atheist, Phinias said he hoped his signs were provocative and got conversations started.
“My point is to show the whole thing is really stupid. If you think the Ten Commandments are great, read them. Only one of them made any contribution to humanity: that everyone should get a day off– even servants.”
I said Thou Shall Not Kill can’t or shouldn’t be followed in all situations.
“Originally, it was Thou Shall Not Murder. But nonviolence should be the #1 rule. Violence is the biggest problem in the world, particularly when its against women,” Phinias said.
I asked him what he thought of the idea that love is the core value, not nonviolence, per se. It was hard to tell if he was half-joking in his response.
“ I don’t want a guilt-trip about not loving my neighbor. I’m particular about who I love.”
Appearing to become more serious, he said, “Hatred is part of the human condition, but if we evolve, we can channel our hatred. Instead of hating people, we can hate injustice.”
At one point in our talk Phinias said “all life is sacred.” That’s when I asked him about animal rights and liberation.
“ I have great respect for vegetarians. But if we eat animals, it should be animals that live happy lives.”
[[[[There is a gap in the notes where you say “As a Jew, it’s hypocritical if you’re only concern is (regarding the well-being of food animals)________________]]]]]
If I understood him correctly, Phinias said morality is based on our how we live our lives.
“My primary concern is not what people’s creation myths are. It’s with their behavior. Why not start with trust and let people earn my distrust?”
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