Lesson: People have inflated perceptions of their culture’s importance and contributions to the world.
Even when war brings high costs and promises little reward, there are a host of reasons that leaders do it anyway. One major reason is that national leaders—as well as many people in general—overestimate the importance of their own culture and its impact on the world. Greeks, Chinese, and Hindus are just a few of the cultures that claim that history began with their ancestors’ achievements. However, this skewed view shows a lack of humility and a disregard for history. In reality, morality, creativity, art, and spirituality can’t be credited to any single culture because they’re wired into human DNA.
Although nearly every culture perpetuates similarly self-important myths, we’ll break down the flaws in this view by examining the Jewish culture and claims of Jewish achievements.
Children are raised with a misunderstanding of their culture’s importance, as school history lessons emphasize certain events, downplay others, and frame history based on how it affected their ancestors. For instance, when Israeli students learn about the French Revolution, the lesson focuses on Jews’ political and legal status in the French Republic. When this egocentric perspective shapes an entire community’s understanding of human history and the modern world, it’s no wonder that they inflate their ancestors’ contributions to humanity.
In reality, Judaism’s biggest contribution to humanity was indirect: Judaism gave rise to Christianity and Islam, which are two of the most influential religions in human history. Christianity and Islam were at the root of some of the greatest achievements and atrocities in history. However, Judaism deserves only as much credit and blame for Christianity’s and Islam’s contributions as Freud’s mother deserves for his achievements.
Let’s examine some specific claims of Jewish achievement:
Morality: Jews may claim credit for morality, but tens of thousands of years before the advent of Judaism, Stone Age tribes developed their own moral codes. In fact, all social animals—from dolphins to monkeys—have evolved to follow ethical codes that promote group cooperation. Researchers have studied chimpanzee groups in which the alpha male has protected disabled members of the group or adopted orphaned young. The chimps didn’t need the Bible or the Torah to tell them to look after the poor and needy.
Monotheism: There’s evidence that Judaism was not the first or only ancient faith to worship just one god. Furthermore, whichever religion came up with monotheism should be blamed—not credited—because monotheism has been the root of many religious wars and persecutions. If you believe that there is just one god that everyone should worship, you’re more inclined to be intolerant of other people’s gods and rituals. By contrast, if you believe that there are multiple gods, it’s easier to accept that other people celebrate different gods and worship them differently than you worship.
Science: During the 19th and 20th centuries, Jews made significant contributions to science. However, Jewish scientists’ achievements came only after the Jewish Enlightenment and secularization caused many Jews to expand their view beyond strictly religious perspectives. Furthermore, these accomplishments should be credited to the individual scientists rather than to their religion. In other words, the scientific achievements were not those of Jews specifically, but rather of scientists who happened to be Jewish.