On 03/10/2011 12:23, neill wrote:
On Oct 3, 12:09 pm, wrote:
wrote in message



On Oct 3, 11:02 am, wrote:

This is silly - removing the button doesn't help them to avoid
breaking their law: The religious law prohibits them from using
electricity or operating machinery on the Sabbath. What exactly do
they think the green man is powered by?!!

Sweetcorn? I hope none of them are fitted with heart
pacemakers. :-)

I think the made-up religious rules are conveniently relaxed for
live-saving medical technology (Jerusalem hospital work seven-days a
week, after all) -- maybe someone should have deemed that pedestrian
crossing buttons come into this category? Of course, some Christian
nutters would rather die than accept a life-saving blood transfusion,
and they inflict this on their children, too.

I know a Jewish scholar who goes on at length about the ridiculous
interpretations put on Jewish Law regarding the Sabbath. The problem
seems to be that getting two individual rabbis, sects or synagogues to
agree on one point of law without generations of debate, is a bit like
herding cats. As he said to me one, if Jews followed the instructions
exactly, none of them would be able to go to synagogue on the Sabbath,
as they wouldn't be able to operate the door handle to get out of the
house.

Another silly thing is these instructions are "fences around the law" -
they're there to prevent you getting close to breaking the actual rules.