Moshe, at least to me, you don't have to defend the great value of Judaism. My previous comments were only used to make a point.
On Judaism, I'm pretty sold. I'm a judeophile.
The only reason I didn't become Jewish myself is because I do love that carpenter-turned-rabbi that got nailed to a tree very much. In my personal experience, Jews seem to have a great affection for Jesus too, after all, he is part of the tribe. That Jew, and the small group of Jews that started out with him, changed the world forever.
Whenever I discuss religion with some of my Jewish friends, they smile and tell me Christianity is "Judaism for Gentiles." Works for me. I even have a nice little Magen David that I wear on my chain from time to time (I have Sephardic ancestry on my mother's side).
I consider myself part of the same tribe, in essence, if not in fact. Since Judaism makes no claim of universal exclusivity, that means that to mainstream Judaism, if I am righteous, I too have a place in the world to come.
Jews that I know believe in man first, they believe that it's up to Humans to make the world a better place- man provides the knowledge and sweat. Yes, I believe in G-d, but I also believe He has no direct affect on my life.
But I am a Christian, and I believe the exact same thing. Most of the Christians I associate with believe the same as well. We may wait on G-d for things we can't fix (at least for now), but for things we can, we believe it is our sacred duty to fix them. To right injustice. To secure liberty. To reduce suffering. To learn the workings of Nature--which more than one enlightened Jew has likened to the "mind of G-d."
I do believe, however, that how we view G-d, whether consciously or unconsciously, has a very direct effect on how we live our lives, and hence our outcomes, not only for our own selves, but for humanity.
Shalom
BTS
