Sports and religion

I'm Jewish. I believe they're referring to the story of King Solomon, where two women come to him both claiming to be the mother of a baby. One woman is the mother; the other one's baby had died and, in her grief, was trying to claim the baby for herself. Solomon decides the only fair way to resolve the dispute is to take a sword and cut the baby in half and allow each woman half of the baby.

Both women, of course, think he's nuts (i.e. neither side will be happy) As Solomon prepares to cut, one of the women cries out that she doesn't want him to cut up the baby and that the other woman can have him. Solomon puts down the sword and declares the woman to be the rightful mother, since she she got upset that the baby was about to be cut in half. It's supposed to illustrate the wisdom of King Solomon.

 

Wait ... Kings, in some form or another, is in the Hebrew Bible, right? This particular story is not specific to the Christian faith.

 

This line doesn't make sense based on the reference. Solomon used a threat of killing the baby to eventually find the truth. The true mother was happy with the ultimate decision made. Are they using Solomonesque because it is a really hard decision or because the board's decision will split something up? Not sure what the reference is actually trying to do here ...

 

A good orgasm is the only thing that'll turn an atheist into a believer.

 

It is not a part of the Pentateuch, but it is in the "Hebrew Bible." It's in the Tanakh, which includes the Torah (only the Pentateuch--Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), a bunch of other books people know (Kings, Judges, Joshua, etc.), and a bunch people know practically nothing about.

All that said, plenty of the stories in the Tanakh are regularly referenced and preached by Christians as "the Old Testament" but they reordered and smushed together some books of the Tanakh, and I don't really remember why.

(This is what I got my minor in Religious Studies for. Just this moment. And to cite passages from the Qu'ran to people who claim Islam is the "religion of peace.")

 

Solomon, in general, was known for his wisdom.

This would not be the first time a story from the Bible was misinterpreted.

 

Using religion in copy is about as bad -- or as bad -- as using a holiday in copy. Do better.