XGH has been discussing recently about the problems in MO(whats new)
The only type of Modern Orthodoxy that can be lechatchilah is one which is HONEST. Anything less can only ever be bdieved. And frankly, a religion based on lies (or based on myths characterized as absolute literal truth), is not even bdieved. It's simply a lie.
Is there any point in fighting MO stupidities or for that matter UO stupidities like XGH? Is it really that important to demand honesty? Maybe unhonest religion is not as bad as everyone makes out.
People often say that it is unfair to make people live a lie and that living your life based a lie is a waste bla bla bla bla
All I know is I was a lot happier before I was skeptical. I thinks most Jewish skeptics agree. Ignorance is truly bliss. Is it right to take that bliss away?
In fact chareidim probably have the most comforting world view of any Jew. They've got a loving God taking care of their every need and promise of an afterlife. They also have these super-Gedolim who can tap into God's will and tell them exactly what to do and how to do it. Everything is structured, you really don't need to think or wonder, every question you've ever had can be answered by the Torah/Gemara. So maybe once in a while you feel guilty because you ripped the toilet paper on shabbat but nu you have teshuva to fix all your sins. Even a RWMO Jew is pretty well off nu so he has to come up with some ingenious explanation for Bereishit and the Mabul but at the end of the day everything is fine because God has everything worked out.
Is it moral to allow people to live lies? Why the hell not? If you're a real skeptic then there is no accountability and morality is most probably subjective anyway. Adopt a sort of utilitarian approach if it makes you feel better the best system is the one that makes the most people happy.
Of course the next question is are deeply religious people really happier? I always assume they are. Maybe I'm wrong but having a big brother in the sky is admittedly a pretty comforting idea (unless you did some really terrible things I guess)
Ah so what about all the evil that religion causes. Hitchens could go on forever about how religion destroys the world and it's imperative for us to get rid of it.
I just don't know if you can apply that to Judaism.
Maybe other religions do some really bad things but in general Judaism has not gotten up to a lot of terrorism or religious persecution. A few garbage can get burnt once in a while but we don't have inquisitions and jihad so we aren't getting up to anything too egregious.Can one really say that OJ is really evil?
Yes of course there is the problem of us deviants and people like R Slifkin who get repressed by dogmatic establishments but are these the majority? Do most Orthodox Jews really feel repressed or is it just the few who have realized the holes in the system. IF Orthodox Judaism and even Chareidism really make most of its members happy who are we skeptics to try to take them out of their reverie?
There are a lot of questions here that need to be answered. But it is by no means simple that people are better off living according to the "truth" than following an attractive lie. Maybe we should all just shut up bite the bullet and let the rest of the world be happy. Its kind of selfish to demand the frum world to change to fit our taste.
But hey if morality is subjective then maybe I'll just be selfish ;)
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