Orthodox Coercion Hurts Our People

Can we ignore David/Dave already? I'm as supportive as the next Jew of tolerance toward people willing to go through life with blinders on, but... I'd also like to think truth, kindness, God, etc., prevails. A great quote from a rabbi: "There is only one kind of Judaism: Orthodox. There is only kind of Jew: Reform." As a woman in my shul noted recently, the Jewish community has a great tradition of following majority opinion while respecting -- not destroying -- the minority. Some segments of the Orthodox community are now on the brink of going against this great tradition. I think it's important for everyone who values multiple voices, especially the many varied voices of converts, to respond to divisiveness and narrow-mindedness with, "This is not 'halakha.' This is not the way."

David, pay special attention to the word you used in your response: IF! Shalom

When I look at the underlying thought patterns of the right wing Orthodox, I see a group who has adopted a very christianized world view. I call it Exclusivistic. Many Christians believe that only Faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior results in Salvation. (They are not even aware that millions of people don't think salvation is necessary or desireable.) The problem with the mind set that believes it alone knows the Truth is that everyone else is a Sinner. Who can promote sin? How can we allow Sin to exist? Let's reinstitute the Inquistion or the Ovens to keep our race pure. That's the logical thought pattern which we have seen through history by groups who deluded themselves into thinking that they have a lock on the Truth. A group who thinks it alone possesses the Truth can turn its children in suicide bombers. The right wing Orthodox are becoming more Exclusivistic -- deluding themselves into beleiving that only they know the right way for Jews to be Jews. Everyone's ideas are wrong and should be excluded from Jewish life. This underlying assumption results in dangerous consequences, e.g. Baruch Goldstein and Yigal Amir. The right wing Orthodox have more in common with the right wing Christians like James Dobson and his anti-Gay obessession than they do with Reform or secular Jews. We Jews are a People and not a narrow minded religious sect living with the deluded belief that only we know the Truth. Although we are not flying plans into The World Trade Towers, we should realize that the same exclusivistic thought pattern which led to prejudice and hatred in the Christian and Muslim worlds also exists in the Jewish world.