Choose Freedom! By R.D. Gold

December 6, 2008 · Filed Under Forums 

This essay was adapted from R.D. Gold’s important new book, Bondage of the Mind: How Old Testament Fundamentalism Shackles the Mind and Enslaves the Spirit – Toward a Better Understanding of the Religious Experience (Aldus Books). Rabbi Jacob Neusner, a leading scholar on Judaism, calls Bondage of the Mind “the most important book of its kind in the last hundred years.” For more information, please go to www.aldusbooks.com.

CHOOSE FREEDOM!

By R.D. Gold

Nov. 28, 2008

Most progressive Jews in the United States are aware of the Great Debate that is unfolding across the country, pitting reason against revelation. We need look no further than the last two presidential elections to see how religious fundamentalists have elbowed their way into a prominent position on the American political landscape.

I consider religious fundamentalism to be one of the most noxious forces in the history of mankind. Hardly a day passes that we don’t witness Islamic fundamentalists wreaking havoc somewhere in the world (as I write these lines the horrible drama in Mumbai continues to unfold). Evangelical Christianity, albeit essentially non-violent today, has doubtless become a powerful political force in America, with potentially far-reaching, deleterious consequences.

The forces of Jewish fundamentalism are no longer benign, either. Possibly as a reaction to their fears that assimilation and intermarriage pose a serious threat to Jewish survival, the Orthodox Jews have stepped up their “outreach” efforts to convert non-Orthodox Jews, to recruit them to become “returnees.” Following the dictum that the end justifies the means, they totally disregard the trauma such a conversion often brings to the liberal Jewish families involved. But there is little public discussion of this more aggressive Orthodox behavior, perhaps for fear of being labeled an anti-Semite. I am a Jewish American myself, but I don’t like the forces of Orthodoxy attempting to turn Israel into a Jewish Iran any more than I like the evangelicals trying to turn the United States into a Christian Iran.

Like fundamentalists everywhere, Orthodox Jews maintain the unshakable conviction that it is they, and they alone, who are in sole and certain possession of The Truth, and, therefore, the exemplars of a divinely ordained moral behavior. They claim that progressive Jews, whom they disdainfully call “secular,” are abandoning the Torah and, by so doing, they are betraying the true Judaism.

But are they really? Are the doctrines of Orthodox Judaism really true?

I spent the better part of two years researching the latest archeological, historical and textual evidence to be able to answer this question. And all – and I repeat, all – the credible evidence points to the unmistakable conclusion that the dogma of Orthodoxy is not true. It is false. The exodus described in the Torah never happened. There was no “nation of Israel” wandering in the Sinai desert for forty years. There was no revelation at Mount Sinai witnessed by two million people. Perhaps most revealing of all is that there was no conquest of Canaan. It turns out that the Israelites were living peacefully in Canaan all along and, indeed, were Canaanites themselves.

A key tenet of the Orthodox belief system is that Jewish law is God-given and reflects his will. As such, it is timeless and binding on all Jews, present and future. But since the doctrines of Orthodoxy are demonstrably false, it makes no sense at all for liberal Jews to exchange much of their personal freedom for the straightjacket of enforced obedience to strict religious law. Far from being the immutable law for time immemorial that the Orthodox claim, the doctrines of Orthodoxy – like fundamentalist dogma everywhere – are an anachronistic absurdity in this day and age. They spawn a pious ignorance that subverts independent thought.

Does this mean that one must reject Judaism? Not at all. Orthodox Judaism is not authentic Judaism, as the Orthodox claim, any more than Christian fundamentalism is authentic Christianity, as the evangelicals claim. One does not face a choice that is limited to fundamentalism (I believe all of it) or atheism (I believe none of it). Piety is not a license to run other people’s lives, but if one so chooses, religion can play a positive role in one’s life – sociologically, philosophically, and psychologically. Athens and Jerusalem need not be at loggerheads.

While I am not a Reconstuctionist, I find a great deal of truth in the humanistic Judaism of Mordecai Kaplan, whose forward-thinking ideas led the Orthodox authorities to excommunicate him (just as they did 400 years earlier to another forward-thinking Jewish thinker, the brilliant Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza). In much the same way that Abraham Lincoln envisioned America as a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people, Kaplan argued that the Jewish religion came from and should serve the Jewish people, not the other way around as the Orthodox would have us believe. Kaplan also held that Judaism is a civilization that values the well-being and moral excellence of its people, rather than what some self-styled sages interpret to be the word and the will of God.

In the final analysis, isn’t this what being a good Jew is really all about? Not what you believe about God, the cosmos, and the like, but the moral standards by which you choose to live your life. For me, the choice between the personal freedom embedded in Western democratic values and embraced by humanistic Judaism, and the bondage of a fundamentalist religious law based on fallacious Orthodox dogma is a no-brainer. I choose freedom. I hope you do, too.

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Comments

4 Responses to “Choose Freedom! By R.D. Gold”

  1. Godwrestler Says:
    December 9th, 2008 at 11:10 pm

    Ameyn and right on target! As one who loves Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, I agree wholeheartedly! Definitely plan to get this book!

  2. NiceJewishBoy Says:
    December 10th, 2008 at 4:01 am

    Yet another book to read!
    After reading this essay I had to go straight to Barnes & Noble and order it online. I even had to choose express postage as I can never wait the usual time it takes for books from overseas to arrive to me in Australia.

  3. Marci Says:
    November 28th, 2009 at 7:19 am

    I choose freedom also. This is one reason I converted to Judaism (via Reform). Little did I know at the time how much stress this would cause in my life. Not from family or friends, but from Jews. If I had a dollar for everytime I have been told I am not a “real” Jew, I could buy a 6 bedroom home on 100 acres of land…LOL! The fighting among Jews is more than I can tolerate…so I give up. I am no longer involved in the Jewish community, however, ethics and moral values and most of all freedom are my passions and I will fight for those. As for the tribal loyalty that Jews fight over…don’t have the time, energy or interest.

  4. LGreyhawke Says:
    November 28th, 2009 at 8:00 pm

    Dear Marci,
    Your post made me sad… because it is true. It’s a funny thing how no one can give a solid answer as to “Who is a Jew?” but most “know” immediately who is not. Generally, that’s whoever holds a different perspective from Orthodoxy. Maybe we should start our own “denomination” for Progressive liberal humanistic solitary Jews” who believe in ethics, morality and a life of service but are only loosely associated with the Jewish community. I’m sure we’d be labeled heretics.

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