The Theocratic Impulse

As an American Jew, I find this article about Rabbinic dicta in the Israeli election [via] deeply disturbing. It highlights ethnic and cultural divisions which still exist in Judaism, particularly in Israel. That's bad enough, but pseudo-prophetic pronouncements make me nervous: I expect greater humility from religious leaders, and I'm routinely disappointed. I've often said that there is within liberalism (the modern kind) a Stalinist impulse, the desire to control someone "for their own benefit"; it's also true that there is within religion a Theocratic impulse, the desire to speak for God in political arenas.