Sunday, March 26, 2006

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.

2 comments:

The Chainik Hocker said...

I'd have a lot more respect for the Israeli rabbinate if they used thier political power to endorse candidates whose positions were dictated by halacha instead of simply whoring ut their votes to whichever candidate promised the most government money for thier own pet mosdim.

JMHO

Ahistoricality said...

That is one of the things that's disturbing about this.

I'm not real big on the idea of theological politics generally....