Wow, it seems my last few posts really upset some people. Actually I'm a little surprised at that, because they weren't especially nasty posts, or at least they were not intended to be. What's so upsetting about my 'intellefundie' phrase anyway? As I explained, intellefundie is simply a concatenation of the words 'Intellectual' and 'Fundamentalist.
Surely the intellefundies are not upset about being labeled 'intellectuals' ? I would have thought they would see that as a compliment. Probably they are upset at being called 'Fundamentalist'. But we've been through this before, and it's not possible to be a committed Orthodox Jew without also being a fundamentalist. Let me explain.
OJ insists that you believe in God and Torah Min Hashamayim (at least 'standard' OJ insists on that, there is certainly room for flexibility if you're willing to be well, flexible).
Not only does OJ insist on that, but Chazal had plenty of statements about people not believing in certain things (e.g. Olam Habah Min Hatorah) that they lose their Olam Habah. Of course according to me, Chazal were just being metaphorical, allegorical, pedagogical not to mention positively polemical.
But according to the average OJ, these statements are to be taken very seriously indeed. Not only this, but there are very clear halachot about even thinking about 'kefirah', never mind investigating it in depth and holding of it.
So, it is absolutely impossible for a committed OJ to hold anything but these fundamental beliefs, and it is not even allowed for someone to investigate these subjects (unless perhaps they do so with the sole and exclusive intention of 'answering any doubts', which is hardly an honest investigation).
There is no 'escape clause' in the shulchan aruch - it does not start with a disclaimer that says 'These rules only applicable to those Jews who hold of TMS'. No!
According to Halachah you are mechuyav to keep ALL halachos ALWAYS.
NO EXCEPTIONS.
Possibly some Rishonim hold that if you totally cut yourself off from Judaism, e.g. by converting to Christianity, then you are no longer considered part of klal yisrael and no longer have to keep halachah. But my Rav, an eminent posek, says we do not hold like that, and no matter what your belief you are still mechuyav to keep all halachah (ironically even those which pertain to beliefs).
And anyway, conversion is a drastic case which is not relevant here.
So, there is no option whatsoever for an Orthodox Jew, or any Jew for that matter, to not hold of these beliefs and associated halachot. It doesn't matter what new evidence comes to light. It doesn't matter how bogus these beliefs may appear to be. You must hold of these beliefs. And anyone who claims to be a fully Orthodox Jew, 100% committed to Halachah ,must absolutely commit to abiding by these rules. As Hirhurim famously said 'I will believe no matter what the evidence'.
This is the kind of emunah a frum yid MUST have!
And I'm not even kidding. Ask any Orthodox Rabbi.
OK, some more modern and flexible Rabbis will tell you that it's OK if you are agnostic, as long as you don't totally deny any of these ikkarim. But that's a bdi'eved at best, and even then, total denial is completely forbidden.
If all this isn't a perfect example of fundamentalism then what on earth is?! This is the very definition of fundamentalism - holding of certain (typically religous) beliefs no matter what the evidence. I know the intellefundies hate to be called fundamentalists (or fundie for short), but there's no getting around it.
Now, I have had this exact conversation with some intellefundies in the past, and while most agree, some argue back like this:
'It's true I believe in all these fundamental beliefs with 100% conviction. And it's true that I am committed to halachah 100%, but if I ever were to be convinced or persuaded that these beliefs are not true, I would be true to myself and drop these beliefs'.
Well, I'm sorry guys, but this line of argument is completely bogus. Mimah Nafshach, if you are committed to Halachah then 'You are not allowed to change your mind on these beliefs'. Thats what commitment to Halachah means. There is no such thing as conditional commitment. There is no get-out clause in the Shulchan Aruch.
So either you are lying, or else you are not really committed to halachah (which for an OJ Rabbi is pretty pathetic).
So maybe what they mean to say is if they were ever actually convinced, then in practical reality they would just change their whole world view, and even though they are currently committed to Halachah 100%, they are not so foolish as to claim that this kind of change could never happen to them.
Okay, but I still don't buy it, at least not from most of the Intellefundies I know, who are all also Rabbis and well known educators (and that's no coincidence). These people are all committed and invested in OJ, they couldn't possibly turn around one day and give it all up. The last famous person to do that was Mordechai Kaplan or maybe Louis Jacobs, but they had cojones. The most cojones that these intellefundies have is that they might argue against some Chareidim. Wow, like getting banned by the chareidim is a major setback these days.
Let's be honest here: These modern day intellefundies would just never admit defeat; in fact they can't admit defeat, for emotional and religious reasons. Again, totally fundamentalist.
The only case where this argument might not apply I suppose is the case of a secular or non Orthodox Jew, who does an extensive evaluation of all the evidence, and on the basis of his analysis decides to become Orthodox. Then, I suppose he could argue that he is not a fundamentalist, or at least wasn't at that time of his conversion. Still, many of these people subsequently become so invested in OJ, that even if you were able to prove to them that their initial analysis was completely flawed, mostly they wouldn't be able to accept it, and so now have turned into fundamentalists too.
Other people were upset that I am always being critical or destructive. It's definitely true that the last few posts have been somewhat destructive. But after my longest break yet, I wanted to see if my opinions were still solid, and the arguments over the last few days have convinced me that they are, or at least have done nothing to shake my beliefs.
My goal though is to be constructive, to find meaning, morality and spirituality in a meaningless, amoral and material world. Is this possible? Possibly. But not by creating a fantasy world resting on untrue assumptions. At least I hope not, though I am entirely open to the
possibility that this is indeed exactly what is required.
If this turns out to be the case, then I may well offer a sincere apology to all the intellefundies, and swiftly join their ranks. Well, either that or I'll just become a cynical hedonistic nihilistic git. (Yes, yes, dear intellefundies. I know, I am that already.)
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