Friday, June 10, 2005

How much different is Charedi society then Saudia Arabia II?

My previous post was not written well and therefore misinterpreted. I will restate the point I was trying to make in different terms.

There is a fundamental clash of culture between Western liberal democracy (especially the US) and fundamentalist Islam (Saudia Arabia being an example), and Orthodox (especially Charedi) Judaism.

Using the US as an example (since that is where I was born and lived most of my life) let us look at a number of the fundamental principles underlying the US:
1. All men are created equal
2. Freedom of religion
3. Freedom of speech
4. Democracy

All of these are denied by Orthodox Judaism and Fundamentalist Islam.
1. All men are created equal - non-believers are not equal, women are not equal, etc.
2. Freedom of religion - hilchos avoda zara
3. Freedom of speech - various issurim of mekallel hashem etc.
4. Democracy - this is self evident

Therefore, if you would take a halachic state and look it from an American viewpoint it would not look much different from the outside then Saudia Arabia.

There is a simple test. A Charedi Jew can live very well and prosper in the US without the government really bothering him. He/she can dress the way they want, educate their children for the most part the way they, etc. The same could not be said for a halachic state. Put the average American in a halachic state and they would have to change their way of life. They couldn't dress the same way, worship, etc. From that perspective it is not very different from Saudia Arabia.

That was really my point. I was not trying to compare the 2 any more then that.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for changing your attack on Chareidi culture to expressing how American culture does fit in with the Torah (orthodox - UO or MO). Thank you for expressing that it is not a Hashkafic problem.

bluke said...

You are absolutely right they really do. On Fridays we get the local weekly newspapers and the contrast between the Charedi paper and the non-Charedi paper could not be starker.

Anonymous said...

"if you would take a halachic state and look it from an American viewpoint"

Why would you do that?

Anonymous said...

I don't get the title. In an MO state run according to Halacha you would have almost all of the same issues - it is not a chareidi issue,.

Anonymous said...

"In an MO state run according to Halacha you would have almost all of the same issues - it is not a chareidi issue,."

exactly.

Anonymous said...

That is what he changed from the first post to the 2nd post