[NGFP-BookClub] The Elephant in the Room

[George Keller]

Professor Gavison and the others seem to be leaving out the elephant in the
room, a statement Professor Gavison herself made earlier in the course:
theocracy and democracy are incompatible. Can anyone name one country in the
world where religion is the defining aspect of law and which is also a
democracy? I think not. There are however many countries (nearly all Muslim)
where religion is the defining aspect of the law - but none of these are
democracies. It's not that Islam is inherently incompatible with democracy.
Rather, religion as the basis of law is inherently incompatible with
democracy.

The minute we let rabbis, priests or Imams define the law, democracy is
over. After all democracy means rule by the people. In the "religious" world
view, G-d's law trumps man's law - game over. The irony of course, can be
shown by example: In Israel, the Haredi community does not accept the
official Rabbinate's kashrut standards, and within that community there are
competing Kashrut standards. This isn't much different in any aspect of
"religious life" - including marriage and divorce. Ultimately G-d's law is
always interpreted by man (or rather men - never women) who are just using
people's faith as an instrument to consolidate their own power.

So sure, Kashrut, Jewish Holidays, Law of Return for Jews - anything you
want to make Israel a Jewish state. Just keep the rabbis out of the
discussion, please! To subvert Mendelssohn - be a religious Jew at home a
nationalist Jew on the street.
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