[Avodah] Where do we fit in?

[Micha Berger]

RYGB tried to send the following to Avodah, but as moderator I drove him
sufficiently nuts that he gave up. I think it would be an interesting
discussion, and since I think I know what the moderator would consider
appropriate for Avodah, I'm giving it a shot.

The Wall Street Journal carried a front page story of an interview with Robert
Spaemann, a philosopher who has known the current pope for many years. It's
abvailable at <http://tinyurl.com/y653oy> to subscribers, but RYGB also
pointed to an excerpt on a blog at <http://tinyurl.com/y4rbdg>.

In part:
> For Benedict, the modern age is defined by growing secularism in the West and
> the rise of religious fanaticism most everywhere else. In order to fulfill
> its mission, he believes, the Church needs to shun both forces.

The latter part drove the pope's comments that raised such an uproar in the
Moslem world last September.

Also from the article:
> Father Fessio (Head of Ignatius Press) described Benedict's position on Islam
> in this way: "He's saying that if your view of God...is that he's so
> transcendent that he transcends all human categories, including rationality,
> well then you can justify the irrational, including violence, to spread
> religion, including terrorism."

This is an issue we too have to discuss. Where do we stand on rationality vs
transcendence? Is the answer to that question different for adherents of
different derakhim? How do those of us who more stress transcendence avoid the
problems with Islam being raised by the Catholic church? Where is the line?
And that line has to include mechiyas zeicher Amaleiq.

As I see it, the discussion involves at least two topics I played with on
Aspaqlaria:

1- The Rambam vs the Ramchal (and presumably the Ramchal's meqoros) on whether
HQBH transcends logic
<http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2005/07/hashem-and-logic.shtml>

2- The role of natural morality, whether there is a morality beyond and
underlying halakhah
<http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2006/07/rest-is-commentary.shtml> and
<http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2006/11/ethics-and-morality.shtml>.

I also raised the distinction between Islam and Christianity, as each focusing
on only part of the Jewish concept of Deity (and thus of personal redemption
and teshuvah): <http://tinyurl.com/y2vqby>

Tir'u baTov!
-mi

-- 
Micha Berger             Spirituality is like a bird: if you tighten
micha at aishdas.org        your grip on it, it chokes; slacken your grip,
http://www.aishdas.org   and it flies away.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            - Rav Yisrael Salanter