religious people need some central figure to concentrate upon, something on which to focus their minds.
Zen Buddhists say, "If you meet Buddha on the way, kill him immediately." If you meet Buddha on the way, kill him immediately, otherwise he will kill you. Don't allow him a single chance, otherwise he will possess you and he will become a central figure.
That is, religious world gets possessed by an graven image. An arch type.
The mind of the religious person wraps itself around this central figure. For certain kinds of mind, a central object is needed. This is what the Torah is trying to save us from.
Some are more subtle. They seize every possible means of seeming kosher in order to hide the central figurine that they worship. But the rituals only serve as a public distraction. Their idolatry is not Jewish in spite of the protests to the contrary.
One of my reason for not being involved in the Charedi world is that it has been taken over by idolatry and that seems to me to make the whole thing not kosher. In this regard Reform and conservative Judaism are kosher because they are not doing idolatry nor do they acquiesce to it, nor make excuses for it. They might not be keeping everything that a Jew is obligated to do but they at least are not serving other gods. That makes them a lot more kosher than the religious .
Zen Buddhists say, "If you meet Buddha on the way, kill him immediately." If you meet Buddha on the way, kill him immediately, otherwise he will kill you. Don't allow him a single chance, otherwise he will possess you and he will become a central figure.
That is, religious world gets possessed by an graven image. An arch type.
The mind of the religious person wraps itself around this central figure. For certain kinds of mind, a central object is needed. This is what the Torah is trying to save us from.
Some are more subtle. They seize every possible means of seeming kosher in order to hide the central figurine that they worship. But the rituals only serve as a public distraction. Their idolatry is not Jewish in spite of the protests to the contrary.
One of my reason for not being involved in the Charedi world is that it has been taken over by idolatry and that seems to me to make the whole thing not kosher. In this regard Reform and conservative Judaism are kosher because they are not doing idolatry nor do they acquiesce to it, nor make excuses for it. They might not be keeping everything that a Jew is obligated to do but they at least are not serving other gods. That makes them a lot more kosher than the religious .
