Re: Dear Dr. Laura...

["Dr. Leo Casey" <LeoCasey@AOL.COM>]

It would be interesting to know the basis of the belief that "Dr. Laura" is
Jewish -- has she made this clear herself, or is this simply conjecture?
Certainly, a literal reading of the commandments of the first five books of
the Bible -- what Jews know as the Torah and what Christians call the first
five books of the Old Testament -- is not limited to a section of the Jewish
community: it is every much a feature of Christian fundamentalism as it as of
Jewish fundamentalism. For all that I know, there may even be some connection
with fundamentalist Islam. Now fundamentalist Christians being in far greater
numbers than fundamentalist Jews, and Schlesinger being a family name which
could be either Jewish or Christian, the greater likelihood is that she is a
Christian, and not a Jewish, fundamentalist. Indeed, that was always the
supposition on which I had worked. I was a bit surprised, to say the least,
to discover that a text directed at someone I had thought a fundamentalist
Christian could have "anti-Semitic overtones."

But let us assume, for purposes of this discussion, that Dr. Laura is indeed
a fundamentalist Jew. For someone who was raised as a Catholic, and has been
a confirmed agnostic for most of my adult life, I have a fair knowledge of
the Jewish tradition, and would be happy to discuss what are, for me, the
obvious merits of the approach of Maimonides' "Guide for the Perplexed" in
understanding and interpreting the commandments of the Torah. Indeed, I think
that the letter to Dr. Laura -- not my creation alone, I must again remind --
did a quite wonderful job of writing from within the tradition of a
Maimonides, of those of us who could not be anything but perplexed by the
fundamentalist's capacity to ignore the obvious contradictions which result
from a literal, ahistorical reading of these texts. Does the "Guide for the
Perplexed" have "anti-Semitic overtones?"

No doubt, for a fundamentalist of whatever faith, any suggestion that the
word, and thus the law, as they understand it, is not God's word and God's
law, is an affront to their faith, and thus, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian,
anti-Islamic or whatever. But that is because within their literal and
reductionist logic, you either accept the plain truth or you oppose it. I
would hope that we could find some other option, where criticism is not
equated with blasphemy and prejudice.

Michelle wrote:
Shulamit,

I agree that Dr. Laura has chosen particular passages of the Bible to follow
and particular passages to ignore. She is a hypocrite.  Dr. Casey points out
that hypocrisy in a sarcastic and ironic tone.  However, I have problems with
both Dr. Laura and Dr. Casey's letter to her.

Karen Armstrong writes, in her book _A History of God_ that "every religious
tradition tries to make God in their own image."  I think that Dr. Laura does
her best to make God into her own image, which, of course, is a blasphemous
act in any sense of the word.

For anyone to say that they can understand the complexity of God is a
blasphemy, correct? That is why the Jewish tradition has a Rabbi (a teacher
of God's books), not a minister (an emissary of God).

This is why I suggest that the Talmud would be a good tool for both Dr. Laura
and Dr. Casey to access.

The Talmud provides an understanding of the complexity of the questions Dr.
Casey has presented, and illustrates the tradition of questioning and
considering the implication of every action rather than simply following
words blindly, believing that you have, by doing so, possessed the secret of
God.

The Talmud's attention to questions and discussions rather than absolutes
would provide both Dr. Laura and Dr. Casey food for thought.  While the Bible
seems specific and clear in its words, the Talmud shows the difficulty of the
interpretation of each word.

This difficulty of interpretation, I believe, exists and continues throughout
time, place, and circumstance.

Dr. Casey is asking static questions in fluid time and circumstance. Dr.
Laura provides static answers in fluid time and circumstance.  Both are
flawed, but at least Dr. Casey knows he delivers those questions within a
tradition of pointing out the complexity beyond every absolute.

I worried deeply about Dr. Casey's now widely circulated "Dr. Laura" piece
because it appears to suggest that Jews live in some Biblically prehistoric
and barbarous time which allows slavery, etc.  When I showed it to a
Christian friend of mine, she laughed--then said, "That is why Dr. Laura
should be a Christian--she doesn't have the New Testament to guide her."

I didn't forward Dr. Casey's piece to anyone outside this listserve when I
read it because I was aware of its possible anti-Semitic uses--even though I
honestly do not believe that Dr. Casey would intentionally create the piece
for that reason, or intend any possible anti-Semitic use of the piece.
Nonetheless, the anti-Jewish overtones of the Dr. Laura piece is one reason
why it has been circulated by others so widely, and the very reason I felt I
needed a traditional Jewish way to answer his questions when I read it.  The
Talmud, and it's spirit of questioning and understanding of complexity, was
the best way I knew to answer him.

Clearly, Dr. Laura would not only be put in her place by a good Talmud
reading, she would also be silenced for quite a long time--it is a very big
book.

I am perplexed why you would think I was defending Dr. Laura by asking Dr.
Casey to read the Talmud.

Michelle



Leo Casey
United Federation of Teachers
260 Park Avenue South
New York, New York 10010-7272 (212-598-6869)

Power concedes nothing without a demand.
It never has, and it never will.
If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation are men who
want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and
lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters.
-- Frederick Douglass --

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