Fear

i couldn't think of a good title for this post. the only thing i could think of was 'fear'.
in extremely conservative forms of religion - be it Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Muslim - there is always, ALWAYS a division split right down the middle. that division is based on sex.
its such a rats nest trying to sort that aspect out which is why, many times, instead of actually creating reform inside those conservative movements people opt to leave and create a community of their own. this does not diffuse anything. this does not change anything. this does not create an understanding. this does not facilitate a movement of change. its plain and simple abandonment.
this abandonment creates hostility. that hostility is often expressed in cruel unkind ways such as those in this article.
that hostility comes from a sense of fear. fear that is embedded in their belief system. what does it say if all of a sudden your 'system' tells you that what the Rabbis, Popes, Imams etc. that preceded you believed was WRONG? some people might say it doesn't matter. but when your belief system is based on following the strict letter of the law and it turns out you were not doing it right and neither were they for the last umpteen Millenia it does matter...how many 'righteous souls' are lost? who is going to be responsible for that?

you may also so say that does not matter. but to these strict observers it does. this responsibility is too heavy to bear. one could say 'we'll grandfather them in', however one does not get to make that decision - only God does.*

and that's why people feel they have to leave to make change.

they fear being the pariah now even though they will be the saint later on (and i am not implying that people only do good for recognition. it is the fear - again - that the positive will not be seen in their actions and that scares them into inaction. this regularly happens although time has proven that the Pariah is rarely wrong [see: Jesus Christ]).

so shame on the Catholic church for changing the subject in the sex abuse scandal.
and shame on the Haredi men for spitting on those women.

i have many opinions about a woman's place in Judaism - most of them not at all in line with this lady Rabbi's. although i am 100% a 'blue' blooded, bleeding heart liberal i hold very conservative opinions on Judaism and women's roles.
but one thing i can agree upon is that the fear these men exhibited was not OK. it WAS NOT OK.

I'm also from the south and in the south, gentlemen don't spit.





*side note: in the case of the Catholic chruch however this is not always true