Note that against democracy means against Judaism

Politicians who deny this are a danger to equality and G^d’s Will

Democracy is a terrible system, open to bad choices, manipulation, and bribery. Yet, fortunately, or unfortunately, it’s the best system there is.

Without freedom of the press, of gathering, and demonstration, might will make right. But no one should be above the law or suspicion. Regrettably, that generates a stream of true and false public scandals. But that’s better than elite rule that will be based on false propaganda and profit only itself.

Majority rule is terrible since the majority could be manipulated and be wrong. But this is balanced by protection of vulnerable minorities, an important consequence of the basic assumption of equality.

I’m promoting Radical Democracy, to move away from almost total permissiveness. But meanwhile, imperfect fairness is still the best system.

We Got it from the Jews

Democracy was a crazy Jewish idea when first launched in the Torah. After all, democracy is based on equality. The Rabbis explain that we are told of the story of Adam and Eve so that we will understand that no one can boast of a more-prestigious background than anyone else.

G^d’s Word goes even further than that. The socially strong get more tasks and responsibilities. Men, Jews, Kings, and Priests are disproportionately burdened. The opposite of human societies where the rulers and powerful always get the plum jobs and get favored, pampered, and overprivileged.

Bigotry means that not all people are free to make their own choices in life (that won’t harm others). For some choices, one will be rewarded, and for others, punished. The law and the authorities make second-class citizens.

Surely, Judaism has all kinds of ideas about what is a proper and what is an improper life. But, did you notice that the choice is still everyone’s own prerogative? Everybody gets to make their own mistakes. G^d would never have created humans if He was satisfied with dogs and obedient robots.

Democracy should discourage and protect against theft. But the people are not indoctrinated toward integrity and honesty. With love and care, a truthful life is promoted and modeled, to win on the free market of ideas.

Judaism also has much respect for individuality. Not all kids are the same. Not all people need to choose the same life. Some people like to conform to normalcy, but this should never be enforced upon anyone.

Bigoted politicians who claim to stand for ‘a Jewish society’ are lying. They try to violate protecting the weak, equality for the law, respect for the individual who disagrees with them, etc. As democrats, we must stop anti-democrats. That is not anti-democratic. That is standing for democracy.

No women on the ballot? Your party cannot participate in the election.

And we won’t fall for bigots claiming to be the real victims of anti-bigotry. You are the attackers, and we won’t forget that. There is no right to hate.

Free speech, standing for elections, and other rights are not stand-alone privileges. They are part of democracy. Anti-democrats have no right to them. They have no right to discriminate. Religious principles that can’t respect everyone are done. They are fossils from a dark past or mistakes from taking a wrong turn. If your religion cannot respect freedom and equality, your principles do not deserve to be protected or taken seriously.

Politicians who are for a more Jewish society should fight baseless hatred, poverty, capitalism, public shaming, coercion, and lack of compassion.

I made two signs for unity to hold up during the next demonstrations:

א אח אחד אחדות מישראל

העם עם העם

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1