The case against religious coercion

It seems so natural, so logical, so straight-forward to assume that if it says in the Bible that someone must or must not, that people should be forced to comply. However, that’s not what our holy Tradition shows.

First of all, G^d gave us the freedom to listen to Jewish Law. The Torah puts “Choose life” as a challenge, a Command but not a law to be enforced. We’re not supposed to be G^d’s marionettes or robots. We should not force other people (breeding revolt) — not even ourselves.

To help us, G^d tries to endear us to Him so that we would love to do His bidding. We are taught that “obeying” like that is the highest form of service. But in fact, when we want to obey, it doesn’t feel an obligation.

In idol worship, the gods are needy and must be obeyed for their good. The G^d of the Hebrews lacks nothing. All obligations He laid out are for our good, not His. This should not be overlooked. We can’t sadden Him. That’s how G^d rather has us abandon Him that ignore His Torah.

But G^d knows. Our lives are not always simple and humans don’t always have an easy time listening to our Souls, Teachers or Maker. So, He tells us clearly what we should and shouldn’t, whether we like it or not.

By the way, Biblical Hebrew has one verb conjugation that means at the same time “you should,” “you will” and you “are -ing.” It’s up to us if we do it the easy way, happily or the hard way, grudgingly out of obligation.

And if you would say: Can I help it if I would like doing something or not, the answer is, learn deeply until you become ready to love doing so.

But for those times that it’s not easy to comply, G^d gives excellent incentives. Obedience is richly rewarded, disobedience is punished.

For the thinkers who could not understand how an all-loving G^d could inflict pain, punishment is just deterrence. No one can say that it won’t happen, though — or we would not be deterred.

Fear, however, wears off, so we should not obey from fear ever. Fear of Heaven, though, is something else altogether. It’s like a fitting safety belt. It shouldn’t restrict breathing but in an emergency prevent us from getting harmed, doing something stupid we’d regret soon afterward.

Best is to serve G^d not for reward, as if we are open to Heavenly bribe. But still, doing good from greed is better than doing evil from being incorruptible. (Doing evil means that you’re corrupted already.)

Therefore, I read the beginning of Portion of the Week “Bechukotai” not as “do well and G^d will bless you; do evil and G^d will punish you.” Rather, if you live a righteous life, and all goes well, you’ll understand it all comes from G^d. But if you’re not so righteous and suffering, know that that all also comes from Him! He may motivate us but not force us.

G^d’s only created the Universe to express His generosity. The greatest charity is experienced by intelligent creatures after having worked for it.

Evil and distress are part of Creation, not as some say to enable Free Will or punishment. Rather, a Free Choice can be between good and better — doesn’t need to be between good and evil. Distress is here because a Free Choice made while we’re in pain is rewarded a thousand times more.

NB: Free Will is not being free to do whatever we want. An ant could. Rather, it is the ability to elevate ourselves, free ourselves from the moral level we had up until now to act even more ethically from now on.

Let it be clear that suffering is not the main thing G^d wants from us. The Jewish Tradition points out in many ways that all G^d wants from us is to have a good meaningful pleasant life — though in certain ways and within certain limits. (Limitless pleasure is not so good quickly anyway.)

If moral demands are complicated or contradicting each other, it could help to ask a specialist what to do. It may also help if such an advisor is someone else than us, more objective than us. But only if they know the subject and think nuanced enough about all aspects in individual cases. (If you know best, you don’t need to ask advice from someone clueless.)

Now, if G^d doesn’t force us, and we should act like G^d, how can we force religious compliance upon anyone, including young people and students. Endless love, a good example and a friendly smile go a long way.

One of the reasons that circumcision is still popular in largely secular Israel is because it’s not mandatory. Without enforcement, it is easier to not rebel. Abortion and prostitution are kept low by good sex education. (A ban would make it worse, just forcing them underground.)

There is only one case in which someone is forced (giving one’s wife a bill of divorce when she wants) and the Sages explain that that is because when forced, the husband does exactly what his Soul wants.

We need police and army as emergency protection but not to force people. Enforcement and fear wear off. As soon as the enforcer looks the other way, the enforced will disobey again. The ultimate good behavior must come from connecting people to their Souls.

In a State run by Jewish Law, certain behavior must be outlawed. Yet, that is for the good of the public, not for the good of the individual. So, behavior that could harm others, like bad behavior enticing others, should be countered by educating the public that the bad behavior is so bad that no one would like to copy it.

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