Thanks for those instructive anecdotes, Surak. I enjoyed your prudent balancing act with the lawyer responsible for your father's estate.
I have several Jewish acquaintances who are Tikkun Olam types. They are intelligent, cultured people, but always seem impervious to reason and evidence, as you say. So the elected Prime Minister of Israel is a danger to democracy, which must be saved by the unelected Supreme Court. Or Trump of the Judea&Sumeria plan, the Jerusalem embassy and the Abraham Accords simply must be a secret antisemite, while Iran facilitators Obama and Biden are our friends. Or (until last October), we must throw open the borders to Muslims, because only when European nations are reduced to rubble can Jews feel safe in those countries. Etc.
There's a recent article in Tablet that tries very hard to make sense of these people's mentality, to see beyond the surface stupidity and reach a bedrock that (however wrong it may be) could serve as the foundation of an intelligent person's outlook, and explain their habitual disregard for contrary evidence. I think it succeeds, at least for the Diaspora (rather than for the superficially similar Israeli left, which requires a separate argument).
Thanks for those instructive anecdotes, Surak. I enjoyed your prudent balancing act with the lawyer responsible for your father's estate.
I have several Jewish acquaintances who are Tikkun Olam types. They are intelligent, cultured people, but always seem impervious to reason and evidence, as you say. So the elected Prime Minister of Israel is a danger to democracy, which must be saved by the unelected Supreme Court. Or Trump of the Judea&Sumeria plan, the Jerusalem embassy and the Abraham Accords simply must be a secret antisemite, while Iran facilitators Obama and Biden are our friends. Or (until last October), we must throw open the borders to Muslims, because only when European nations are reduced to rubble can Jews feel safe in those countries. Etc.
There's a recent article in Tablet that tries very hard to make sense of these people's mentality, to see beyond the surface stupidity and reach a bedrock that (however wrong it may be) could serve as the foundation of an intelligent person's outlook, and explain their habitual disregard for contrary evidence. I think it succeeds, at least for the Diaspora (rather than for the superficially similar Israeli left, which requires a separate argument).
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/jewish-oyster-problem
The "oyster" in the title comes from an Isaiah Berlin essay you may already know.
Thank you, RM. I read that Tablet essay. It is a masterpiece. I strongly recommend it to my other readers.
Why doesn’t BDS exist?
Because we are not deranged! :)