cs193bah@unm-la.UUCP (03/28/85)
I agree with Yosi Hoshen that religious zealots are a danger to democracy in Israel. Both the Ashkenazi religious party (Mafdal) and the Sephardi religous party (Tami) have had despicable histories when it comes to abuse of power, bribery, etc., etc. Also, I have witnessed many examples of strong resentment on the part of the chilonim against the dossim. This does not stem from any deep psychological reasons (as Samet claimed) but simply on chiloni perceptions that the religious were intolerant, coercive, and self-righteous. Having grown up in an orthodox household, I am aware that this chiloni perception is inaccurate. However, the religious must share some of the blame for not communicating their views to the non-religious directly. The only contact most chilonim have with dati'im are "asur" and "muktzeh". Samet is correct in believing that this problem is not especially horrendous. Just because a few pooshdakim in Petah Tikvah want to see movies on erev shabbat does not mean that they hate Judaism or dossim. On the other hand, it is unreasonable to expect that one day all Israelis will go to bet knesset on shabbat instead of watching Beitar Yerushalayim on the playing field. -- bill peter