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Archive: David Wolpe
The problem with 'No God, no problem'
No God, no problem is exactly right. No problem doing what you wish so long as you can stomach the consequences, or avoid them. No problem disregarding the notion that something beyond you makes demands.
By David Wolpe | November 23, 2009; 01:05 PM ET | Comments (4)
Danger of demagoguery
If you wish to be a political pundit, by all means do so. But to cloak political judgments in the mitre - or the cassock, collar or the tallit - is a grave disservice to both policy and religion. The fact that I know more about the Jewish tradition than my congregants hardly means I know more about the consequences of policy.
By David Wolpe | November 17, 2009; 09:26 AM ET | Comments (1)
Be good if you feel like it?
Religion gives a reason to be good. There is a moral grounding. Ethics are not solely a human choice, or a byproduct of evolution, but woven into the fabric of the universe. Morality is part of our essential being. In our best moments we transcend ourselves; we are good even at the price of our self-interest.
By David Wolpe | October 27, 2009; 03:28 PM ET | Comments (5)
Not to vaccinate is a sin
When we refuse a child a vaccination we are violating the rationale for having children. We are unnecessarily endangering others. Not only is one's own child at risk. Vaccinations are a barrier against contagion. In unvaccinated populations everyone is at risk.
By David Wolpe | October 18, 2009; 06:45 PM ET | Comments (37)
History and Community
For the Jewish tradition, the greatest appeal to a non-believer is not personal experience or the expression of Scripture. It is found in history and especially in community.
By David Wolpe | October 8, 2009; 12:21 PM ET | Comments (1)
We Should Help, But Can We?
Should we be fighting in Afghanistan? There is a clear moral imperative. But 'ought,' as Kant taught us many years ago, implies 'can.' To say we have a moral obligation means that we are able to fulfill it. Here there are serious doubts.
By David Wolpe | October 5, 2009; 05:07 PM ET | Comments (6)
Boors, Cads and Cretins
We live in an age of internet discourtesy, where insults are as common as ideograms. Disconnected from one another we feel too free to berate and belittle
By David Wolpe | September 15, 2009; 10:54 AM ET | Comments (44)
Why Not Rocket Launchers?
The day that terrorism produces an armed American clergy, a sort of swaggering pistol-pulpit, won't even be the day terrorists win. It will be the day we admit not believing in the power of our message to begin with.
By David Wolpe | September 8, 2009; 02:07 PM ET | Comments (6)
Immoral, Unthinkable and Unforgivable
The release of the Lockerbie bomber was immoral, unthinkable, unforgivable.
By David Wolpe | August 24, 2009; 06:51 PM ET | Comments (13)
God is Not in the Details
God no more prescribes the form of health care than God endorses Notre Dame's football team over USC's. Sometimes we have to realize that the intricacies of the decision are with us.
By David Wolpe | August 17, 2009; 05:28 PM ET | Comments (1)
Let There Be Tweets?
The danger of technology is not that it trivializes faith. Religion is not only spontaneous and heartfelt; it is also complex, thoughtful, reasoned, meditative.
By David Wolpe | August 10, 2009; 10:03 PM ET | Comments (7)
More Courage Needed
To attribute discrimination to the way we interpret texts has some justification. But surely there is also discrimination not because of the way we interpret, but because of the texts themselves.
By David Wolpe | July 21, 2009; 08:28 PM ET | Comments (1)
Hang from a Tall Tree: Shades of Clinton and Lewinsky
When the Lewinsky scandal broke out I was repeatedly asked for my views, since the family grew up in my synagogue. They remain the same as with Gov. Sanford and other similar scandals. Infidelity is a matter of private judgment but not public abuse of trust.
By David Wolpe | June 30, 2009; 12:24 PM ET | Comments (4)
Veils Deplorable but Permitted
One's faith should shine in one's face, not force one to hide it.
By David Wolpe | June 25, 2009; 10:16 AM ET | Comments (3)
A Whiff of Sulfur from the Rulers
I would like to be optimistic about Iran's transition from theocracy to democracy, but I think it unlikely without upheaval at best, cataclysm at worst.
By David Wolpe | June 16, 2009; 05:03 PM ET | Comments (1)
An Isolated Crime, Not a Movement
This is an isolated and ugly hate crime, and I would not want it to be representative of anything other than the small, angry and benighted man who allegedly committed it.
By David Wolpe | June 10, 2009; 04:30 PM ET | Comments (11)
Three Criticisms
President's speech was both powerful and masterful, but there were three areas in particular in which I wish he had chosen to speak with a different valence.
By David Wolpe | June 4, 2009; 12:26 PM ET | Comments (24)
Holy Healing is Genuine Healing
As someone who has survived cancer, I am enormously grateful for the skill of doctors and for my tradition in encouraging that healing art. I prayed, but I did not and would not rely on prayer. It is bad theology, and when done for someone else in place of treating them, it is the cruelty born of credulity or of simple ignorance.
By David Wolpe | May 26, 2009; 11:21 AM ET | Comments (0)
Celibacy: Beautiful and Wrong
The great Rabbis of Judaism, with very few exceptions, married and raised families. They were better for it.
By David Wolpe | May 13, 2009; 08:31 AM ET | Comments (14)
We Are At War
We are at war with the part of Islam that persecutes women, sends suicide bombers in God's name into crowded markets, and threatens nuclear annihilation, claiming to love death.
By David Wolpe | April 14, 2009; 12:55 PM ET | Comments (111)
Apology, Acknowledgment, and Contrition
Only if the church vigorously prosecutes those who are guilty will the Pope's apology have depth and force. To date, the church has been ambiguous at best in its carrying out of this grave responsibility.
By David Wolpe | April 7, 2009; 03:23 PM ET | Comments (9)
We Will Build our Gallows
n a world in which an otherwise respectable intellectual like Richard Dawkins can refer to religious education as "child abuse" we must say that one person's gentle faith can be another's unacceptable coercion.
By David Wolpe | March 31, 2009; 01:04 PM ET | Comments (15)
Fading Faith
America is indeed losing faith, and there are three principle reasons: extremism, science and social science.
By David Wolpe | March 17, 2009; 02:40 PM ET | Comments (25)
From Where I Sit, As a Cancer Survivor
The President made the moral choice, in my view. As someone who is in remission, and whose diagnosis makes it clear that I will one day face treating my cancer again, medical advances are personally poignant to me. But even were that not the case, I would support the research.
By David Wolpe | March 10, 2009; 01:59 AM ET | Comments (23)
Puzzles and Wonders
Yes, it is best to study with another person, for other minds serve as both goads and correctives. After all, the very first comment on human nature in the Bible is that it is not good to be alone (Gen. 2:18). However, it is far better to read or study alone than not to study at all.
By David Wolpe | February 18, 2009; 08:03 AM ET | Comments (25)
Madness Demands Protest, Not Argument
Denial of the holocaust does not have the status of an intellectual position; it is simply an insult. So no, we do not argue. There is no arguing with madness. Instead we protest. We demand decency.
By David Wolpe | February 6, 2009; 09:01 AM ET | Comments (15)
Start with Shared Notion of One Creator
The western world has had complex, sometimes cruel interactions with the Muslim world. The Muslim world -- or a worrying portion of it -- has expressed not merely contempt, but the desire to obliterate Israel, America, and derides significant parts of Western culture.
By David Wolpe | January 28, 2009; 07:53 AM ET | Comments (22)
