Saturday, December 3, 2022

Is Zionism compatible with Unitarian-Universalism?

Many recent internal "critics" of "dogmatism" in Unitarian-Universalism point to "wokism" and "critical race theory" as being part of their angst, sounding strangely very much like US far right.

For example, David Cycleback, himself both a Jew (and Zionist) and Unitarian.


One of the alternatives to the "dogmatists" in UU, Cycleback suggests well known Zionist Bari Weiss and "cranky liberal democrat" John McWhorter.  Wikipedia says this about McWhorter:

McWhorter wrote that black attitudes, rather than white racism, were what held African Americans back in the United States. According to McWhorter, "victimology, separatism, and anti-intellectualism underlie the general black community's response to all race-related issues", and "it's time for well-intentioned whites to stop pardoning as 'understandable' the worst of human nature whenever black people exhibit it".[36]

But in this article, Cycleback makes it clear that at least part of his objection to "dogmatism" in Unitarian-Universalism has to do with its making Zionists feel uncomfortable:

"Jews, including within Reform and Progressive Judaism and within UU, have a diversity of views, and some Jews agree with the UUA dogma. I am not suggesting otherwise. Though a small minority, there are Jews who are anti-Zionist. I have a Jewish professor friend who supports critical race theory, and we enjoy debating these issues with each other. The issue is that with the diversity of views and the majority of Jews disagreeing with UUA-style dogma and intolerance, a UUA that expects adherence to one ideology or political stance, or that says that “only Jews who agree with our dogma are truly welcome and listened to” makes UU inhospitable to many Jews.


Unitarian Universalism need not suit Zionists.  Zionism is the racist ideology of an apartheid state which erased the rights of its indigenous.  It need not be subject to the kind of "debate" Cycleback seeks.  It is obviously contrary to Unitarian Universalist principles, which are very friendly to Jewish Anti-Zionists--generally the kind of Jews found in Unitarian Universalism, as one would expect.

No comments:

Post a Comment