Is Theodicy a Form of Hypocrisy?

We had a visiting scholar at Synagogue today. One of his lectures was on Rabbi Joel Soloveichik’s position on theodicy. Apparently, the Rav’s position evolved over time to a point where he felt the entire study of theodicy should be abandoned. This was done because he came to the realization that the conventional theories for the existence of evil don’t fit well with the human response to suffering.

For example, there are 4 well-developed theories of evil:

suffering is for sin

suffering makes you stronger and/or better

suffering makes you appreciate good

suffering lets you have a quicker entrance into paradise

In each case, if one really believed this, the response to seeing someone suffer would be to do nothing because to relieve the suffering would be to interfere with punishment for sin, strengthening, etc.

Evidently, the Rav didn’t have the appreciation for hypocrisy. Of course, the Rav is pretty much the only Jewish philosopher (or other philosopher) who feels this way and also is a devout believer in God. In this case the hypocrisy (doing that which you feel is wrong) is pretty much a necessary one, simply because the theory of theodicy is so dicy. Philosophers have frequently been guilty of not practising what they believe. Russell pointed out that at the end of David Hume's tretise, he abandons his all pervasive skepticism and preaches conventional ethics. Hobbs was also, apparently a pretty nice person who failed to live down to his own philosophy.

Btw, the site for perpetuation of the Rav’s teaching is: http://rav.org/

A good site for understanding theodicy is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodicy

Boy George vs. Madonna

Boy George has accused Madonna of hypocrisy on the subject of homosexuality at:

http://www.examiner.ie/breaking/story.asp?j=166029118&p=y66xz998y&n=166030061&x

The article is short enough to quote.

06/03/2005 3:19:05 PM

Gay pop star Boy George has slammed Madonna for embracing the Kabbalah, the mystical offshoot of Judaism which preaches homosexuality is a disease.The former Culture Club singer is horrified the Material Girl flirted with lesbianism - most famously in her controversial kisses with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at 2003's MTV Video Music Awards – yet supports a religion which believes homosexuals can be cured

("http://www3.adireland.com/adjs.php?n

here are some misc. facts

yes Boy George is gay
no, the zohar, the main book of Kaballah has nothing explicit about homosexuality
yes the zohar is part of Judaism and the hebrew bible condemns male homosexual acts
no, Madonna has not herself condemned homosexuality
no, Madonna does not claim to believe in all Judaic values

I don't think this accusation passes the laugh test.

Boy George vs. Madonna

Boy George has accused Madonna of hypocrisy on the subject of homosexuality at: http://www.examiner.ie/breaking/story.asp?j=166029118&p=y66xz998y&n=166030061&x=
The article is short enough to quote.


06/03/2005
Boy George: Madonna a hypocritical homophobe
Gay pop star Boy George has slammed Madonna for embracing the Kabbalah, the mystical offshoot of Judaism which preaches homosexuality is a disease.
The former Culture Club singer is horrified the Material Girl flirted with lesbianism - most famously in her controversial kisses with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at 2003's MTV Video Music Awards – yet supports a religion which believes homosexuals can be cured.
He fumes: "I have a problem with Madonna's devotion to Kabbalah, because I watched a documentary that said that Kabbalah believes that gay people are diseased and can be cured.
"She's such a hypocrite. This is the woman who has embraced homosexuality and used it to her advantage."

fact 1: Boy George has stated that he is homosexual for example: http://www.astabgay.com/boy.htm.
fact 2: It is not clear what Boy George meant when he said, "Kabbalah..preaches homosexuality is a disease." There is nothing in the Zohar explicitly about homosexuality. In fact, the Zohar doesn't preach. He may mean that some people who like the Kabbalah also feel that homosexuality can be cured.
fact 3: Madonna has had homosexual encounters with women. Other than kissing other women (the Madonna-Brittany kiss at the grammy awards), she does not seem to have romantically associated much with other women since about 2002 or so.
fact 4: While the hebrew bible criticizes male homosexual behavior, it says nothing about female homosexual behavior.

This criticism of Madonna doesn't even pass the laugh test. There is no evidence that Madonna is telling people not to be homosexual; no evidence that she has criticized homosexuals or homosexual behavior; no evidence that she, herself believes anything at all regarding homosexuality.