I believe it is important to disagree.
Here's a story from the Talmud that illustrates why I feel this way.
And Resh Lakish died. And Rebbe Yochanan suffered his loss greatly. The Rabbi’s said, “Who do we have that hand help settle his mind? Let us bring him Eliezer ben Padat, for he is sharp in his learning.” Eliezer ben Padat went and sat before Yochanan and for everything Yochanan said, Eliezer ben Padat brought a text to support Yochanan’s argument. Rebbe Yochanan said, “You’re not like Resh Lakish. When I said something in front of him, he would challenge me with twenty-four questions which I would have to answer, and from that the Torah would be richer—and you, you just support me! So, I have no way of knowing whether what I’m saying is right!” Yochanan then ripped his cloak and wailed, “Where are you son of Lakish, where are you?” (From the Talmud as recorded in Judith Kunst’s The Burning Word, 44)
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4 comments:
Sorry, I disagree.
Gilbert,
That's ok, I knew there would be a comment in the mold of the one you produced. :)
Have a great week.
Why do we naturally tend to cloister ourselves with those who think like us, rather than embrace the reality that true growth comes through diversity and disagreement.
Or harder, how do we shatter the misconception (or self-deception) that others actually think like us and therefore avoid real conversation and dialogue that could be transformative?
Eric,
I think we avoid confrontation because we do not realize the Jewish perspective that only in confrontation can growth take place, truth rise to the surface.
We believe that confrontation/intense dialog leaves us in to vulnerable a position.
Perhaps the biggest thing, is that many of us are used to being more passionate about principles than people--which is of course, the only reason principles matter in the first place.
The danger of being people of the Book is that we put the Book over people (paraphrase of someone else I can't recall). Putting the book over people is what set Jesus off against the religious leaders of his day.
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