Notes & Asides

We are late onto this, but the story is greatly worth telling, even though it is almost two months old. There they were, at the New School for Social Research, primed to witness a gangbang on orthodox religion inflicted by the speakers, most prominently William Sloane Coffin, Harvey Cox, and John Leo. But then along came Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, who presumably had been invited on account of his reliable reputation as a Left liberal. Rabbi Hertzberg stole the show.

For instance, he said, he is in favor of pulling out of Vietnam instantly. However, he added, he is “not at all convinced that the will of God gives me very clear light on Vietnam.” That piece of intelligence dismayed the congregation at the New School, who had never had any trouble at all in interpreting their afflatus on Vietnam. But Rabbi Hertzberg showed that there was worse to come. In the account in the New York Times (written by the tormented Mr. Leo, who was wearing two hats at the seminar): “the ‘nervous scurrying for relevance’ by politically active clergymen may represent ‘the sickness, not the health, of American religion . . . Religion as an ongoing force cannot be saved by “making it relevant” A large part of what passes for liberal religion in America is a rewriting of the Nation and the New Republic. That’s not the job of religion. What people come to religion for is an ultimate metaphysical hunger, and when this hunger is not satisfied, religion declines.’ ” And then, commenting on the pathetic efforts of the Christian churches to make themselves appealing by bringing ping-pong to the ghettoes, Rabbi Hertzberg commented, “Having been there for a hundred years and played the game, I can tell you that it doesn’t work. The very moment that clerics become more worldly, the world goes to hell all the faster.” “He suggested,” in the pained words of Mr. Leo, “that the chief energies of clergymen should be devoted to discussing the existence of God and man’s obedience to God rather than to political issues . . . Institutional religion today is in the hands of right-wing fund-raisers, while left wingers who are protesting turn their religion into a form of social revolution. What is left out is religion’s main business: love and God and the transcendent.” Altogether, a godly evening’s work.

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We are late onto this, but the story is greatly worth telling, even though it is almost two months old. There they were, at the New School for Social Research, primed to witness a gangbang on orthodox religion inflicted by the speakers, most prominently William Sloane Coffin, Harvey Cox, and John Leo. But then along came Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, who presumably had been invited on account of his reliable reputation as a Left liberal. Rabbi Hertzberg stole the show.

For instance, he said, he is in favor of pulling out of Vietnam instantly. However, he added, he is “not at all convinced that the will of God gives me very clear light on Vietnam.” That piece of intelligence dismayed the congregation at the New School, who had never had any trouble at all in interpreting their afflatus on Vietnam. But Rabbi Hertzberg showed that there was worse to come. In the account in the New York Times (written by the tormented Mr. Leo, who was wearing two hats at the seminar): “the ‘nervous scurrying for relevance’ by politically active clergymen may represent ‘the sickness, not the health, of American religion . . . Religion as an ongoing force cannot be saved by “making it relevant” A large part of what passes for liberal religion in America is a rewriting of the Nation and the New Republic. That’s not the job of religion. What people come to religion for is an ultimate metaphysical hunger, and when this hunger is not satisfied, religion declines.’ ” And then, commenting on the pathetic efforts of the Christian churches to make themselves appealing by bringing ping-pong to the ghettoes, Rabbi Hertzberg commented, “Having been there for a hundred years and played the game, I can tell you that it doesn’t work. The very moment that clerics become more worldly, the world goes to hell all the faster.” “He suggested,” in the pained words of Mr. Leo, “that the chief energies of clergymen should be devoted to discussing the existence of God and man’s obedience to God rather than to political issues . . . Institutional religion today is in the hands of right-wing fund-raisers, while left wingers who are protesting turn their religion into a form of social revolution. What is left out is religion’s main business: love and God and the transcendent.” Altogether, a godly evening’s work.