I CONTENTS I OPINION CLOSE-UP Striking Home GARY ROSENBLATT The rift in religious unity could be judaism's civil war. 42 LIFESTYLES Young Republicans Religious News Service CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ A profile look at GOP volunteer and Israel activist Debbie Schlussel. 46 SPORTS Two-Way Health Rev. Pat Robertson Rev. Jesse Jackson The Troubling Questions About The New Right Religionists RABBI HAROLD M. SCHULWEIS I f labels mean anything, I suppose I am liberal theologically and politically. While I may not rejoice over the rise of ultra-conservative fundamentalist groups forming political coalitions I cannot, without duplicity, oppose their right to proselytize politically. The indignation of liberals over the political assertiveness of new right fun- damentalism in the elections is misplaced. If religion is not a sequestered Sabbath af- fair limited to the four cubits of prayer, why should the political arena be declared "off limits"? If one may quote the prophet Amos to support a concern for social welfare to the poor and the aged, why should citation from Leviticus 18:22 to support opposition to homosexuality be ruled out of order? Or, if the Rev. Jackson qualifies to run the political gauntlet, why not the Rev. Robertson? Those who were critical of the silence of institutional religion in the face of Jim Crow, anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic manifestations correctly demanded that religion enter the market place of political life. They were proud of the church and synagogue which rallied around the Rev. Martin Luther King's struggle for civil rights. Are they now to muzzle the evangelical voices of those who seek to in- fluence political opinion in opposition to such issues as abortion and the ERA because they are not our liberal positions? Is it a matter of principle or partisanship that offends us? What alarms me about the new coali- tion of single-issue organizations united Harold M. Schulweis is rabbi of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, Calif under the umbrella organization of Jerry Falwell's old New Moral Majority Inc. is not the political influence of the claimed membership of two million people nor its annual budget of $5 million. What disturbs me is not the moral and/or political posi- tions taken by the New Right evangelicals with which I disagree. What is troubling is the way they legitimate their stance and the manner in which their opposition is treated. For those who disagree with the new right religionists are not simply judged as wrong but are characteristically condemn- ed as sinners. They are not regarded as adversaries who err but as heretics who op- pose Christ. It is not then their advocacy of ultra-conservative positions but their demonization of those who disagree with them that is offensive. The conversion of political opponents into anti-Christ figures threatens to divide our country into children of light and children of darkness. The Rev. Robertson, for example, has every right to defend the creationist view of the origin of the universe. I disagree, but I find nothing sinister in his argument that the Darwinian evolutionary theory should be treated as a hypothesis. What is frightening are those of his followers who label the defenders of Darwin "Christ- killers" and "perverts!' This is the stuff out of which inquisi- tion is spawned. This is the kind of religious paranoia which conjures up McCarthyite images, of registering com- munists and "stamping on their heads" the mark of their registered identification. This is alien to the religious spirit that seeks understanding. "Come let us reason together" (Isaiah 1:18). Excommunication is not argumentation. Name calling is not religious charity. For the sake of mature religion I am , Continued on Page 10 MIKE ROSENBAUM Sylvia Zukin's positive outlook carries over to personal fitness. 48 AROUND TOWN Thrifty Thinking RUTHAN BRODSKY Thrift shops run by Jewish groups are profitable on several levels. 52 BUSINESS Slice For Israel KIMBERLY LIFTON Domino's Tom Monaghan has franchise plans for the Holy Land. 59 ENTERTAINMENT Legacy In Dance SUSAN LUDMER-GLIEBE A dance production in Ann Arbor next week is a Holocaust legacy. 94 SINGLE LIFE Transplants SIMON GRIVER Single immigrants from Detroit have taken different paths into Israel society. DEPARTMENTS 14 3 0 32 38 74 78 Frontlines Inside Washington Synagogues Life In Israel Cooking For Women CANDLELIGHTING March 1, 1988 6:16 p.m. 82 84 85 90 92 122 Youth Seniors Engagements B'nai Mitzvah Births Obituaries