Anger!

I'm afraid this blog is becoming all about hating on orthodoxy. It's not. It's about venting. Lately, I feel like my beliefs are increasingly amorphous, oscillating from disbelief to frustration. I can't swallow the pill of faith, nor do I really want to. I just want to be happy. And religion has so much culture wrapped up in it, that it's hardly about the individual, and its so much about the society. E

And in that vain, here is another tasty lick from the interwebs: conversion sex scandal.

Orthoversion is so unregulated and non-standardized, that it was only a matter of time until a) men (and it's only men in charge, after all) took advantage of their powerful position to manipulate women, and b) it got publicized by our very-in-touch generation.

Of course, the chareidi response will be to deny it, and hide it. And everyone's hands are dirty. The M.O.'s did it with baruch lanner, and they at least claim to have an open society. Chareidim make no bones about being a closed society.

My friend wants his girlfriend to convert so he can marry her. his family are very traditional israelis. of course, he has to now:
1) live apart from his girlfriend indefinately
2) become involved in the community, with all the BS judgement and guilt-tripping that comes along with it
3) have her go from being completely non-observant to observing all the idiosyncracies of ortholife
4) still have her stigmatized by the community after all is said and done

Feh.