I refrain from expressing opinions about chemistry. This is because I am quite ignorant about it. [Mr. Tarensdash tried to teach me but frankly it is hard to imagine that at that time anything could ever have interested me less. Maybe Korean basket weaving techniques]. I CERTAINLY wouldn't argue with a professor of chemistry. If I would that would be a proof of my ignorance of my ignorance and be an indication of hubris. A man must know his limits.
Why then does any housewife from New Jersey or accountant from Chicago [just using random examples - it could be a housewife from Chicago and an accountant from New Jersey] feel free to express opinions about Torah matters which contradict the experts [i.e. the rabbis]? They should at least preface their blogs or comments with the words "People who have spent decades studying this topic disagree with me. I know very little. But I am going to express my uneducated opinion anyway. Odds are super-great that I will be writing things that are inaccurate or just plain false. But I am bored and have a computer and fingers that can make an up and down movement, so here goes...."
It is an insult to one's intelligence to read a lot of what goes for "ideas" or "thoughts" on the Internet. People should have the respect and wisdom to accept their limits and the expertise of others. In English we have a word for this. "Humility".
OF COURSE, one may ask questions and one may even suggest ideas. Even a first grader. But it must be clear that one is not in the same league as the experts.
One example: People say that the Chazon Ish [and other gedolei yisrael] wasn't a good Jew because he didn't celebrate Yom Ha-atzmaut. The Chazon Ish was decades upon decades of almost non-stop Torah Li-shma in all areas of Torah. So how does one have the gall [in Greek this is called "chutzpah"] to argue with him on theological matters when he is not even in the same stratosphere both intellectually and spiritually??
If someone wants to follow other opinions that is his prerogative. Free country. We are all products of our upbringing and environment and that is how we live and think. But that doesn't give one the right to present his path as the exclusive one because he feels that people a million times greater didn't "get it". What is the Chazon Ish supposed to do if he never learned in Mercaz Harav or Sha'alvim [nothing against either Yeshiva. Some of my best friends learned in Shaalvim and I wish I had, too. I also wish I had learned in Mercaz HaRav. Can someone get me a job teaching there?? I have had enough of running this hedge fund of mine and frankly, have NO IDEA what I am going to do with my millions. Any ideas? Maybe buy the Knicks? El Al? Starbucks?? THAT is an idea!!:-). I'll buy Starbucks. But what will I do with the millions of dollars I have left afterward??? Problems problems....] and thus never saw the light??
Bottom line: Respect for spiritual titans. An appreciation of one's limitations. Fear of G-d.
And when those people who lack those qualities write sacrilegious, provocative and often blasphemous articles, ignore them and read something worthwhile instead - like a Chumash or Gemara. BELIEVE ME - one Ramban or Ohr Hachaim is worth more than everything many of these people write altogether.
They often don't know what they are talking about but in order to preserve their false sense of self, they attempt to prove to the world how smart and insightful they are, how well they write and are often just looking for attention.
Never in history have traditional values been so assailed on a mass scale as they are today. I generally refrain from calling out specific people but maybe I should be more liberal in my approach and set forth the truth while debunking all of the nonsense, heresy and cynicism.
Life is short and we must spend our limited time spreading light so I will try to focus on that. But we must not forget about all of the insidious ideas and people out there lest we get caught in their traps.
