My questions about Rabbi Silver's PROTECT Democracy proposal

 

Rabbi Silver,

I learned of your call to action at the Palm Beach Quaker meeting. I am the sole individual opposing the Palm Beach Quakers joining PROTECT democracy. Of course, nothing is stopping individuals in Palm Beach Quakers from joining PROTECT democracy individually. But my concerns and questions in response to your call to action is below. 

You wrote “an entire political party supports insurrection and threatens the liberty and natural beauty that we cherish in America.”

• what political party are you talking about?
• what specific ways does this party support insurrection?
• what liberty and natural beauty is threatened?

You wrote “In Florida, Governor DeSantis seeks to impose a right wing, Christian theocracy
upon the rest of us”

• what makes you think that he seeks to impose a right wing, Christian theocracy?

You wrote “They seek to replace democracy with
demagoguery”

• what specific comments or legal/political action supports your viewpoint?
• who is ‘they’? You are aware that you can refer to Governor DeSantis as ‘he’? I’m guessing that ‘they’ is the ‘an entire political party’ that you refer to above

You wrote “They seek to replace … education with indoctrination”

• what specific comments or legal/political action supports this viewpoint of yours?

You wrote “They seek to …  torch our freedoms rather than
let the torch of freedom burn brightly”

• what specific comments or legal/political action supports this viewpoint of yours?

You wrote ” they threaten to reinstate the horrors of yesterday by
aligning fascism with theocracy to bring out our worst impulses and destroy our
nation. ”

• what ‘worst impulses’ are you talking about and who do these ‘worst impulses’ reside in?
• also, what makes you think they want to align fascism with theocracy?
• finally, what ‘horrors of yesterday’ are you referring to?

You wrote ” We have created a united front to defend
freedom, justice, reason and compassion consisting of those who seek to protect
our planet, reduce gun violence, champion abortion rights and equality for women
and people of diverse sexual orientations, promote education, help the poor, make
the wealthy pay their fair share, hold the powerful accountable for their actions
and to spread progressive ideals.”

• in what way do you wish to ‘protect our planet’? What threats do you perceive and how do you plan to remedy them?
• how do you plan to reduce gun violence?
• what ‘progressive ideals’ do you wish to spread?

You wrote ” We support a spiritual transformation in the
religious world to support reason, science and our precious natural world rather
than thoughts and prayers to non-existent supernatural entities. ”

• What issues do you have with thoughts and prayer and why is this relevant to your call to action?
• What supernatural entities do you assert are non-existent?
• Is it possible to prove a negative? E.g., Can you prove that Santa Claus does not exist? Or is it more accurate to say there is no evidence for the existence of Santa Claus?
• I am supportive of interfaith networks. I am not fully aware of the supernatural entities of many religions, but at the same time I do not endorse any person/group that asserts that they do not exist.

You wrote “we are
joining forces to increase the effectiveness of us all in opposing the DeSantis
agenda in Florida, and to prevent him from spreading his toxic views beyond our
borders as President. ”

• what exactly is ‘ the DeSantis
  agenda in Florida’ and what specific comments legal/political actions do you take issue with?
• why are you labelling his views toxic without showing the damage they can/will cause?
• what views are you talking about?

You wrote “If your cause requires allies, for instance to sign petitions to put abortion on the
ballot, or gun control measures, or to elect public servants who will truly serve the
public, join our coalition and support the causes of other progressives ”

• What exactly is a progressive?
• Can a progressive be in any political party, e.g. Democrat, Republican or Libertarian?

You wrote “PROTECT Democracy also provides inspirational music,
pro bono lawyers, public speakers, website assistance, fora to share your views and
allies to advance your cause.”

• I think you mean ‘forum’ not ‘fora’ but I’m not sure.

You wrote “If you would like to join our ranks, just let us know and we will gladly add you and/or your organization to our list. If you know other groups or individuals who you think
would like to join us who share our values, please forward this on to them. No one
will be required to support all the causes of all the other groups, and each is free to
only support those causes they believe in. ”

• I am unable to personally to generate any interest in this project because it does not seem to present arguments with evidence. I was linked to Rabbi Silver’s website but do not wish to comb through the material there. If he were to re-present his missive with footnotes, perhaps linking to parts of that website, then I would re-consider. Since Rabbi Silver is an attorney, he is quite capable of presenting a case with assertions backed by evidence. But he didn’t do so and as a result I cannot personally volunteer my alliance.
• I think the anti-faith statement (“non-existent supernatural entities”)  creates conflict with the current alliance we have with interfaith groups. I dont feel comfortable  ignoring such a statement which directly flies in the face of the interfaith acceptance of religious viewpoints because religious viewpoints are based on unseen entities in many cases.

Regards,

Terrence Brannon