Okay so the title of this post is a joke, but with much truth into it.
Especially in the light of the recent Satmar ban on Yiddish rock music.
I think that the question needs to be asked, is Judaism to be a religion of fear of God? Or is Judaism to be a religion of fear of one's neighbor? Of one's friends and family? Of one's own WIFE calling him a heretic if he decides he is bored one Shabbat and decides to bend the rules alittle bit?
Is Judaism to be a religion of anti-intellectualism in which only religious studies matter, or is Judaism to be a religion of pro-intellectualism in which all academic knowledge is valuable?
Is Judaism to be a religion of fun through boredom or fun through having fun?
I envision a Judaism that is less stringent on halacha and that has more emphasis on having fun. Going out with the opposite gender, music, art, television, and real intellectualism as opposed to Talmudic "more than one world existed" crap.
It is about time that Orthodox rabbis who pasken on halacha learns that public opinion matters for after all, the one of the main purposes of law is to meet the needs of the people who are going to be following it. If Orthodox rabbis can't understand that (which they don't), they loose their legitimacy.
