“Our dispute with Michael Walzer is not a dispute between impatient militants and a moderate sellout. It is also not a dispute about religion. We agree that religious revivalism is bad and must be defeated, that politics should be divorced from religion, and that ideals of freedom, equality, and dignity are the best foundations for a good society. Our dispute concerns how to confront intense religious nationalism in light of these ideals.”
“What enabled the flourishing of Reform Judaism in America is a unique combination of Protestantism and deism in the public space, backed by a separation of church and state.”
“Let us be clear. We are not advocating unbending secularism or blanket rejection of religion, nor are we denying the value of engagement with tradition. We are only insisting that it be genuinely and overtly critical, that its proponents actively combat the revivalists and condemn the nasty elements of tradition on which they rely—rather than ignore them, interpret them away, or pretend they are not an authentic part of the tradition.”