Baruch Spinoza remains excommunicated

From Mondoweiss, late last year.

It's not just that he remains excommunicated by the Amsterdam synagogue that booted him (and he does), but that a modern Spinoza scholar is also persona non grata. Indeed, per that second link, Rabbi Joseph Sefarty claims that Spinoza's excommunication cannot be removed.

Behind all of this? A clear refutation, as I've already blogged, that Christianity is allegedly all about orthodoxy and Judaism is all about orthopraxis. It wasn't bad cantorial skill that got Spinoza excommunicated; rather, it was the claim that he was an Epicurean, code words for being an atheist.

Not true, of course. Pantheism isn't atheism.

I later noted that distinguishing between orthodoxy and orthopraxis is somewhat a Mu point (pun intended), as they're not really separate domains.

Look at Islam. No "graven images," or anicony, is a praxis. But, it's a praxis based in a doxa, the idea that God cannot be represented AND that attempts should not be made. Note also that many Sunnis consider Shi'ites about one-quarter heretics, Sufi's half there, and Alawites fully there. 

Buddhism and Hinduism? Since both are, yes, religions, while you won't be excommunicated over rejecting karma and either reincarnation or a one-off afterlife, actual Buddhists and Hindus likely won't consider you one of them. And of course, in Hinduism, the caste system is both praxis and doxy. Or, within Buddhism, at another blog post, about orthodoxy vs orthopraxis in general, again, it won't get you excommunicated, but one of the big dividing lines between Mahayana and Theravada is dogma, not praxis. Within Muslims, the succession to Muhammad, or within Shia, the split between Sevenrs and Twelvers? Dogma. Per Spinoza, definiing who Yawheh is or is not, to then wonder who can say the Shema or not? Dogma.