It seems as if the frum community has just discovered that those who went off the derech may be a problem for future generations of sheep following the grand master bearded fellows who dictate orders about what you can and can’t do. Prior to the internet age it was easy to ignore those folks who decided to walk down the street with a cigarette dangling from their mouth on shabbos. Sure people talked smack, maybe even some loshon horah, but we never thought it would go this far. Then came the internet and that fucked it all up for the factions of the frum community who don’t believe in questioning, unless you’re at the beginning of your long drive towards crazed baal teshuva perfection via some good old aish indoctrination.
You see the internet gave all of these formerly religious folks a voice and they opined their hatred, frustration, philosophy and general disgust at their former lives and communities. Finally some of them made it to mainstream media and it appears that the frum community is now scratching their heads and wondering what to do. I have no idea what they could or should do? I have no idea if it’s a bad thing that people are finally discovering the joys of bacon and guilt free masturbation. I sure as hell have no interest in a life of Godless pursuits like education and 3 day weekends. Of course, I like my life perfectly fine – my day job kicks ass and after that I roam around the woods and give thanks to the good Lord for providing me with a paradise-like playground known as the Northern California Coastal Range, but there are those who don’t feel like I do and that’s ok. Should I say it again, just because I enjoy throwing praying to God in Biblical Hebrew (I now know what I’m saying) 3 times or more a day, watching what I eat and even getting in the occasional bout of conversational hisbodedus = doesn’t mean I wish for anyone else to enter this madness.
I don’t know why, but I just take such offense at those OTDers trying to debunk the religion I practice, I kind of think they keep us on our toes. We have to actually step up and think about what we’re doing, we can’t just be blind sheep anymore. We can’t just sit back and let habitual religion control our lives. There was a time when I had no crisis in my religious faith and belief. Sometimes I long for those days, but most of the time I wonder what it would be like to just go about my religion without trying to figure it out in some way. Will I ever understand the myriad of laws, rituals, traditions and general nonsense that binds us to God? Hell no! That doesn’t mean I’m just going to throw all those years of getting up for shachris out the window. BUT, it’s not for everyone, I’ll say it a million times until one parent listens and welcomes their son or daughter back into the family with open arms despite the fact they have joined the secular society where all they care about is drugs, sex and treife food.
So maybe the Off the Derech movement is good for the Jews…what do you think?
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