How Leaders Fail by Rabbi Sacks

Are my regular readers aware of how inspirational I find Rabbi Sacks weekly sermons on leadership?

The best yet so far can be found at 

http://gallery.mailchimp.com/2a91b54e856e0e4ee78b585d2/files/C_C_5774_Ki_Tissa_How_Leaders_Fail.pdf?utm_source=Office+of+Rabbi+Sacks+Subscriber+List&utm_campaign=614956b793-C_C_5774_Ki_Tissa&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3fee45c1ad-614956b793-45954421

I have been saying that Moses would these days be considered a bit of a fascist.

Perhaps Rabbi Sacks will see fit to discuss Secular Koranism, even if a little tentatively, since it will allow Jews to be better Jews and Christians to be better Christians.  I did write to him in the following terms:

Dear Lord Sacks

SECULAR KORANISM

I have been an admirer of your oratory for many years now and also subscribe to your newsletters on the theme of leadership.  I have to confess every time I hear you speak I have this urge to convert to Orthodox Judaism, but the humility to realize that I probably do not have the dedication to do it properly prevents me.  

I wish to bring my little idea of Secular Koranism to your attention so that you may consider how it will benefit Judaism.  It is basically the idea of infusing the country’s legal system with Koranic principles.   It would be a theocracy in the sense that it would be government following God’s laws, but it chooses the most liberal version with the most attractive heaven and the most horrifying hell.  The Koran is also a model of clarity, brevity and faultless legal-drafting.  

Its implementation would make it easier for Jews to be better Jews and Christians to be better Christians.  It is based on the premise that if Islam is Judaism Lite, then Secular Koranism is Islam Lite.  

It is called Secular Koranism because I do not envisage that the judiciary who will have to apply and interpret these Koranic principles have to be Muslim to do so, merely pass an examination in Koranic Knowledge, which I propose that all law students be made to do so.
We both know that Christian values and moral principles are as long as a piece of string and that Christianity and hypocrisy go hand in hand with each other because Christians have had their characters ruined after centuries of being told that they must believe Christ is God or not be considered Christian, and all non-Christians go to hell.  

It was only after the passage of the Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813 that made it legal to deny the Trinity in this country.  Now, of course, this doctrine is not made known to Christians and many of them have no idea of this requirement even as they claim to be Christians, for fear of their predictable modern reaction if threatened with hell for so trivial a reason.  

While European Christians are often not aware of this requirement, overseas Christians are only too aware of this particular bargain of being forced to believe in a lie and being expected to proclaim the lie as if it were true in order to remain a Christian.  The Doctrine of the Trinity is therefore intended to “explain” Christ’s divinity and the ultimate Black Box Theory.   

Both Judaism and Islam are religions of practice while Christianity is a religion of acquiring a state of mind in order to remain a Christian – and indeed a state of mind that is in fact unconnected to the moral practice of the principles of Christianity.  It seems to be suggesting that however morally reprehensible one’s conduct has been, one can still be granted access to heaven as long as one truly believes that Christ is God.

While the Muslim is enticed into Islam with a consumerist heaven, the Jew is expected to practice his religion simply for having had the privilege of being born a member of the Chosen People.   The Christian on the other hand is bribed by the ease of proclaiming a lie as if it were the truth.   

As you may already know, the Koran acknowledges the debt it owes to the two Abrahamic faiths and promotes the same moral principles of respecting the institutions of marriage and the family to maintain the patriarchy, amongst other things.  It is also tightly-drafted enough to be literally interpreted without causing injustice and offence to reason.

http://thevoiceofreason-ann.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=Secular+Koranism has further information on Secular Koranism.

I write to you because it is my belief that you are one of the few people in the world capable of understanding it.  I also believe that if you approved of it, you would be more likely to wish to promote it without fear or favour, or at least discuss the possibility of implementing what is in effect a secular theocracy, out of all the religious leaders in this country.  

No Islamophobe, however rabid, who has managed to make himself read the Koran can really find anything much that is wrong with it.   If the Koran says “all animals are equal”, the Hadith says “but some animals are more equal than others.” Secular Koranism utterly rejects anything in the Hadith that contradicts the Koran.  

I look forward to hearing your views on this idea.

Yours etc

This letter was dated 29 December 2013. I only wish to quote the words of his own sermon at him:

"A leader can simply lack the courage to lead. Sometimes leaders have to oppose the crowd. They have to say No when everyone else is crying Yes. That can be terrifying. Crowds have a will and momentum of their own. To say No may be to put your career, even your life, at risk. That is when courage is needed, and not showing it can constitute a moral failure of the worst kind."

If he cannot praise Secular Koranism, he should be able to at least discuss it.