Prager Brings Down the Wrath of Readers

Re “Our Father Is No ‘It’ or Gal God,” Opinion, June 19: Dennis Prager’s article contains numerous conclusions that have no empirical or scientific basis. Here are the top three: Feminist thinker Carole Gilligan does argue that men and women come to moral decisions through different mental processes. But her conclusion is the exact opposite of what Prager stated. She demonstrates that women’s moral authority is just as powerful as men’s. That’s why her book is titled “In a Different Voice,” not “In an Inferior Voice.”

In the 1970s, as Reform and Conservative Judaism struggled with the role of women in synagogue life, rabbis, synagogue leaders and psychologists warned that if women assumed positions of authority, men would stop attending. The opposite happened.

Finally, don’t tell a Jewish mother that her moral authority over her children declines as they get older. The myth/stereotype is that Jewish mothers have too much authority over their children rather than too little.

Rabbi Ronald Levine

Van Nuys

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Prager convinced me that God is male. In fact, as I thought about it, he missed some other reasons:

(1) He’s a procrastinator. He says he’ll return but he keeps putting it off (or maybe that’s a commitment thing).

(2) He’s afraid to ask for directions. His people wandered around in the desert for 40 years.

(3) He has a tough time controlling his anger.

(4) He works hard during the week then sits on his butt all day Sunday.

(5) He obviously has issues with women since he’s put so many misogynists in charge of his kingdom.

Scott Davis Jones

Valley Village

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Re Prager’s Opinion piece and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit to the Mideast, June 19: Quick, somebody get a message to Condoleezza Rice! Although I enjoyed reading about her progress with the Palestinians and Israelis, after turning to the Opinion section, I realized her mission is doomed.

According to Prager, “neither men nor women want to be given rules or be ruled by a woman” and the “masculine image carries an authority that the feminine one does not.” It’s all a waste of time! Our secretary of State can’t possibly achieve success in her talks with Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas. Only one of Prager’s reviled “secular feminists” could believe that intelligence, experience and logic could hold sway against the deficiencies of her gender.

Catherine Rhodes

Editor and Publisher, Working World magazine

Los Angeles