Edith Rapp tried to sue her stepson, a member of Jews for Jesus, for defamation, over an article he wrote which claimed that she was a bad Jew who had denounced her faith. The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that her claim of being portrayed in a “false light” was not sufficient cause for her suit. And I couldn’t agree more.
It’s not that I believe that her stepson is correct. I get nervous when anyone starts with the “good Jew” stuff, especially when earning the title is synonymous with being a Jew who upholds the divinity of Jesus! But I also get worried when civil courts see it as their place to adjudicate competing theological claims made by the members of different religious organizations. A ruling in mom’s favor would hinge on the courts being empowered to rule on a matter of theology i.e. what constitutes “real Judaism” — somethings our courts should not be deciding.
How can a statement about one’s religious beliefs be anything other than a theological statement? That she interpreted it as a slur, is because of her theology. That he did not is a function of his. Even for someone like me, who is comfortable with a relationship between faith and politics, this seems like more than a breach in the wall between church and state. It seems like representatives of the state becoming state theologians. Welcome to the middle ages!
As much as some might like to see Ms. Rapp vindicated, doing so would endanger religious freedom for all of us.

One attorney with whom I consulted about this thought that perhaps there was room to rule because of the harm the article could cause Ms. Rapp within the Jewish community e.g. find a job in a Jewish setting. But for that argument to hold, the ones withholding that potential job would have to take the claims of her stepson seriously. If they don’t share his beliefs, which presumably they do not, then no harm will be done. So again there were no grounds for the suit.
This was about a mom and a son and the hurt that they caused each other in the name of God. It’s sad, but it’s not a matter for the courts. It is however a matter for the members of each of their communities. And I wonder how it is that the rage of Jews against Jews for Jesus, or the need of Jews for Jesus to convert everybody to their faith, can be allowed to trump the importance of the relationship between a mom and her son.
Who is advising these people? Where are the real spiritual guides that would keep them out of court? Where is the love which should always trump the need to win a court battle? When any of us, who claim any faith, are more interested in those questions, then the court will not need to do our business for us. Oh yeah, and we will be known for bringing families together in the name of religion, instead of driving them apart over our various interpretations of who is religious.