Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on October 4, 2013 by Deborah Renert
Oprah: “I don’t need to tell you all that this is the interview of a lifetime….And G-d has insisted that Freud speak first.”
Freud: I know that You are merely a projection of the human imagination, particularly those with a pathological need for an authority figure in the sky.
G-d: What a reductionist you are Freud! Do you think that My existence is contingent on human imagination?! I existed before you and Nietzsche were born and after you die I will exist….
Freud: Even if there is a G-d, I abhor all of those obsessive-compulsive behaviors in which people engage in the name of G-d and religion.
G-d: I prefer to think of religious behavior as a mitzvot behavioral modification program.
Freud: What is wrong with normal human behavior as the goal?
G-d: I am actually committed to human happiness and you people have so much to learn…
Freud: What do you mean? People are born with so many problems and pathologies….
G-d: And you blame the mother–who together with the father and Myself–create the existence of a human being in this world.
And while I do not insist on feelings, I do ask that you all engage in behavioral act that facilitate a sense of respect and awe for those people who gave you life and feed and clothe you.
I actually want you to feel control over your life and not feel like the victims of unconscious forces, desires, and whims….I want you to experience inner and outer freedom….
Commercial break. Stay tuned to OWN.
