State and Religion: Religious Conflict among Jews in Israel

Abstract

Th e organization of religion in modern, industrialized, Western countries, where state and religion are structurally separate, has led to an increase in tolerance for religious pluralism and to the mitiga tion of conflict not only between different religions, but also between different denominations within the same religious group ing. The reason for this, according to Peter Berger, is that religion's plausibility structure is becoming less relevant to the entire societal plausibility structure, although retaining significance for individu als in society.1 An example of this is the three main denominations of Judaism in the United States. There, Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Judaism (in ascending order of adherence to traditional Jewish doctrine) are very much tolerant of one another, despite the basic differences in their belief structures. While Marshall Sklare notes that this is partially due to the cohesive, ethnic aspects of Judaism, especially in confrontation with non-Jews in the United States, this can only be so in a society not governed by religious adherence.2 Societies in which religion plays a relatively important part in determining societal behavior, as the case of Iran demonstrates, carry with it the seeds for severe conflict and turmoil. Religious conflict, based as it is on an ideological plane, makes compromise much more difficult to achieve, for the very act of compromise (or the self-perception that one is compromising) can undermine the religious doctrine. The problem of tension between religious groups is exacerbated when religion and state are intertwined, and it is in this context that the case at hand—the religious situation in Israel— is discussed.