Q&A: Labels
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Labels
Question
The Rabbi wrote that calling something heresy or apostasy is not addressing the issue itself. I don’t understand why the Rabbi wrote that. After all, when someone uses that label, what they really mean is: what you’re saying is heresy/apostasy, therefore it is not correct. In other words, they are addressing the issue itself and saying that by virtue of the claim being heresy, it is automatically false. Why is that not an argument about the issue itself?
Answer
Because in my opinion it is correct, so what is the point of saying that in your opinion it is not correct? In a discussion, you are supposed to raise arguments in order to persuade me.
I think most of these labels are used in order to persuade the readers, who are usually religious and accept the basic premise that all heresy is false.
Besides that, I was once in a discussion and then my friend told me that my view was heresy, so I stopped thinking that way. It’s not that I only stopped saying the claim; I also stopped thinking it.