I think Baruch Spinoza said similar things in Amsterdam and got excommunicated. Matt Miller in the Washington Post. Miller, come to Israel and then talk about chosenness.
As a Jew I’m familiar with this issue in another context. According to the Torah, Jews are said to be “the chosen people.” Though this was a relatively affirming thing to be when you’re a kid in Sunday school – who wouldn’t want to be part of the club chosen by the Man Upstairs, after all? – as an adult, I’ve never taken it seriously. With all due respect to Jews who take this notion literally, it’s always struck me as presumptuous, if not offensive.
As it happens, the congregation we belong to in Los Angeles is “reconstructionist,” meaning it adapts Jewish thinking to modern life. One of Reconstructionism’s chief tweaks has been to reject the idea of “chosenness” altogether. I’m sure some Jews frown on this edit, preferring to retain the idea of Jewish exceptionalism. But to many of us it’s only common sense to affirm that other religions and groups can be terrific, too.
