Dear Simcha,
It is unbelievable that we as a nation are still grappling with this. However, let’s ignore the larger discussion and focus on the fatal error of your original post.
“It excludes those who weaponize Halacha to hurt others. It excludes those who willfully break the law or knowingly participate in or support fraudulent practices.”
What is the nature of this exclusion? Where in Torah does an error make one excluded? How do we fault people who clearly do not see the religious value of religion itself? How do you differentiate between willful and unwitting infractions Can the most strict adherents of Ethical Orthodoxy be confident to not transgress their own commitments? Can anyone determine who is being ethical? Isn’t it a purely mental exercise? Wouldn’t we just end up with the same game of calling everyone an ethical fraud or non-orthodox?
This has been rehashed for decades and there is nothing new here. the value of a strong ethical philosophy is purely the realm of the individual. With little impact and no significant affect on community life. It is none of my business if people live up to their ethics or not. But it is very meaningful to the practitioner. This is abstract thought. It has nothing to do with religion.
Religion is collective thought. That thought gives it no legitimacy. It could only be useful if it is believed to be Divine. It takes it’s legitimacy from it’s own context. It can never think itself into a non-existing situation. Therefore it always entertains those with serious moral failings. It allows those failings to modify the system. Some people see this as a major threat to authenticity. But it has no strength against true religion. Because true religion is convinced that it cannot be permanently vanquished Do you feel so strongly about Ethics?