There's a great thread on this over at /pol/. I wanted to see what you guys thought.
http://archive.is/WxZsU
The Jewish author writing for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs understandably criticizes several aspects of cheesy neo-paganism and modern superstition, but then he goes on to say some striking things which explicitly identify the traditional and organic pagan/gentile reverence for nature as a direct threat to urbanite Jewish spiritual hegemony (advocating instead the Noahide laws as the correct alternative for gentiles). Here are some key quotes from his polemic which struck me the most:
1.) "The ancient revulsion with regard to paganism felt by adherents of Judaism links up with the need to take stock of these contemporary phenomena…Nature is not sacred and its laws represent barbarity; the Noahide laws represent civil society. There are many reasons for Jewish observers to watch attentively which direction the powerful, renewed interest in nature will take, and what consequences this may have for world Jewry."
2.) "Few people realize — and contemporary German Greens prefer not to be reminded of it — that the first major nature-protection laws were issued, of all places, in Nazi Germany…"
3.) "So soon after Nazism, which proclaimed the same, one has again forgotten what dangers the elevation of nature as a norm brings with it for the handicapped, the sexual outsiders, the elderly and inter-racial societies."
4.) "Halakhah is the antithesis of the laws of nature. The latter are cruel: there is no charity in nature; there is no mercy. There is no safety net in nature for marginal beings….There is no equality in nature or anything resembling democracy. Nature should be feared." (Oy gevalt!)
5.) "Furthermore, I postulate that no nation in the twentieth century has lived as much 'in harmony with nature' as Hitler’s Germany."
6.) "Anybody who places nature as the central value in society must be suspect in the eyes of Jews. One should not lump together neo-Nazis, neo-pagans, and extreme environmentalists. Yet all should be watched carefully by Jews, even if the degree of worry they cause greatly differs."
7.) "So what does the return of paganism mean for Judaism? It forces us to focus on the importance of Jewish law and tradition, which proclaims that nature is not the dominant force in the world, nor is it sacred….Nature’s laws represent the world of the savage and barbarian; the Noahide laws represent civil society."
8.) "The Jewish agenda is a very long one. Many things assimilated Jews consider important should be pushed down the Jewish agenda. The new outside reality should help us understand that propagating the Noahide commandments to humanity should have had a higher place on this agenda a long time ago."
9.) "Nothing good for the Jews — nor for society at large — can come out of a worldwide strengthening of paganism."