No Risk, No Reward “The Conversion of the Jews” by Philip Roth, exposes the inability of some people to accept opinions that counter or contradict their own. In this story, Rav Binder is concerned by the question Ozzie asks about Jesus because Binder feels that answering the question might validate Christianity in the eyes of his students. He chooses to not directly answer the question to avoid facing the problem set before him. By doing so, he loses any respect Ozzie may have still had for him. This tendency to deflect ideas that could be harmful to one’s own belief is a problem that is sadly prevalent in society. Whether it is a battle between two religions, like in the story, or a political debate over global warming, there will be people
