My roommate Avraham posted an interesting assessment of the inner struggle between Modern Orthodoxy and Haredi Orthodoxy. Having spent time thinking about the same issue, namely what the difference is between the two regarding secular studies, I believe that Avraham is, for the most part, correct in his assessment. However, I do think it is both a political and a philosophical issue, namely that power is the motivating factor, but at the same time, the question of whether the secular should pervade the holy. Of course, if one looks throughout the history of Jewish thought and intellectual development, to deny the combination of secular and holy, קודש וחול, would be to remain blind. Now, many argue that the study of the "secular" should be left to those who can "handle" the contradictions and maintain their beliefs. And to a certain extent, the argument makes sense, if you assume, of course, that people are still divided into the elite and the masses. However, if you see humanity as something more varied, then the need to be knowledgable is something that should be open to people. To hide information is to ignore truth. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that the "elite" (both in the Modern communities and in the Haredi communities) often, sometimes unconsciously, restrict the flow of information because of perceived harms, yet perhaps in reality to protect their turf, allowing their word to become gospel. And as a result, strife continues to exist in our community.