Avi – I’m not sure if your first paragraph is meant for me. If it is, it has nothing to do with anything I wrote! Please reread what I wrote. I never said anything whatsoever about having an issue with the fact that there can be different opinions amongst the Poskim.
Actually, you were the one who seemed to have a problem with that.
What I took issue with was your statement that the halachos that put a non-Shomer Shabbos Jew in the same category as a goy do not apply today. In the context of your statement, the implication was that the halachos do not apply today AT ALL.
Even if it is true that there is a Poseik who says that the halachos do not apply today (which may or may not be correct – I do not know), you can not disregard that there are many who say they do, and pretend that such an opinion does not exist.
In case you forgot what we are discussing, you had written as follows:
“Mr. Crawley, he is not considered a gentile. He simply has a few legal disabilities in common with gentiles. However, his kiddushin would be a good kiddushin, to give just one example.
In any case, as i posted this does not hold true today.”
You wrote, “This does not hold true today” (the fact that he has a few legal disabilites in common with gentiles).
That is not a true statement, as many (if not most) Poskim say that the halachos regarding wine do apply today (even if there are heteirim in certain circumstances).