ugh…heres why it doesnt matter.
the secular world looks at us and calls us backwards. we stay celibate until marriage, we encourage modesty, we discourage drunk and disorderly conduct, we dress respectably, we act respectably, we watch our tongues, we love and fear our God, and we follow the Torah. so they call us backwards. they look at our laws and our customs and they denigrate them. but when they meet us, when they talk to us, when they interact with is, they are left with a feeling of wonder.
we, the backwards relics of the middle ages, the antithesis of societal progress and enlightenment, constantly shock the secular world with our actions, with our kindness, and with our lifestyle. when we strive to constantly make a kiddush hashem, to constantly improve and to be an ohr lagoyim, we make books like these absolutely irrelevant.
so i see no point in making a big stink about this, in trying to negate the PR, trying to rebut the claims, because i know that i dont need to write a book countering this one; i know that i dont need to get MY interview in the post. i know that by living my life according to the torah i negate everything in that book, and every negative perception of jews and judaism. and thats all that matters.