Tikkun (https://www.tikkun.org/category/other_voices/editorials__actions/page/33/)
A Path to Defeat Racism
by Rabbi Michael Lerner and Cat Zavis
Racism is the demeaning of an entire group of people and refusing to see them as fully human in the way we see ourselves and those we deem to be “like” us. When we fail to see the “other’s” humanity, we ascribe to all of them ugly characteristics that somehow justify treating them with less honor and less generosity and less dignity than we would with others who are part of the groups we do see as fundamentally like us.
By Cat J. Zavis
Wow. For a brief moment I am feeling such gratitude for our Supreme Court—well, at least for five justices of the court! This is a time to celebrate. Gay and lesbian couples are finally recognized for their commitment to love their partners just as any heterosexual couple does. What an amazing moment of honoring and respecting people who choose love and commitment.
ENCYCLICAL LETTER
LAUDATO SI’
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FRANCIS
ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME
1. “LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs”.[1]
2. This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life.
Photo Credit: Alberto Pizzoli via Getty Images
Pope Francis’ Laudato Si plea for environmental sanity and a serious recommitment to the Bible’s call for humanity to be stewards of this planet earth just might make a huge difference by puncturing through the emotional depression that keeps most of the people of the earth paralyzed in face of the growing crisis. It is not that people don’t know about the environmental crisis that keeps us stuck in our current situation. It is rather that most people are unable to see any way out of the mess that global capitalism has created for us. Feeling hopeless about the possibility of the kinds of fundamental transformations needed to save the planet, much of humanity has chosen the ostrich strategy: deny the problem, and focus instead on getting as much as one can for oneself in the decades ahead as the planet whimpers under the increasing destructiveness of the capitalist imperative to growth without limits and accumulation of money, power or things as the only meaning to life. Yet it is this very growth and accumulation of things, produced at the expense of the earth, that guarantees earth-destruction if not of the planet than at least of its life-support-system that makes human life on it possible.
There must be a way out of the present crisis
Leonardo Boff
Theologian-Philosopher
Earthcharter Commission
The political and economic crisis we are now experiencing provides an opportunity for truly profound changes, such as political, tributary and agrarian reform. To have the correct focus, is important to first consider some facts. In the first place, we must see the crisis as part of the great crisis of humanity as a whole, rather than from within, and external to the present course of history. To think of the Brazilian crisis without considering the world crisis is not to think about the Brazilian crisis. We are part of a greater whole. In our case, we cannot escape the attention of the large countries and great corporations, as the Group of 7 considers where the principal assets for the ecological basis of the economy of the future are concentrated: the abundance of drinking water, the great humid jungles, immense biodiversity and 6 billion hectares of farmland. The Imperial strategy does not care that a continental nation in the South Atlantic, such as Brazil, is not aligned with the global interests and to the contrary, seeks an independent path for its own development.
Editor’s note: We at Tikkun have been unequivocal in our critique of Hamas. Hamas’ attempts through the summer of 2014 to bomb Israeli cities, thereby targeting civilians, provided the cover for Israel’s war crimes against the people of Gaza (where Israel was responsible for the deaths of over 2,000 people), and was a major factor in the electoral victory of Netanyahu and the Right in the 2015 Israeli elections. Hamas has a long record of terrorizing its political opponents in Gaza. Our criticism of Israeli policies toward Palestinians should never be read as support for Hamas or other extremist groups, just as our insistence on the right of Israel to live in peace and security should never be read as support for its oppressive occupation of the West Bank, its blockade of Gaza, and its systematic use of torture against Palestinians and its use of targeted killings of those it believes to be terrorists. This latest information from Amnesty International about Hamas crimes last summer, using the claim that the people it was executing were collaborators, fits its pattern of human rights abuses and reinforces its public image as a hate-filled and lawless political force.
Educated Hope and the Promise of Democracy[i]
by
Henry A. Giroux
Commencement Speech at Chapman University
May 24, 2015—Final Revision
I am very moved and humbled to accept an honorary degree on this important occasion today, and to be with all of you in sharing this wonderful achievement of graduating from Chapman University. As a father who struggled to put three boys through higher education, I think it is appropriate that I should begin by first acknowledging those parents and family members, whose support throughout the years helped to make it possible for you to achieve this tremendous milestone in your life. And as Stephen Colbert said to a graduating class at Northwestern University, Aif you don’t thank them now, you’ll have plenty of time to thank them tomorrow when you move back in with them.@ Just kidding, I hope.
I am especially honored to be in the presence of so many of you who have chosen education as a field of study. I can think of no generation for whom education is more important than it is for yours at this particular time in history.
Shavuot wisdom from Arthur Waskow:
read, Sinai, & Speaking in Tongues:
Ten Notes on Celebrating Shavuot
Dear friends, Shavuot, the “Festival of Weeks,” comes this year from Saturday night May 23 through Monday eveningMay 25. Its name refers to the “super-week” of seven weeks after Passover plus one day — 7 x 7 + 1= 50), when the 50th day becomes the holy day of late spring )
Here are ten steps into understanding Shavuot (and its Christian offshoot, Pentecost):
1. The Torah describes a festival that celebrates the fulfillment of the spring wheat harvest by offering at the Temple two loaves of leavened bread and the First Fruits of the farmers’ work and the land’s abundance. This ancient understanding invites us to renew our connection with the Earth as a sacred connection with YyyyHhhhWwwwHhhh, the Interbreath of life that connects all life upon this planet. 2. The text of Torah never gives any precise date for the Revelation of Torah on Mount Sinai. The early Rabbis, bereft of the Land and strongly desiring that all future generations be able to experience the Torah in much the same way Passover made it possible for all future generations to experience the Exodus, interpreted Torah timing to make the biblical Festival of First Fruits into a festival of Torah. Some Rabbinic interpretations of the Torah text then defined Revelation in radically open ways.
There is much for Jews and people of other faith traditions to admire in Christian spiritual consciousness, once we get past the justifiable pain of how the official versions of Christianity treated us in the past. With Pope Francis embracing the kind of Christianity that is so deeply rooted in the liberation traditions of Judaism, it becomes much easier for Jews to open themselves to listening respectfully and with an open heart to Christian spiritual wisdom. Here are some examples of that spiritual wisdom
The Gift of Holy Surprise: Pilgrimage of Resurrection through Creative Practice (a love note)
Christine | May 24, 2015
This is the eighth in a series of eight reflections over the season of Easter on making a pilgrimage of resurrection. Word for Today: Spirit
‘What is serious to men is often very trivial in the sight of God. What in God might appear to us as “play” is perhaps what He Himself takes most seriously.
Dateline: Jerusalem, 2015
Giving Roses to Palestinians in the Old City on “Jerusalem Day” (Yom Yerushalayim)
By Jeremy D. Sher
I found out about the rose giveaway on Facebook. We were to meet at Safra Square by Jerusalem City Hall, just outside the Old City, at 6:00 pm. The idea was to give roses to Arab shopkeepers in Jerusalem’s Old City before the Jerusalem Day parade. This simple act was organized by Tag Meir (“ray of illumination”), the Israeli peace group formed in response to the murderous “tag mahir” (“price tag”) attacks made by Jewish settlers against Palestinians. In the face of Jewish “price tag” attacks gleefully escalating conflict, Tag Meir formed to shine a ray of light into the darkness of self-delusion among Jews who perpetrate violence, and into the despair of the rest of the country looking on in horror. The “price tag” murderers may claim to represent the Jewish people, but groups like Tag Meir stand for the Judaism the rest of us know, the Judaism that values joy, peace, and justice for minorities. One would think that a parade of Israeli flags would be a joyous, optimistic event. But recently the Jerusalem Day parade has become a symbol of racism. I didn’t know how large a role everyday racism plays in Israeli culture until I arrived here and observed it, but Jerusalem Day has become a particular flashpoint. Celebrating Israel’s victory in the 1967 war, in which Israel conquered the Old City and the occupied territories, Jerusalem Day now attracts groups of far-right, triumphalist settlers who parade through the Muslim Quarter shouting horrific things like “Death to Arabs.” Past marches have seen property damage and violence. Nobody knew what would happen at the parade this year, but recent history was concerning. If I were to participate in any form of direct peace action today, giving out roses seemed like an innocuous choice. With some trepidation, I arrived at the square as shadows lengthened against the blazing afternoon. I didn’t see anyone handing out flowers, but I did see a left-wing rally on the steps of City Hall, surrounded by a police barricade. Some of their signs supported the leftist Meretz Party, while many others read things like “Jerusalem Will Not Be Silent in the Face of Racism.” In the plaza where I was standing, people, mostly men, were jumping in circles with large Israeli flags. Some were verbally confronting the left-wing demonstrators. I debated: should I join the left-wing group? They could use another body up there, and the police appeared to be letting people through individually. But partly from chickening out and partly from feeling that was not the group I signed up for, I decided to look around a little more. I walked around back of City Hall. A stage was set up for a large concert, but nobody was in the seats. A woman stood alone with a white flag featuring a red heart. I wondered if she was part of Tag Meir, but I chickened out of talking to her. Turning the corner and walking along Yafo St., I came upon a small green park dedicated to Yitzhak Rabin. Here was the picture-book Israel: birds chirping, girls lounging on the sunny grass reading books, lovers sitting on a bench. One might not have known from this scene that a hundred meters away was a raucous battle of voices. That’s Jerusalem: a city of secrets, with entire worlds hidden around a corner or behind an unmarked door.
Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, 2015 ( in press)
Psychology and the Prevention of War Trauma: An Article Rejected by American Psychologist
by
Marc Pilisuk and Ines-Lena Mahr [i]
Author Note
Marc Pilisuk, emeritus professor, University of California; faculty, Saybrook University. He is a past President of the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict and Violence. His awards for teaching, research, and action in peace, justice and transformative change include the 2011 Howard Zinn award from the Peace and Justice Studies Association.
Ines-Lena Mahr completed her undergraduate degree in Liberal Arts and Science at the University College Maastricht in the Netherlands, focusing on Psychology and International Relations. In Fall, 2013, she will start the Masters programme in Social and Cultural Psychology at the London School of Economics.
Jewish liberals and progressives reacted with enthusiasm to the announcement May 13, 2015, that the Vatican will recognize the Palestinian State. Truth is, we have rejoiced in the many steps that Pope Francis has taken to take seriously the biblical injunction to pursue justice and to protect our global environment. Now he has entered a highly contested arena with the courage he has shown on other issues. At a time when Israel has formed its most reactionary government ever, based on an electoral victory won by Prime Minister Netanyahu after he promised the electorate that there would be no Palestinian state as long as he is in office (his term could last for five years before another election is required), it has become clear to much of the world and to many Jews that the “two state solution” is in danger of becoming little more than a fantasy. The Pope’s action shows a path to non-violently resuscitate the possibility of a Palestinian state.
How the culture of capital is perpetuated
Leonardo Boff
Theologian-Philosopher
Earthcharter Commission
In the previous article –The capitalist culture is contrary to life and happiness– we attempted to show theoretically that the strength of its perpetuation and reproduction lies in emphasizing one aspect of our nature, namely, the urge for self affirmation, for strengthening the ego, so that it neither disappears nor is assimilated by others. But this diminishes and even denies another aspect, equally natural, namely, the integration of the self and the individual into a whole, into the species, of which it is an example. Is not enough however to end with this type of reflection. Along with this original point there exists another force that guarantees the perpetuation of the capitalist culture. It is the fact that we, the majority of society, internalize the “values” and the basic purpose of capitalism, namely, the constant growth of profit that allows for unlimited consumption of material goods.
Uri Avnery
May 9, 2015
A Day and Night-mare: Israel’s New Ultra-Right Wing Government
BINYAMIN NETANYAHU seems to be detested now by everyone. Almost as much as his meddling wife, Sarah’le. Six weeks ago, Netanyahu was the great victor. Contrary to all opinion polls, he achieved a surprise victory at the last moment, winning 30 seats in the 120-member Knesset, leaving the Labor Party (re-branded “The Zionist Camp”) well behind him. The extra seats did not come from the Left.
The new Israeli government is a total victory for the most extreme elements in the extreme Right in Israel. The overtly racist party HaBayit HaYehudi, the party of the West Bank settlers, will control the Justice Dept. , the Education Dept. , and almost all important government offices concerned with the Occupation of the West Bank. And they have secured a promise from Likud to bring forward a proposed law that would make it illegal for any nonprofit to receive funds from a foreign government without approval from the government.