Judaism

Are Israeli Policies Entrenching Anti-Semitism Worldwide?

By |

Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard law prof and well known civil liberties lawyer, wrote a fierce attack this week on Judge Goldstone, and those rabbis who supported him in his efforts to have a bar mitzvah for his grandson in their home country of South Africa that he could attend, without major protests from rightwing Jews that would draw all the attention away from the boy and towards himself. Dershowitz singled out our own Michael Lerner as the rabbi most worthy of criticism, for honoring Goldstone with the Tikkun Award. (If you haven’t followed the whole saga of Goldstone’s UN report on Israel’s Gaza invasion, see Tikkun’s interview with him). However, the protests against the protests worked, the South African Jewish community saw sense, and Goldstone was able to attend the ceremony (see Haaretz’s report, and Goldstone’s thanks to Lerner on our site). Richard Silverstein took apart Dershowitz’s post on his blog yesterday, showing how many outright inaccuracies and distortions he had perpetrated.

Empathy

Pursuing Personal And Structural Transformation Simultaneously

By |

So here’s another long post. I keep trying to work out how to express this adequately. I wrote about the difficulty of reclaiming hopefulness on the Left, had an exchange with Peter Gabel about two kinds of transformative experiences, and asked how necessary it is to walk the talk. This one feels to me to get to the heart of my own philosophy about what’s needed, but some time soon I will no doubt try again. Miki Kashtan referred me to a post called “A world where everyone’s needs matter” at the delightfully named blog The Implicit & Experiential Rantings of a Person.

Rethinking Religion

Agnostic but Spiritual? This is what I believe, anyway.

By |

“Agnostic” we understand as “not knowing”–usually referring to beliefs about God. “Spiritual” is more problematic. If I say I am a “spiritual agnostic” some people think I am claiming to be holier than thou, as if calling oneself a humanist meant one was a better human being than thou. These self descriptions are more about aspirations and outlook than achievements. What would a “spiritual agnostic” believe about the universe, suffering, or the meaning of life?

Christianity

Getting the Catholic Church Right

By |

A terminal case of patriarchy or a vibrant source of love and revolutionary potential? In case you missed it, Nicholas Kristoff got the Catholic Church just right in his last column, “A Church Mary Can Love.” It’s both. (I’m hardly an expert but I was happy to ask one or two Catholics who are, whom I met today at an interfaith conference on global poverty at St Mary’s Catholic cathedral in San Francisco: they shared my pleasure at the column). On the one hand, says Kristoff:
The Catholic Church still seems stuck today in that patriarchal rut.

Politics & Society

Rajmohan Gandhi Calls For Justice and Patience in Palestine and Israel

By |

One of Mahatma Gandhi’s grandsons, and his recent biographer, visits the West Bank:

‘The range of Palestinian non-violent activity against occupation,’ said Prof Gandhi, is also ‘larger, and richer in creativity, than I had imagined. The work being done by Palestinians for strengthening civil society – through educational and public health programs – is also much stronger than I had realized. ‘Many Palestinians I have met seem to hold both weapons in their hands – in one hand the weapon of non-violent resistance and in the other the weapon of constructive work.’ Then on to Israel. “The recovery after the Holocaust of the Jewish people,” Prof. Gandhi told the Israeli President Shimon Peres, “is one of the noblest, most stirring chapters in the story of humankind.

Politics & Society

More Strong Talk from Chris Hedges

By |

Hedges’ latest is called “Is American Yearning for Fascism?” What I want to ask you, our readers, is: is this country really psychologically and politically similar enough to Germany in the 1920s, which is his main comparison, to be seriously in danger of fascism? As someone raised outside the U.S. who has still lived longer outside it than in, I am more impressed by how cussedly libertarian so many Americans are, how much the love of guns is allied to a “leave me alone” attitude. I know we are all prone to obedience and are more easily seduced by authority than we would like to think, but the American libertarian attitude seems very ill suited to fascist movements of the kind that take over the state and run it. Am I wrong?

Christianity

A Million Christians for Social Justice: Glenn Beck and Jim Wallis

By |

Two weeks ago Sojourners’ Jim Wallis,  the most prominent social justice evangelical in the country,  responded to Glenn Beck’s outburst about social justice Christians (which Valerie Elverton-Dixon wrote about on Tikkun Daily):
Beck says Christians should leave their social justice churches, so I say Christians should leave Glenn Beck. I don’t know if Beck is just strange, just trying to be controversial, or just trying to make money. But in any case, what he has said attacks the very heart of our Christian faith, and Christians should no longer watch his show. His show should now be in the same category as Howard Stern. Stern practices pornography and Beck denies the central teachings of Jesus and the Bible.  So Christians should stop watching the Glenn Beck show and pray for him and Howard Stern.

General News

Evangelical Hispanic Leaders Lobby Against Climate Change

By |

I was intrigued yesterday by a press release that said:
National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Evangelical Environmental Network:
Evangelicals, Hispanics Call for Climate Action
For the first time, evangelical Hispanic leaders are pushing for action on climate change, joining forces with leaders affiliated with the Evangelical Climate Initiative to come to Washington DC to meet with elected officials. Climate change will hit the poor around the world the hardest, including increased hunger, water scarcity, and health impacts, all leading to more people becoming refugees. Today, fulfilling Jesus’ teaching to love our neighbors and care for “the least of these” includes protecting the poor from climate change and helping them adapt to the consequences they did not cause. The National Hispanic Leadership Conference is the country’s largest Hispanic Christian organization, “committed to serving the 16 million Hispanic born-again Christians in the United States and Puerto Rico.” It is also a member of the right wing Freedom Federation, which was launched last July, and described itself in Christianity Today, the leading evangelical magazine, as “nonpartisan:”
A new federation of two dozen conservative Christian groups announced plans today to work together to strategize around moral values they feel are under attack across the country.

Health

Tell Michael Bennet: Introduce the Public Option in the Senate

By |

This I like, from Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake:
Congress passed its health insurance reform bill last night. It’s an admirable first step, but the task of providing affordable health care to every American is still before us. This week, the Senate will pass a series of fixes to the bill. This is the moment for a leader in the Senate to make the first step towards actual health care reform: putting the public option up for a vote. Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado led others in the Senate in showing that a public option can pass.