Culture

The Two Faces of Convenience

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I landed in Delhi on Friday morning, Jan 13th. By noon I was already in love with India. By the time I left 3 weeks later, I was committed to going back to learn more about life, to offer, humbly, what I have learned about human relationships and systems, and to nurture relationships that have become significant in a matter of days. Except for a small minority of affluent city dwellers, people in India don’t have access to the amenities we have come to take for granted in North America. I was only in one place that had a shower with running hot water.

General News

A Clash of Rights: The Catholic Bishops and Contraception

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While working on the introduction to a book I intend to publish in the next few months, I am reading “Radical Love: Forever Changed” by Donna Lowe and Kimberly Parker. In the introduction to part three, Lowe and Parker write about how little things from our past – a certain sound, a television program – may cause us to relive painful emotions. The point they make is that we ought to be intentional about not allowing ourselves to become trapped in those responses. This is the purpose of spiritual disciplines. This is the work of radical love.

Culture

Stepping into Power while Maintaining Connection

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“One of the greatest problems of history is that the concepts of love and power are usually contrasted as polar opposites. Love is identified with a resignation of power and power with a denial of love….What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
I have read and re-read these lines countless times.

General News

"Don't Be Realistic": Rabbi Lerner's Sermon at NYC's Riverside Church

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As part of his tour to promote his latest book, Embracing Israel/Palestine, Rabbi Lerner delivered this sermon at the historic Riverside Church in New York on January 22, 2012. Listen to find out why he encourages activists not to be “realistic” as they strive to transform consciousness in their communities and in the world. [singleplayer url=”/media/service.mp3″ title=”Rabbi Lerner at Riverside Church” info=”http://www.spiritualprogressives.org”]
If you’d like to download the MP3 so that you can load it onto your iPod or other MP3 player, right-click (or control-click on Macs) here.

Culture

The Freedom of Committing to a Path

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In June, 1996, I had an epiphany. In a motel room in Indiana, the night before returning home from a solo camping trip in Michigan and Canada, I discovered how much I had lost in my life because of so fiercely protecting myself. Up until that day, bringing forth my vulnerable self was to be avoided at all costs, which kept me numb much of the time, disconnected from myself and from much of life. Alone in my room, I cried, I talked out loud, and I finally exclaimed to myself that I wanted to reclaim every last bit of my vulnerability, just like I had it as a child. I have had other dramatic moments in my life, before and since; rare and precious experiences of life opening up, my heart expanding, my spirit soaring, defenses falling away.

art

Books as Community Building Blocks: How PJ Library Changes Jewish Lives

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When one man dreamed of sending Jewish books to young children, he never imagined the transformative impact it would have on families all over the world. More than 200,000 children receive blue and white envelopes from PJ Library each month across the globe, packed with books such as Something for Nothing, Bagels for Benny, Chicken Man, and A Coat for the Moon. Those tales spark a special magic as they become part of a child’s nighttime routine, a family ritual, a bond between parent and child, and the fusion between generations and Jewish communities. The brainchild of Jewish philanthropist Harold Grinspoon, the PJ Library grew from his desire to engage families who had moved away from their Jewish roots either through intermarriage or simple disconnection from the faith. By delivering a beautiful picture book that carries Jewish stories, traditions, and folklore into the homes and bedrooms of children, the message would permeate in a gentle, welcoming way.

General News

Occupy Oakland at a Crossroads: Rebirth or Self-Destruction?

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Over the last few months, I have been an active, critical, yet ultimately proud member of Occupy Oakland. Despite the sometimes-questionable tactics and lack of much diversity in this working-class, multi-racial city, I believed that Occupy Oakland was still a young movement and would mature into a more solid political force. Sadly, it seems, we still have a long way to go. On January 28, Occupy Oakland’s attempt to take over an unused public building turned into yet another painful, predictable street battle with the Oakland Police Department (OPD), with over 400 people arrested by night’s end. The police’s actions were more brutal than ever, from the tear gas and sound grenades to the unlawful mass arrest that has left many of my comrades still in jail as I write this.

Gender and Sexuality

The Sexist Heterosexism of National Marriage Week

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Concerned Women for America is promoting National Marriage Week USA, which runs from February 7-14, appropriately encompassing Valentine’s Day. The event’s professed goals sound laudable:

National Marriage Week USA is a collaborative effort to encourage many diverse groups to strengthen individual marriages, reduce the divorce rate, and build a stronger marriage culture, which in turn helps curtail poverty and benefits children. Together we can make more impact than working alone…. Marriage works. It makes people happier, live longer, and build more economic security.

General News

What Pro-Israel Means To Prominent American Jews (And One Too Prominent Israeli)

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Such a BIG TOPIC that pro-Israel is.Moment Magazine published a fascinating series of interviews in its January/February issue — so BIG no one issue could contain it! — asking prominent Jews to define “pro-Israel.” Some people had nothing to say, but they said it anyway. Some people had a lot to say and you may wish they hadn’t. Some even cast votes for who and what doesn’t belong on the pro-Israel island.