Tikkun Daily Blog Archive (https://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/category/generalnews/page/72/)
Would prefer not to use this at all. It’s a default and can’t be removed.
President Obama stated in his remarks to the UN General Assembly, “Each of us must choose the path of peace.” It is an individual duty that is a starting place for our moral acting. It is a debt we owe to our traditions, to our history and to our humanity.
Be Scofield analyzes Off The Mat, an organization that promises its customers yoga, self-enlightenment, and a look at the “third world.” In this, Scofield discusses systems of privilege and oppression.
This mini-series started on Aug 8, and this is the seventh post so far. The previous post was on Sep 24. Each of the posts can be read separately. Example: Gift Economy
Because I have such a deep longing for a gift economy, so deep that truly every day hurts in seeing how far we are from such a system, I continually look for examples of gift economies already operating so I can sustain and expand the solidity of my faith in this possibility. I am less interested in hunter gatherer societies that still have gift economies than in examples within the existing modern capitalist economy.
Contrary to popular belief, our soldiers are currently fighting three wars – two in the Middle East and one at home. With politicians and pundits endlessly evoking the “war on terror” and security concerns, it is the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces that back up all the tough talk and rhetoric. However, when these brave souls return from combat, our society is not adequately prepared for their arrival. The regrettable treatment of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan is shameful. Over two million men and women have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more than 40 percent of these soldiers have served at least two tours.
by Peter Feinman
Once again an American President has entered into the quagmire of Middle East peace negotiations. Once again leaders of the two sides have come together at the invitation of the American President to break bread in a photo op. Skepticism runs rampant and the desperate plea is heard exclaiming the principals to ratchet down their expectations. Why should this peace negotiation be different from all other peace negotiations? And Joram, king of Israel, said, “Is it peace?”
Nine years after the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, it is difficult to imagine Newt Gingrich wire transferring millions of dollars to Osama bin Laden. It is also hard to envision Rush Limbaugh sending a shipment of weapons to Al-Qaeda. However, many “well meaning” American figures are aiding bin-Laden and his cohorts with words almost as lethal as explosives or ammunition. Unable to defeat the United States militarily, Al-Qaeda’s primary influence stems from its ideology. In a 1998 interview with Osama Bin Laden, ABC reporter John Miller uncovered the heart of Al-Qaeda’s philosophy through bin-Laden’s own words: “The terrorism we practice is of the commendable kind for it is directed at the tyrants and the aggressors and the enemies of Allah, the tyrants, the traitors who commit acts of treason against their own countries and their own faith and their own prophet and their own nation…
Dear Readers,
My purpose in beginning to blog for Tikkun is to interpret and comment on an experiment in progressive public theology that we’re running at Meadville Lombard Theological School (Unitarian Universalist; Chicago, IL) (www.meadville.edu). But in this first post, I just want to introduce myself and describe an experience from earlier in my life that led me to what I’m doing now. Though I’m a professor of theology and ethics, my most important work occurs outside the academy. I’m a father of two and one on the way, married to the best woman I know, a son to some pretty amazing parents and a brother to a brother who constantly inspires me. I try to fulfill my familial vocation as well as I can, but I make plenty of mistakes!
I have been editing and posting transcripts of speeches from the June Network of Spiritual Progressives conference to our website and I am blown away by how good some of them are. Like this:
In theory, if you want the outcomes – equality, environmental change, community stability – you can rig the incentives and the regulatory structure to get the corporations to do that for you. The problem in actual practice is they’re too powerful. We know that. “Well,” he said, “well if you can’t get that, then how are you going to get what you’re talking about?”
Shanah Tovu um’tukah and Eid Mubarak. Here’s a guide I created for the Holy Days; perhaps you’ll find the section on Teshuvah useful. May this year bring transformation and renewal on the side of reparative justice. Blessings,
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb
Guide to Conducting Ta’anit Teshuvah: A Public Fast During the Jewish High Holy Days For Palestinian Human Rights
An initiative of Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb and Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence, with Ta’anit Tzedek/Fast for Gaza and The Fellowship of Reconciliation
It is a tradition for the pious to fast from morning until evening during the Ten Days of Teshuvah, as it is written, “I am with them in distress.” (Psalm 91:15)
In order to prepare for these days of reflection, we ask:
Who is driven from the land and who is invited to settle?
A veteran of struggles for nonviolent social change was quoted to me this year to the effect that for all his long life “the science has been against us, but now suddenly it’s for us.” He was referring to the recent scientific work that has been done on empathy and cooperation. Edwin Rutsch has a very useful collection of this work at his empathy website. His list of experts, with links to articles, books and video, includes people I do know of, like Frans de Waal and Antonio Damasio, and many more I don’t. If I had a month off I would love to soak myself in these new understandings of our cooperative and empathic nature.