Tikkun Daily Blog Archive (https://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/category/politics/page/134/)
Posts about politics and social change, from a spiritual progressive perspective
Oliver Stone’s thoughtful account of his meeting two weeks ago with Mikail Gorbachev, which provides further insight into the circumstances that have led to the present crisis and the role paranoid cold-warrior mentality plays in turning opportunities for peace into occasions for the recreation of dangerous and irrational conflict.
Of course, anti-Semitism exists in America and remains a dangerous, global prejudice which reverberates strongly in the Holocaust’s wake. I’ve experienced it on several occasions in multiple countries, as have family and friends. Which is why it’s troubling to witness individuals and organizations in America make false ‘anti-Semitism’ claims not to point out this real prejudice, but in the service of propaganda intended to demonize Middle-Eastern Muslims in general, and Palestinians in particular.
It is the ethical responsibility of the Israelis, and those who support them (particularly the people of the United States and Jews around the world) to do every nonviolent thing in our power to end this Occupation quickly.
We like to present many different perspectives and highly respect David Glick’s outrage at the present policies of the State of Israel which can reasonably be described as oppressive and ethically outrageous. We’ve presented Glick here in Tikkun even though we disagree with many specific parts of his analysis.
Many Americans view atheism as an odd and obnoxious intrusion into American life. But it in fact has been a major contributor to the Enlightenment worldview that has shaped the core political and intellectual values of the US.
The good news is that even as many young Jews reject Judaism, they nevertheless have inherited a memory of the values that Judaism sought to inspire, and so many have joined in a wide variety of prophetic enterprises to reclaim Jewish spirituality and/or rebuild a Jewish social justice consciousness.
Caryl Stern, the President and CEO of the US Fund for UNICEF, has written an interesting and affecting account of her trips to various countries in need of poverty relief and of the real abilities of the citizens in developed countries to make a difference to those in need globally.
While a strict separation of synagogue and state, mosque and state, Hindu and Buddhist temple and state, and separation of atheists and state and virtually all the other approximately 5000 religions and state has been enacted, on the other hand, church – predominantly Protestant denominations, but also Catholic – and state, have connected virtually seamlessly to the affairs and policies of what we call the United States of America, from the first invasion of Europeans in the 15th century on the Christian Julian to the Christian Gregorian Calendars up to 2014 Anno Domini (short for Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi – “In the year of our Lord Jesus Christ”).
Human life is more important than rocks, but our antiquated U.S. Constitution is smothering our ability to respond to the wider world with that belief in mind and heart.
Tikkun’s print articles are usually only available to subscribers who are logged into our website, but our publisher has agreed to make one article freely accessible for one month! We present to you the article “What Do the Suicides of Fifty-Year-Old Men Reveal?” by Margaret Morganroth Gullette.