Tikkun Daily Blog Archive (https://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/category/politics/page/155/)
Posts about politics and social change, from a spiritual progressive perspective
Jews love and loved Nelson Mandela. He inspired us with his insistence that the old regime of apartheid would crumble more quickly and fully when faced with revolutionary love and compassion than when faced with anger and violence. Mandela also challenged us to think deeply about whether the current situation in Israel/Palestine reflects the ethic of compassion that is so central to Judaism.
Back in the early 1960s, black South African lawyer and activist Oliver Tambo was asked to describe a colleague who had just gone to prison for resisting white minority rule in that country. He replied that this man is “passionate, emotional, sensitive, quickly stung to bitterness and retaliation by insult and patronage.” Tambo was talking about his law-firm partner, Nelson Mandela – remembered today for his grace, humor, and empathy, as well as his remarkable courage and leadership. What happened to Mandela in prison, what changed him so radically, is still a bit of mystery in my mind. He was often asked about a slice of this question – how he let go of the anger he felt specifically toward whites – and his responses were usually of a fairly standard therapeutic variety.
Why the enduring “special relationship” between the U.S. and Israel? Cultural historians, who look at symbols and stories more than politics and policies, say a big part of it goes back to the late 1950s, when Leon Uris’ novel Exodus reached the top of the bestseller list and was then turned into a blockbuster film, with an all-star cast headed by Paul Newman. Scholar Rachel Weissbrod called it a “Zionist melodrama.” M.M. Silver devoted a whole book to the phenomenon: Our Exodus, with the subtitle, The Americanization of Israel’s Founding Story. A preeminent historian of American Judaism, Jonathan Sarna, came closest to the truth in his blurb for Silver’s book: Exodus “consciously linked brawny Zionist pioneers with the heroes of traditional American westerns.”
Economic and power relations are the place where lofty religious or humanistic ideals come to ground. This is a place where atheists and the religious can work together to discourage exploitation, especially through Nonviolent Communication.
Our planet Earth has experienced five major species extinctions over the past billion years and the common denominator has always been a sudden acceleration in Global Warming- with the rapid release of Methane being the most likely culprit.
Work dominates our lives and is, unfortunately, a place where the culture’s predominant values – compete and win, dominate and control – are typically rehearsed with unrestrained virulence. This blog discusses how salaried workers – even without a renewed workers rights movement – can apply the lessons of Radical Decency to infuse their relationships with greater ease, trust, and respect.
Is “social practice” yet another insurgent, critical movement being watered-down into something palatable to the establishment art world – something that may reify existing power relations rather than undermining them?
Pope Francis praises women while asserting that their gender-based skill set is not fit for leadership. He thinks women are geniuses, but still not sharp enough to be priests or govern their own bodies. This flattery strategy will not work for those of us who would like to see women ordained to the priesthood, and we can not allow such superimposed gender norms to be delivered around the world.
The challenges faced by our children as they struggle to assimilate in American culture imply a very real danger of becoming conflicted and confused as they grow older. But we can all rally behind a holiday like Thanksgiving. After all, it’s a perfect blend of national, cultural and religious values: we come together as a nation, but bring our own unique foods and practices to the celebration, and we stand united with our common religious teachings of gratitude and service.
America is no longer blue or red in its desire to tackle human-created global warming—it’s green. Our present way of life, economy, and civilization and the future of our children and grandchildren rest with us this very day. Will we take back our democracy? Will we seize our rights and power as citizens for our economy, way of life, very lives, and future generations?