{Editorial Preface: *One of the most widely esteemed pastors in the African American world, and a dearly loved member of the Network of Spiritual Progressives' National Advisory Board, Rev. Graylan Hager presents below a very different interpretation of the Rev. Wright events than those given in mainstream media, or presented in Eli Zaretsky's article (which I now believe I should not have been sent because of its demeaning language which could easily be heard as racist and sexist, and was certainly lacking in the compassion we speak about in the Network of Spiritual Progressives and seek in Tikkun magazine).
Rev. Hagler, on the other hand, may be just a bit too compassionate for the following reasons: 1. He does not recognize adequately that it was not just whites but a new generation of African Americans represented by Obama who no longer believe that the mau-mau-ing language and scare tactics used by African Americans to force America to acknowledge its racism that began in the 60s has any real usefulness left forty years later. Obama's central point cannot be reduced simply to self-interest of saying: "stop, you are frightening my potential white voters." Rather, Obama is saying that the way to challenge racism is to stop making it win/lose and start making the anti-racist struggle win/win. Obama has learned from Nelson Mandela rather than from H. Rap Brown, Eldridge Cleaver and Stokely Carmichael. Mandela recognized that though it wasn't fair to ask the oppressed South Africans to re-assure whites that if there was racial equality whites would not suffer violence and oppression, but it was smart to give that reassurance and the best way to help ease the path to end the suffering of South African blacks.
This is what Obama implicitly, and Tikkun explicitly, is saying: liberation forces, liberals, progressives, etc. MUST recognize that being "right" is not always enough, and that sometimes one must ALSO be "smart," even if that means having to provide reassurances to the fearful when by rights the fearful should be providing those reassurances to the oppressed. Rev. Wright totally flubbed a unique moment for African Americans and for all of us who have committed our lives to challenging racism in this world, and acted self-indulgently when he could have used those moments to explain in a reasoned way what the actual suffereing of African Americans continues to be in America, and what the suffering of others around the world is that is caused by the global capitalist system that Western countries have imposed on the rest of the world.
Imagine, for example, if in a reasoned and calm way Rev. Wright had explained what he meant by "chickens coming home to roost" on 9/11 by talking about the 20,000 children who died that same day of malnutrition-related diseases and inadequate health care, while the corporations functioning out of the World Trade Towers and protected by the Pentagon turn a deaf ear to the suffering that our system engenders, and then went on to say that he disagreed with the violence of the terrorists and opposed that way of protesting, supported instead the path of Martin Luther King, Jr. and non-violence, but understood without condoning and without justifying it, the rage of people who watch Americans in their smug self-satisfied materialist heaven ignoring the suffering of others around the world.
Such a response would have then given an opportunity for others to say: Well, what's wrong with what Wright is saying?
Instead, we were all forced to distance from what Sen. Obama called a performance precisely because it did NOT speak to the people to whom he was speaking.
Who exactly did he imagine was his audience when accepting an invitation to The National Press Club and faced 3 rows worth of national television cameras? Are we to believe that somehow he was misled into thinking that this was another mega-church filled with his supporters? Rev. Hagler is right to mention the huge gap in communication between white and African-American communities, but why wasn't it obvious to Rev. Wright that such a gap would only be widened by the kind of discourse he used at the National Press Club? If your intention is to communicate, then the minimum requirement is to know something about the language of those to whom you wish to talk. And if on principle you won't do that, then don't be surprised when others mis-understand what you are saying. And if you come in to the event with your body-guards, and they look they were supplied by the Black militants of days gone by, or worse, by the Farrakhan-style Nation of Islam, don't be surprised that others will hear you through their most defensive screens. Don't picture yourself a sacrifiial lamb if someone who does want to be heard, like Obama, distances himself from the performance you've done that was felt to be projecting contempt not only by whites but also by young African Americans who no longer resonate to the good-old-discourse of the blame-game.*
2. * Rev. Hagler passes over the identification that Rev. Wright continued to assert with Rev. Farrakhan, arguably the most effective and dangerous homophobe and anti-Semite in the U.S. In case you think that I'm exaggerating the deep hatred of gays that this mis-leader of African Americans continues to assert, I've listed, after Rev. Hagler's talk, some of Farrakhan's statements made in the years after I and others from Tikkun picketed an NAACP "summit" at which Farrakhan was speaking and about which I debated my friend Cornel West (co author with me of Jews and Blacks: Let the Healing Begin, Putnam, 1995). Read those quotes and then you will see why for friends of homosexuals and Jews, the association with Farrakhan is as objectionable to us as it would be if a national Jewish leader were defending the country's most prominent anti-Black racist segregationist.
Yet, there is much to be learned from Rev. Hagler, and his piece is deep, balanced, and provocative. I believe anyone who reads it will get a very different way of thinking about the recent blowup around Rev. Wright. --Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun]* * Wright Does Obama A Favor: Wright, the Sacrificial Lamb* by Rev. Graylan Hagler
Senator Barrack Obama severed his ties with Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, and quite possibly with the church, Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago, Illinois, after viewing news coverage and the C-Span broadcast of Rev. Wright's presentation at the National Press Club, and with mounting media questions, opponent attacks, and topsy-turviness in the polls, Senator Obama presented his perspective, angst, and emotional vulnerability publicly which completely and without a doubt severed his ties with his former Pastor.
This all culminated after weeks of video loops where Rev. Wright was seen 'damning America,' and proclaiming 'the chickens have come home to roost' to a church filled with joyous, 'amening' and predominantly Black people. This scene frightened much of White America, giving pause because they were shocked by the statements and wondering whether Obama was like his pastor and the church.
Obama's opponents, seeing an excellent opportunity to whittle away at the Obama campaign did so effectively raising a subtle and modified race card inferring "Is he really one of us?" The sheer will of Obama's opponents kept the loops televised, as they dug to find new angles to a now old story every reporting day. These questions dogged the Obama campaign for weeks, nearly crippling it and diverting its attention from the campaign and the issues that the campaign needed to articulate.
The tapes of Wright broke just after he began his Sabbatical and had gone away prior to his formal retirement from Trinity United Church of Christ later in 2008. Therefore there was a natural excuse for silence on the part of Rev. Wright that allowed the story to continue on. The 'story' lacked a voice on the other side, and therefore reporters and pundits kept finding sensation with which they could easily feed the public and water the seeds of greater doubts and frame questions that had no satisfying answers.
As the story played, Senator Obama was forced to come out and make a statement. The pundits applauded his speech on 'Race.' They praised him for his poise, non-threatening tone, and in-depth analysis of the issues surrounding slavery, Jim Crow, and in general race in America. He assured White America that he understood their resentment because of Affirmative Action, reinforced his mixed heritage by citing his grandmother who sometimes said things that should not be repeated in racially mixed company, according to Obama. He said, "I cannot disown Rev. Wright as I cannot disown myown White grandmother" - which cemented into the public's consciousness that Wright was indeed a racist along with Obama's White grandmother.
Whereupon one of my Black pastor friends who reside in Chicago asserted, "Wright and Obama's grandmother were thrown under the bus by Obama!"
The Obama explanation on Wright and race were largely satisfying to his supporters and non-supporters alike. The White community was mostly reassured in that speech. No matter how young, gifted and particularly Black he did not have the edge that many Whites perceive exists in Black people. They also felt that Obama with his refined tones would not come at them with civil rights, preference programs, calls for Reparations, and would not shout out the "R" word when in heated discussions between him and White people. Obama established that he was a new kind of Black person, not a relic from the past, as represented by Rev. Wright, or those other 'angry' Black men that we see on the streets everyday. He was safe and many Whites again felt that 'Maybe he is safe enough.'
However the Wright tapes were still playing in the background. After all Rev. Wright was still out of "sound-bite" and therefore the 'story' was unable to be tilted one way or another. The tapes played as conservative talk show hosts and commentators continued to ask whether Obama was sincere or not with his understanding of race and of implied assurances to Whites. Onto the stage steps Rev. Wright. In his appearance on Bill Moyers, a fellow member of the United Church of Christ, Wright was able to offer a reasoned and mellowed response to the questions that the White nation had about his statements. On the Bill Moyers show Rev. Wright appeared calm, intellectual, and relatively reasonable.
Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun and national chair of the Tikkun Community/ Network of Spiritual Progressives.
People are invited to subscribe to Tikkun magazine or join the interfaith organization the Network of Spiritual Progressives-- "both of which can be done by going to www.tikkun.org
I wrote this in May 2005 as a diary. It is still relevant
Brother, take my hand, please.
Recently the media suddenly reported a tragic event on the Lockheed- Martin plant. A white man shot several black employees and then shot himself. The media was as usual, hypocritically biased. They interviewed some white trash guy, who said he himself routinely used the n- word and saw no biggie about it. Of course, the media did not interview any grumpy black man, who would say something I am going to say here, right now,
::::::::
- -That white scumbag deserved to die. He is in Hell where he belongs. If he was alive he should be lynched. Wow, what did I say? Even Reverend Sharpton would not say such a thing. In fact, I never heard anything like that from any black person on TV. Surely once, in the movie ‘Time to Kill’ a black character says that about two white guys he killed after they brutalized his daughter to near death. But in general we never heard any media reporting such a thing. It is as if black people are denied the right to be angry, the right to be unfair, the right to be bigoted and the right to want revenge. It is like there seem to be a taboo on the black people to be … like white people. I think, this is by far the biggest lie of our society, the mother of all lies, the most vicious, most ingenious satanic invention. It is the lie that black people are somehow different, that their rights are somehow different and that although we are all equal, we are…separate. Caught my drift? It is like the apartheid mirror image, the Jim Crow upside- down. We are told that there was a period when black people were fighting for their civil rights. And we are told that they got what they wanted. And we are told that since that time they are enjoying their rights. We are also told that it all had nothing to do with whites. They already had the rights. They just had to move a little aside, so that those black folks got their share. All is hunky-dory, everyone is happy on his own chair. Let the blacks sing in their churches, enjoy their BET and fight for their people. We, the whites have nothing to do with that. That is of course, because we are good people who gave them their rights. The ones we already had in abundance. And now all those women want something. Funny, what do they want? Don’t they have already everything? The truth, though is that civil rights are for everyone to use. It was not only for the black people they fought in the 60s; it was for all of us. And the devilish trick is that someone in this country with great success divided us in the perception that we better not concern each other with each other’s affairs. And then we have OJ, that is surely a black thing or Mr. Blake, that is a white thing or professor Al- Arian- that is an Arabic thing, or Mr. Lee, that would be a Chinese thing. Stick to your herd, bro. Nobody else cares. But the world is more complex than that. It tells us that we have the same. problems. Our Pretzel- in - Michief is our common disaster. Our Condi Rice is our common bad fortune. And our Ramsfeld is our common cancerman. They don’t care who they harm. They don’t care who they kill. They will kill all of us eventually if they get their way. I am a white man. I was born that way. As a human being I recognize all human beings to be divided into three groups: the good, the bad and the indifferent. I believe that white people can be as good, as bad and as indifferent as the black people. I believe I can hate a black person. I believe I can love a black person. I believe a black person can hate or love me. I believe that white people can be heroes and perverts. I believe the same applies to the black people, yellow people, red people, and all humans in general on the Mother Earth. We are all in the terrible danger. The cult of vampires wants the blood of our children. They are bloodsuckers and they are not discriminating. Condi Rice is an enemy of all of us. Ramsfeld is an enemy of all of us. Gonzales is an enemy of all of us. They are the enemies of the people of America. The black community by the tradition and history has an experience on how to resist the oppression. We, the white people need that knowledge and that support. It is crucial. The black community has to take the leadership in the fight against Bush. It is vital. I am asking all the black people not to think that white folks once again want to use them. White people are just not that experienced. But they can learn. They can contribute. They have the same at stake. If all the ethnic communities unite under the progressive banner, we will prevail. Only in that struggle we really will feel that we are equal. And the victory will set us free. All of us. Take my hand, brother. Your sibling needs your help. Help me, please. Help all of us. Let’s get the bastards.
by
Mark Sashine (42 articles, 19 quicklinks, 227 diaries, 3219 comments)
on Friday, May 2, 2008 at 10:18:25 AM
Every progressive, Liberal and Ron Paul repub or Libertarian needs to read this lengthy article that I will post. It is vital reading, and it will tie it altogether for you about why we are where we are today, in America.
The article also reaffirms why I believe that John McCain will be our next President. If he dies, then whoever HW BUSH endorces will be our next President. If you are a religious person (e.g., Christian, Evangelical of Falwell type), you MUST read this article.
Btw, being just approximately 7? yrs younger than Hillary, how does that woman keep her stamina? This article will answer that question(IMO) as her husband NEVER inquired of this criminal Reverend Moon. He turned a blind eye to what I can see; therefore, I have the right, the duty to speculate, to assume, and to conclude, the drug trade helps Hillary.
Rev. Moon called the US a satanist state for starters........read on.
To bring a voice of sanity here, I don't think Wright is crazy because I know the history of the african american church. The church has always been place, probably the only place where many black americans could hear a discourse about racism in a environment that understood their daily struggles. I grew up in the UCC denomination and they have always been a mostly white, progressive, ahead of their time denomination. Unfortunately, that denomination has let social justice overshadow their preaching of the gospel and what you saw at the Press club is not only the result of that but also the result of the Civil Rights era. M. L. King also said many harsh things about America ( if we ever stopped to listen to more than the "I have a dream" speech). This man was not wise in his actions, and he has other issues (ego maybe) but he's not a racist and has married interacial couples before. He served in the Marines for heaven's sake. But angry as he is at America (some would say for just reasons) he could have behaved better.
I think it is ludicrous that anyone would judge Senator Obama on his religious affiliations. This was never done under Clinton, Reagan, Carter (Bush II and the right are another subject). Mitt Romney is a LDS elder (and their church believes black spirit babies are evil and didn't allow blacks into their denomination for years--totally goofy). Huckabee was a Southern Baptist pastor and there was no hoopla over Baptist ideas about various subjects. They should not have been asked anyway. Are we going to give religious test now for our political leaders? And what is it exactly should they believe? Whoever started the Wright controversy was praying on fear. Black people are not a package, they are individuals. Wright has the right to say what he wants and Obama can disown him and do whatever he wishes. God bless America.
But isn't it interesting that there is often a double standard? When whites criticize the nation, they are being patriotic and care about the country. But when blacks do it from their own perspective, which will inevitably be a slavery one, they are something to be feared and hated and villified, even if they are saying it in their own feeble way and telling the truth about the conditions that exist? (That being said, I believe the government does a lot of wrong but the HIV thing? -- He may be having flashbacks from the government's Syphilis test on unsuspecting African Americans but --well--I very much doubt this.)
by
thinker45 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments)
on Friday, May 2, 2008 at 1:49:41 PM
It's always interesting to see a couple of Bible quoters come to some meaning. And then at the Press Club, all was dashed as Wright injected criticism of Moyers for deleting some of his remarks. Whether true or not, whether justified or not, it certainly didn't show forbearance. Also at the Moyers discussion it was almost as though Wright dismissed Dr. King.
Using a little math, I realize that Wright, with preaching in his family tree, embraced the Viet Nam war, and by the time Dr. King was killed he was resuming studies at Howard. His experience with the years Taylor Branch writes about in the King Years trilogy seems to have been somewhat of a blank.
These are just observations. I don't know the man, although I've known of the work done at Trinity when it was small. Another observation from personal experience is that the webpage for Trinity Church of Christ elicited round robin emails from those who took exception to "black" theology. This was before Obama was anywhere near to a possible candidacy.
Thank you, for good information.
by
Margaret Bassett (19 articles, 1024 quicklinks, 23 diaries, 569 comments)
on Friday, May 2, 2008 at 3:13:43 PM
Reverend Wright is a black nationalist. That demonstrates that diversity isn't working in America. We see the same things from every ethnic group in the country from blacks to Hispanics to Jews to the Chinese Americans who now have the 80-20 Inititive.
Rab Lerner himself represents the Jewish community that seeks to further the interests of Israel and the Jewish community.
America has been destroyed by diversity. It is now a nation of various groups with each seeking its own interests. We are saddled with political correctness so that we are not allowed to debate these issues.
In a previous post someone made stereotying attacks upon a white person and this would not be allowed if the comment was directed at a Jew or a black person.
Yet others are quick to call white people bigots and anti-semites if we say anything about other people.
To top it all off we have to put up with lectures from people like Rab Lerner who supports the ethnic state of Israel where the Jews are doing the same things to Palestinians that they claim was done to them by Nazis.
That reminds us of the Rabs and jews who call for us to boycott China. You have to laugh. Do they think we're that stupid.
by
Barbara Cornett (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 15 comments)
on Friday, May 2, 2008 at 3:30:35 PM
I live in the most diverse part of Americas most diverse city. Everyone gets along extremely well, crime is low and it is considered a very hip part of the city to live in. I am talking about Astoria in Queens which of course is part of New York City. New York City is known as a melting pot, what some may not know is that Astoria is called the melting pot of the melting pot.
NYC has the lowest crime rate of any medium to large sized American city. Here in Astoria, we have large groups of Egyptians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Chinese, Koreans, Brazilians, Greeks, Czechs, Russians, Italians, Bosnians, just to name a few. My landlord lives in my building and is Bangladeshi. I wished him and his family a happy Ramadan a few months ago.
Astoria's diversity is part of why a lot of people want to live here.
by
Steven Leser (187 articles, 34 quicklinks, 31 diaries, 1251 comments)
on Saturday, May 3, 2008 at 12:02:22 AM
I agree totally. I think HillaryClinton has her own past, with radicals in the 60's that set a philosophy, used by other noteable 'activists'. I was a 60's young woman, I understand why we needed a revolution.
Many of the political members of Congress were also radicals. Difference is BarackObama and MichellObama, like my daughters and son, are beneficiaries of that movement. Obama will keep it alive and inspiring to today's era, where Clintons, McCain and others are still stuck in the preceding revolution...which was a darker side of life for many.
I think MichaelLerner and many of the 'activists' of that 'era', have progressed with the movement and is by far, a wonderful example of unity and looking forward, not backward. JeremiahWright is also inspiring, but at times, he slides back a little. I respect him very much, and hope he does well, but these people were the force and stepping stone for all our children such as BarackObama.
He will make a wonderful President, I have no fear of him losing. Globally, he is already adored and respected. I blog daily around the world, so I hear this chatter, and it is refreshing and inspiring.
by
mare (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Friday, May 2, 2008 at 4:00:28 PM
You mention that "the association with Farrakhan is as objectionable to us" and yet it is not "us" that Reverend Wright speaks to. He says that Farrakhan got more black men off drugs and back with their children than any man in America and he is right. Farrakhan does not scare blacks and, if they listened to what he was saying, he would not scare whites.
It is not Jeremiah Wright's duty to please you or me or Barack Obama. Wright was in the pulpit when Obama was a child. It is his duty to be true to his own preaching of 40 years and it is America's business to separate, in their minds and in their opinion, a black candidate from his preacher.
They have not done that. It is not Wright's fault that they have not done that. It is not his theological duty to make them do that.
The controversy over Wright's comments prove only one thing--that America has not yet (40 years after King's death) found a way to discuss black-white tension in this country.
Don't blame Jeremiah Wright for that. Rabbi Lerner's Israel hasn't been able to accomplish even that much in 60 years of Israeli-Palestinian tension.
by
Jim Freeman (107 articles, 40 quicklinks, 150 diaries, 326 comments)
on Friday, May 2, 2008 at 6:26:01 PM
"I think it is ludicrous that anyone would judge Senator Obama on his religious affiliations."
I respectfully disagree with this statement. It is only through the display of enlightenment can people free themselves from those who might drag their reputation into the dustbin. Not speaking out is enabling.
I criticized this pope, the leader of the church I was born into for the things he said and did. If I did not I would be an enabler of, if not evil itself, than that which could cause others to do evil. The more men say, the more they give away what is in their hearts.
When in a multiple debate, I spend more time listening then talking until I have been able to prompt from others what they truly feel.
While Jesus preached forgiveness, Rev, Wright obviously preaches vengeance.
For crying out loud, he is still racially bigotted against Italians for the death of Jesus, under Roman rule? How forgiving, how stupid is that? A 2000 year old hatred for the Romans who were enacting the desires of corrupt men-the Herodian Kings and Herodian Rabbi's. Not all the rabbi's, just the Herodian rabbi's.
No sane person blames the Jews or the Romans for Jesus death. Some Romans and Some Jews killed him, but not for the reasons unenlightened theologians and most Christians believe.
Rev. Wright displayed a hatred of not only MY people, but of My TWO peoples, Italians and Americans. Only afterwards did he say, "only Some Americans" but I never heard him say, "only Some Italians."
He wants vengeance, it is dripping out of his eyes, his mouth and every other orifice and if Obama had not cried out against him even had Obama won the nomination I may not have voted for a man who would not speak out against a preacher who displayed hatred of Italians and Americans. We need no further division. He seems to forget that it was MANY WHITE people who gave his people their freedom-Whites had the power and yet many whites gave blacks their freedom! He also forgets that there are 19 million Italian Americans in this country, that is a substantial number of voters to anger.
We no more need a man like him having the ear of a president than we need a man like Cheney with the same access. As Far as I can see right now only skin color and avarice separates them. Cheney is evil and greedy and wants revenge for being born. Wright makes evil comments and while showing no sign of avarice, shows many signs of wanting vengeance also. Nevertheless, he is sounding like a black version of a white bigot turned around.
Who else does he hate which he has not yet blasted? We have had enough of racial hatred from BOTH sides of the color barrier. If it is hateful for whites to display enmity toward blacks, (and it is indeed) it likewise hateful for blacks to display enmity toward whites.
Two thousand years of hatred does not show me a man of God but a man cloaked like a preacher but speaking with the forked tongue of Satan against my race and my nationality, excuse my language but F*CK HIM! He is a hypocrite who should take off the mantle of a Christian because he shows no more love nor Christian Values than do the Christian Right, both extremes are an abomination. He sounds like a black racist, the only thing worse is a white racist and only because the whites outnumber the blacks and are thus a greater danger to the blacks than the blacks are to the whites. If the numbers were reveresed then the black racist would be worse.
I hate no race, no nationality, no religion, and I am not avaristic, if a much flawed human being like me can feel that way, then everyone can.
Chickens, 'Gaps', Demeaning Black Militants, Jewish Response
On Chickens Back Roosting, ‘Gaps’, Demeaning Black Militants, Jewish Responsibility
Lerner would have us believe that Rev. Wright in, “The chickens have come home to roost!” referred to ‘chickens flying around the U.S. making trouble and not to the wiping out a couple million Koreans, four million Vietnamese, Laotians and Cambodians, hundreds of Dominicans and Haitians, hundreds of Cubans, a million Iraqis, a million Afghanis, thousands of Somalis, not to mention the millions in the Congo, Angola, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Chile, etc., in Wright’s lifetime. Was it meant any differently when Malcolm X said it after the assassination of JFK?
The mentioned huge gap in communication between white and African-American communities, is caused by white refusal to communicate about seriously adjusting a much greater gap between the bounty that is co-opted by a white minority and the black community and their fellow suffering white brothers and sisters. Lerner would be served to accept that both political office candidate Obama’s quieter toned call for equality and Rev. Wright’s loudly voice outrage represent a quite necessary two pronged attack on an intentionally caused domestic set of injustices. That is what is “obvious”.
Since this Farrakhan selection of quotes is supposed to show Farrakhan at his worst in order to demean Rev. Wright by association, shall one understand that Tikkun Rabbi Lerner is in favor of actually promoting homosexuality and not just protecting personal orientation, in favor ofdenigrating the Bible's teaching on the subject of homosexuality [okay by atheist Buddhists like yours truly], and in fovor of Zionism, because Farrakhan and billions of people are against it for conquering and impoverishing and ethnic cleansing the Holy Land?
Farrakhan seems always careful to say that it is these three ancient religions born in the Middle East that condemned homosexuality, and he always speaks against the promoting of homosexuality, never homosexuality per se
Lerner might be candid and notice that when Jewish leaders, and practically everyone else, condemn Farrakhan or anyone who openly describes the practice of slum-lording for profit as plied overwhelmingly by Jewish capitalists, THEY never preface their crys of anti-Semitism with some admission like, ‘of course it is unfortunate that these slum lords are mostly all Jewish and making a bad impression in the black and poor white community.’ Why does one hear nary a word of exhortation that American Jews admit their power in the nation and world as a self-distinguishing minority and accept their share of the responsibility of unjust financial arrangement and violence in the world?
Surely Lerner knows that anyone who is against the existence of a fundamentalist in name, but in reality a Zionist partitioned off state for Jews, as was Albert Einstein, Martin Buber, and Eric Fromm, is jumped on as anti-Semitic everywhere. (No one seeks to correct ‘anti-Semitic’ to ‘anti-Jewish’ – Arabs and others are also Semitic nations, Semitic peoples.)
Does editor Rabbi Mike not see what a striking example of ATTEMPTED calumny he has published? Certainly nothing either progressive or spiritual here.
by
Jay Janson (65 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 80 comments)
on Saturday, May 3, 2008 at 9:43:15 AM
America is a country barely 200 years old. Multidiversity has attempted to wipe out the real inhabitants of North America.
I see preciously little advocacy here on OpEd News for Native American causes!
The best thing that could have happened to America would have been an indigenous person running for president in 2008. There are those in this nation who know international law, who know environmental law, who know how the "bridge the gap" between all racists and rebuild America.
Hey, do you think what I am saying is not so? No, it is SO. Winona LaDuke ran with Ralph Nadar. She fits the bill in all ways. Did you support HER and her community?
No of course you did NOT. And you know, there are OTHER qualified members of this nation who also fit the bill as Presidential material.
Most of you all still think we are still savages. No matter which side of the aisle you sit, You allow your commentators more leeway in your heads when they divert your eyes and ears from the TRUTH, than you do letting the sun shine in between your ears and into your hearts.
Any native elder would stand up and say PRECISELY, exactly what Reverend Wright is saying!!
Wright does not need to be manipulated and controlled by Obama's controlling hand, and no REAL Leader would accept that. "Here, sit down, and let me crap on your head" has been Obama's real message.
Now take that idea and see how that has been the case with the Native community for 500 years here.
If I go up to Rabbi Lerner and I state my cause and what I believe the course of the US to be, and I show him my naked emotions on the "state" of what I seem, do you suppose, do you just suppose he would be .. um .. a bit PATERNALISTIC ?? as we used to say in the feminist community?
I put this down, cuz I am really experimenting to see if anyone at OpEd News can actually put themselves in a correct framework anymore.
I sent some of my friends here to write, good writers, activists for 40 years! Women who are right on all human rights issues, and are JUST LIKE ME.
They gave up. I give up from time to time. No one, no one at all in the public spotlight is trying to build a rainbow coalition except Ralph Nadar.
I always say put your money where your mouth is. So I would, if I could, but cannot, send my money to Shirley Golub and Ralph and Matt.
The rest of it right now - FORGET IT. Just dead issues, nothing to do with the advancement of LIFE, which is the fundamental choice we should all be making right now.
And I agree - there was NOTHING progressive NOR spiritual about this article. NOTHING. It was one of the most disappointing articles I have read in my lifetime, actually. I am not one to find ways to apply standards I would not apply to myself and hold people responsibile to them.
But Rabbi Lerner, IF You read these comments of mine, take to heart what I am telling you. As a person who promotes the Spiritual Progressives, I wouldn't be doing it anymore. I asked for help from them a long time ago and GOT BLANKED.
I think it is really a scam for mic hogs and isn't going to remotely produce anything of long lasting value, I am sad to say. I am as spiritually progressive as anyone else! Trust me on that.
by
ladybroadoak (37 articles, 20 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 386 comments)
on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 6:42:28 AM
