Jewish Voices Against Genocide

I am blessed with many Jewish friends, and have been cautious about raising my voice in criticism of Israel, because I know that many of them identify with that nation.  

But, considering that the disproportionate power that Israel has in that region, the reality that this power comes directly from the United States ---and the reckless, often inhumane way in which they employ it, it has been hard to not scream in rage.  

It is gratifying to hear that many of the most outspoken voices calling attention to the ongoing genocide in Gaza are Jewish, including American Jews, it is time now (if not long ago) that we add our voices to that chorus.  

This Israeli woman is courageous, and correct, in her characterization of what is going on there.  

It is indispensable that Jewish voices take a lead in expressions of outrage, in order to draw a clear, bold line between themselves and the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity.

Churchill is often credited with the phrase, "History is written by the victors".  That might be better phrased as "History is written by the survivors".  The world is unfamiliar with the history of the Punic Wars, from the perspective of the Carthaginians.  And we have had few sources to learn the perspective of the indigenous people of North America of their conquest by European settlers.  

It is an all-too familiar story; a group of Europeans leave to find a new home; whether to escape religious intolerance, establish their own religious intolerance, to escape oppression, or to write their own new chapter in history.  When they 'discover' their new home, the people who already live there are seen as obstacles, to either be removed, slaughtered, or placed on reservations - which tend to not be on the best land, and shrink over time, or if resources are found on the rez.  If the indigenous people find the conditions intolerable, and rebel, they are labeled ''renegades', or 'terrorists', and whatever actions they take when they 'go off the reservation', are treated as though that's where the trouble began.  Often these actions are used as a justification to steal even more of their land, leaving them in even more dire circumstances - and to characterize them as more savage, and less deserving of even the substandard conditions that drove them to that desperation. 

The choices for indigenous people are the slow-motion genocide of privation and starvation, or the more rapid genocide that follows acting in rebellion.  

Scopes Trial Centenary

With all the monkey business constantly flooding all lanes of media, it would be easy to overlook significant milestones from the past.  

The trial of Tennessee science teacher John Scopes for teaching evolution was wrapping up a century ago this weekend.  Tomorrow will be one hundred years since defense attorney Clarence Darrow called, as his only witness, prosecutor William Jennings Bryan, and choreographed a self-destruction of possibly the most prominent religious fundamentalist of that age.  

Scopes Monkey Trial

Though the trial is viewed by history as a victory of science over the teaching of folklore as literal reality, the defendant was actually found guilty, and the law was not overturned until decades later.  Stranger yet, there are still many in this country that would, given the chance, reinstate such laws.  

'Illegals'

ILLEGALS

Here's one of my late Father's favorite riddles;
"What's the difference between 'unlawful' and 'illegal?' "

Unlawful means 'against the law', and illegal is a sick bird."  

They're actually both adjectives, and as such, they are meaningless when not referencing a noun.  Without a noun, the adjective just hangs there like a wet paintbrush with nothing at the business end to describe or modify.  

This is more than bad grammar or poor English -- though it very much is these.  It can also be intentional, with the intent of diminishing or hurting another.  

Using a bare adjective to describe a human being is intended to dehumanize them.  When a person is identified only by an adjective--particularly one with a demeaning connotation--it makes it easy to ignore our sin when we treat them as less than human.  It is not the husband, father, hard worker, or desperate refugee who is being kidnapped, and sent to a concentration camp; it is an 'illegal', and by ridding our streets of them, we become more, for want of a better term ...  'legal'.  Viewing them in this way helps us feel like we are righteous, and we feel no shame when we then sit in a pew the next Sunday, praying to a God who very explicitly condemns treating humans this way.   

Though this kind of reductionist language is intended to diminish the target of our grammatical omission, it is we who are reduced.  

So, to borrow from my Father's old riddle, what's the difference between a sick bird, and a cruel, not-too-intelligent redneck? 

Future Amnesia

Denying food to the hungry, shelter to the unhoused, health care to the poor, and civil rights to all; while transferring the savings from this parsimony (and more) to those with the most, who need it least.  

Thousands of people who have been drawn to our land by our long-standing promises of sanctuary, fairness, and the promise of a better life--even some who have lived here and contributed for decades--are kidnapped and deported to hell-holes even more dangerous than the ones they fled to reach our shores.  Denying these captives of an opportunity to defend themselves - even a writ of habeas corpus, the most basic of civil rights under two-thousand-year-old Common Law.   

Doing all this while weekly finding assurance within the walls of a church; feigning worship of a God who clearly condemns their every workweek action; yet finding validation from a preacher who wouldn't dare to call out their blasphemy, for fear that the jingling in the offering basket might be silenced.  

We have been here before.  

One day, our nation will awaken to the cruelties being committed in our name, and end them ... 

And the next day Republican school boards across our land will create curricula that will prevent the history being created today from being taught tomorrow.

Bill Moyers' Passing

I think it may be a bit self-indulgent to feel like it was like a punch in the gut when I learned a few minutes ago the Bill Moyers has died.  He was ninety-one years old, and has shared from the depths of his soul for his entire life.  It is time to let him rest, rather than be envious of whatever thoughts he might have left unshared at the end of his time.  

One of the last television shows I would try to schedule around was Bill Moyers Journal on PBS.  He would interview guests I had never heard of, but would seek out once I learned of them.  His extended conversations with Joseph Campbell are such a treasure-trove of insight on mythology, showing commonalities of the elements of the heroic narrative that spans cultures, and unites humanity.  The way they shared their conversation invited the listener to be part of it.  It really conveyed a feeling of oneness with humanity.  

As brilliant as Bill Moyers was, it was never his intent to display his intellect, but to facilitate our visit into the intellect and imagination of the guest he was interviewing.  It's been a while, but I've enjoyed many hours hiking in the woods, with the volume my earbuds set so I could hear my footsteps, and the squirrels, but also take in the insights of  conversations like this one, with Campbell.  

Moyers & Campbell

One-Liner Quips

GOLF - A game played by fat middle-aged men who pretend to be athletes, and by athletes to just want to relax and pretend that they are not.   

Bridge of Giggles

La poésie n'est pas incompréhensible, 
 elle ests inexplicable.  
 - Octavio Paz

Little Donny Not Loved

My father never had any use for 'bleeding hearts', or 'sob sisters', so I know I risk his wrath from the afterlife, as I express my sympathy here.  

But I can't help but wonder what chance the Current Occupant of the White House ever had ... 
and just how different things might have turned out, both for him and for the world, if he had ever, for a moment been shown love as a child.