Entries from November 2007 ↓

It is 2007, and on practically every continent, the world is consumed with Holy War.  Millions of impoverished people are drawn to the organization, community, and promise of human dignity, God’s love.  But the price is obedience to the anointed messengers, the interpreters of the word, and they preach divisiveness and exclusivity, and martyrdom.  We see children eager to commit murder in the service of faith, Mothers offer their sons in religious ecstasy.

Isn’t it instinctive for a mother to protect her child, to insure the survival of the human race?  I am unable to comprehend a force so powerful as to accomplish this subversion.  The sum of the experience and technological advance of more than five thousand years of human civilization are rendered irrelevant by the need to believe? 

For the last twenty years, I have grown increasingly alarmed at the unrelenting political and media pressure on Americans to believe in God.

Disturbingly, there has been a ground swell of religious fanaticism rising in every religious sect in the United States. We are living in uncertain and stressful political times, and people feel alienated, powerless.   Searching for stability, validation and community; charismatic answers seduce, as they have for centuries.  There is a price to be paid for this religious refuge, and our family didn’t escape the cost.  The need to embrace and proselytize orthodoxy so overwhelmed Sy’s brother, the sibling  relationship was sacrificed on its altar. 

Unrelenting and insidious propaganda urges Americans to proclaim their faith openly; inferring its requirement for political discussion, or patriotism is suspect.

The lines between Church and State blur, our public policy unduly influenced by religious elite. A resume of conservative Christian credentials earn Supreme Court appointees additional credibility to serve.  Each Presidential candidate justifies his fitness for the prize by claiming to live a more pious life than his competitors. Elected officials tacitly approve the trend, and, without shame, accept tribute from the religiously affiliated special interest groups who benefit.

And yet, with all the renewed vigor with which God’s love is expressed by Americans, our actions belie the love, and the winds of war blow a gale.  The United States is engaged in an illegal, pre-emptive and protracted war in Iraq.  Our elected officials do not disavow torture of prisoners; no longer does our national policy stand in accord with the International Geneva Convention. Our highest officials have started in motion, a campaign of surveillance of ordinary citizens, without provocation or reasonable suspicion.   

But, I believe that America will survive the current political and social anomaly. We may be a nation of Christians, but we were not organized to function as a Theocracy, and will not become one. Our Democracy has recovered from inept and corrupt leadership, economic depression, world war, political treachery and treason, social upheaval, and civil war.  I trust in America to recover again, with freedom, unity, and optimism restored.     

Religion has survived everything; it offers all of mankind hope, and delivers all of mankind’s terror.    

Even for the enormity and inescapability of religion, I will not yield my private, secular space. I float on the surface of this ocean that is religion, ignorant of its depth, and the power it holds, until I am forced to confront it. 

Defined by my ancestry, The Holocaust was my first connection, a shocking initiation.  As world events became less threatening, I rejected the relevancy.  As an adult, I connected again to prepare my children for life within the social sphere.  When it was no longer necessary, again I floated away.  Reviewing my own history, I acknowledge that, should the political climate threaten individuals, I may one day, again find myself defined as a Jew. 

 I have come to realize that I cannot grasp all the facets of this age-old question; I cannot answer the riddle of why people believe. 

But, after reflection and discovery, I know the following:

I don’t believe in the simplistic, literal explanation of a God force, one which created the world and all life on it.

I don’t support the idea of religious governmental regimes anywhere.

I don’t abide religious zealots.

I do believe that man has the brilliant capacity to reason, learn and love.  The extent to which these abilities are developed, directly relates to the spiritual satisfaction and meaning of his life.

I live an ordinary, but meaningful life.  I honor America, and am grateful that I was born here.  I respect and identify with the Democratic principles for which this country stands.  I believe in the brotherhood of man, and to live and let live. I connect with others and offer my loyalty to them.  I give and receive love without reservation.  I make a difference in the lives of the people I love, and respect them and their choices. I accept responsibility for the people I love. I respect and honor the memory of my ancestors.  I have contributed to the continuum of the world by birthing four independent and intelligent children, and embracing and influencing eight grandchildren.  For almost fifty years, I have managed a respectful and loving relationship with my husband.  Finally, I reach out to you, the descendants I will never know, with love.  Spiritually, I live a life fulfilled.