I first read this on Facebook yesterday, and I have shared links to that post at least half a dozen times, because what you are pointing to here is waaaaay too often overlooked. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Another toda gedola to you for this from this secular often agnostic/atheistic Jew who has never been able to shake or even wanted to shake that deep spirituality of being from our Jewish nation in idea, community, morality and geography.
I like the double play on the word “Observant”, too. AN d once more, I wish very much that you would submit your writing to a “mainstream” publication as an Opinion piece, perhaps, to NYTimes, the NYer, WaPo, NPR, etc., where so many of our communities of mostly shared values seem to indulge their bamboozlement. (I’ve all but given up on the outlets on the right, lest they co-opt and undermine voices like yours/ours). This is the commentary that anyone thinking about voting for Mamdani should be reading, too. If a mayoral candidate plays coy in immediately, repeatedly and unreservedly repudiating that powerfully toxic component that has taken hold in their broader community, then one should not be elected into office. I would say the same of Smotrich, Gvir, Abbas and all of the Qatari and Iranian leadership as well as so many others.
Exactly. Many secular people don't take religion (any religion) all that seriously. They think it's superstitious, antiquated, foolish customs and practices, and anti-science. So how can that possibly motivate someone to commit violent acts. Even if the individual who commits violent acts and says it's for Jihad, and they are a Shaheed, the secularists say they're incorrect about their own motivation. It's really about poverty or nationalism. They are projecting their own rational logic onto religious fanatics. A very dangerous tendency.
Islam‘s roots are conversion through force while using monotheism as a war cry rather than a path to spiritual enlightenment. Thank you for your excellent composition.
I LOVE the ending to this about Islam's Mercy and Justice. <3 You are ever the idealist. I totally agree with this: "Judaism has emphatically rejected forced conversion. . . ." because I believe strongly that it is a violation of the human soul. Where I differ is that I also believe in spiritual evolution, meaning that the past is NOT always prologue. Sometimes we need to move into new understandings of the Spirit.
I first read this on Facebook yesterday, and I have shared links to that post at least half a dozen times, because what you are pointing to here is waaaaay too often overlooked. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
This is so well written and such courageous clarity, not without compassion. Thank you.
Another toda gedola to you for this from this secular often agnostic/atheistic Jew who has never been able to shake or even wanted to shake that deep spirituality of being from our Jewish nation in idea, community, morality and geography.
I like the double play on the word “Observant”, too. AN d once more, I wish very much that you would submit your writing to a “mainstream” publication as an Opinion piece, perhaps, to NYTimes, the NYer, WaPo, NPR, etc., where so many of our communities of mostly shared values seem to indulge their bamboozlement. (I’ve all but given up on the outlets on the right, lest they co-opt and undermine voices like yours/ours). This is the commentary that anyone thinking about voting for Mamdani should be reading, too. If a mayoral candidate plays coy in immediately, repeatedly and unreservedly repudiating that powerfully toxic component that has taken hold in their broader community, then one should not be elected into office. I would say the same of Smotrich, Gvir, Abbas and all of the Qatari and Iranian leadership as well as so many others.
Shana tova and thank your cherished insights.
Exactly. Many secular people don't take religion (any religion) all that seriously. They think it's superstitious, antiquated, foolish customs and practices, and anti-science. So how can that possibly motivate someone to commit violent acts. Even if the individual who commits violent acts and says it's for Jihad, and they are a Shaheed, the secularists say they're incorrect about their own motivation. It's really about poverty or nationalism. They are projecting their own rational logic onto religious fanatics. A very dangerous tendency.
Islam‘s roots are conversion through force while using monotheism as a war cry rather than a path to spiritual enlightenment. Thank you for your excellent composition.
So elequently written.
עושה שלום במרומיו הוא יעשה שלום עלינו ועל כל ישראל ואמרו אמן
Ditto
I LOVE the ending to this about Islam's Mercy and Justice. <3 You are ever the idealist. I totally agree with this: "Judaism has emphatically rejected forced conversion. . . ." because I believe strongly that it is a violation of the human soul. Where I differ is that I also believe in spiritual evolution, meaning that the past is NOT always prologue. Sometimes we need to move into new understandings of the Spirit.
Douglas Murray expands on this concept in his latest book: On Democracies and Death Cults
Israel and the Future of Civilization.
A beautiful essay, Peter! Wishing you an easy fast.
גמר חתימה טובה
Ditto
These Free Palestine Cats Outta Control https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/these-free-palestine-cats-outta-control