On Sun, Oct 26, 2008 at 10:15 PM, Judith Dinowitz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Michael has never advocated holding all Arabs or Muslems responsible > for the actions of Hamas, Hizbollah and the terrorists who are > shooting rockets into Israel. You can't compare Michael and Wright at > all.
I hope it did not really come across that way. I do not believe that Michael has ever advocated holding all Arabs or Muslims responsible for the reprehensible actions of a minority. Nor was I comparing Michael and Rev. Wright. Rather I was trying to invoke a sense of understanding. I deplore the Us vs. Them mentality that permeates the Isreal/Palestine clash. But it is understandable. The people of Isreal have suffered at the hands of Palenstinians and their allies. Palestinians have suffered at the hands of Isreal and their allies. I don't necessarily agree with either of them because the situation is complicated and frustrated. None-the-less, I can understand the anger on both sides. That is what I was trying to invoke as a path of understanding. I think that Rev. Wright has righteous anger at the centuries of oppression that have been visited upon his people. He has current examples of transgressions being visited upon his people to this day. I don't agree with all the ways he reacts to those issues but it is wrong to deny those issues and I think it is unfair to deny his anger even if you disagree with his expression of it. My point is that people who have a keen understanding of oppression come about it in a variety of ways. Rev. Wright seems to have settled into a confrontational, us versus them, attitude. Obama, from what I have seen, has transcended that and developed a more inclusive way of approaching the subject and it is likely to yield more results. But we all have to start our growth and understanding somewhere. I think that Michael has a visceral connection with the plight of people he considers brothers worldwide, through his deep feelings for Judaism. The Rev. Wright has established a similar connection with a diverse group of people, but with a common bond, hence the notion of Black Liberation Theology. I think that the Rev. Wright is short-sighted and that his fear, anger and distrust has kept him from achieving his goals. So people like Barack Obama have taken their lessons from the old guard and moved beyond them, becoming more inclusive and trying to achieve a goal of equality and justice without the violent rhetoric of old. Fundamentally, I'd like to think that jewish folk could understand the anger that might come about from centuries of oppression and see that there are elders that you can admire while disagreeing with and move beyond them into a new way of understanding your relationship with the world. Judah ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:276798 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
