Ten best reasons for a bigger US war in Afghanistan

Awaskow

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Thursday December 03, 2009 · 10:00 AM PST

2009/12/03 · 10:00

Ten best reasons to send more US troops to Afghanistan

If you want to breed and train more would-be terrorists who hate the USA, the best way to do so is attacking Afghan villages where key Al Qaeda cells have left to regroup elsewhere.

If you want to keep Afghan women powerless, ignore the advice of their own leaders that grass-roots economic development is crucial -- and send the Marines instead, to boost the power of macho warlords who gather loyalty by fighting foreign invaders.

If you want to make sure that no one is learning that government could do good things like building schools and community health clinics in America, hiring teachers and writers and railroad construction workers, feeding hungry children, or renewing our rotting sewer system -- then sink hundred of billions of dollars into this war so as to bankrupt domestic-needs programs.

Awaskow

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Thursday September 24, 2009 · 2:05 PM PDT

2009/09/24 · 14:05

During these days between Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur, Jews are called on to reexamine our own actions -- our "missings of the mark." The emphasis is on OUR sins - not those of individuals alone, but of the community -- and the sins of ourselves, not of other people, even our enemies. We are also called on not only to confess our misdeeds but CHANGE what we do.

In that light, the Israeli government's recent behavior flies in the face of this profound Jewish wisdom. So Jews - and all others who care for peace - must act in new ways to turn toward compassion, truth, justice, and peace.

Below you will find two major actions we might take NOW, at this solemn time of year: (1) joining the Jewish and Interfaith Fast for Gaza; and (2) signing up for the Conference of 18 pro-Israel, pro-peace organizations, including The Shalom Center, that will be held in Washington DC October 25-28. Links and details are below.

Awaskow

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Tuesday July 28, 2009 · 10:33 AM PDT

2009/07/28 · 10:33

The Great Recession is eating away at many of our congregations: Lost jobs, failing businesses, collapsed retirement funds lead to congregational deficits, layoffs, endangered mortgages and building funds.

Clergy and religious leaders of all faiths are trying to grapple with this crisis. At this very moment, many rabbis are at work crafting the sermons they will give for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. What I am about to say to and about the rabbis could act as a model or a stimulus to those of other traditions.

What if we were to take Rahm Emanuel's teaching seriously; "Never let a serious crisis go to waste. It's an opportunity to do things you couldn't do before."

Awaskow

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Sunday July 12, 2009 · 7:51 PM PDT

2009/07/12 · 19:51

The effort to prevent climate disaster for Planet Earth is not going well.

Why? For starters --- Since the beginning of the year, oil and gas companies and electric utilities have spent nearly $24 million lobbying Congress and have made more than $4 million in campaign contributions to members of Congress, according to data by the Center for Responsive Politics.

All the more reason for the American public to bring much more energy to bear on this issue — and for the Jewish community to begin preparing now for Climate Healing Shabbat on October 23-24. That is when we focus on the story of the Flood -- the near-destruction of all life on earth, and its salvation by a committed family and the Ark they built. All the more reason to plan vigorous public demand for saving the only Ark that matters – our planet.

Step One: ask your rabbi, your synagogue or JCC or retirement-home board, your social action and interfaith committees, your Hillel council, your school principal, to name Shabbat Noach , October 23-24, to be Global Climate Healing Shabbat.

Awaskow

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Tuesday June 23, 2009 · 2:26 PM PDT

2009/06/23 · 14:26

A CALL TO OBSERVE SHABBAT NOACH, OCTOBER 23-24,
AS "GLOBAL CLIMATE HEALING SHABBAT"

This fall, Shabbat Noach -- when Jews around the world read the Torah portion about the Flood, Noah, the Ark, and the Rainbow -- comes on October 23-24, the day when a number of experts on the global climate crisis have called for world-wide actions to protect our planet from climate disaster.

This Torah passage lends itself to focusing on the danger of destruction of life on our planet, and also on the actions we need to take to prevent destruction and preserve the web of life in which the human race has emerged and created civilization.

So we --- both national and grass-roots leaders of the Jewish people -- urge all Jewish communities to observe Shabbat Noach as "Global Climate Healing Shabbat"

We invite those of all religious, spiritual, and ethical traditions to join as well at that time of year.

Awaskow

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Sunday June 14, 2009 · 7:10 AM PDT

2009/06/14 · 07:10

The Ahmedinajad- Khatami regime has stolen an election.

And now the regime is repressing the nonviolent uprising that welled up to protest. Last night I saw more than 200 photographs from Iran, sent by the people of Iran through Email -- sent despite the regime's shut-down of cell phones and text messages.

What can we do? WEAR GREEN -- A SHIRT, A TIE, A SCARF, A RIBBON.

Awaskow

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Thursday June 11, 2009 · 11:36 AM PDT

2009/06/11 · 11:36

The Holocaust Museum murder and the murder of Dr. Tiller at his church in Wichita share several characteristics:

1. Both men who have been accused of the murders have long histories of involvement with ultra-right-wing political-religious groups like the Christian Identity movement.

Both might, therefore, have been labeled "Christian terrorists" as various other murderers have been labeled "Muslim terrorists." There is a seed of truth in the labels -- IF we applied them to the majority religion as well to the others. There is, after all, a thread of blood woven in the fabrics of all religious traditions.

Not only did the alleged perpetrators base some claim to legitimacy in their religious beliefs, but both attacks were aimed at sacred places: the Lutheran church in Wichita, one formally designated "sacred" by our customs; the other, the Holocaust Museum, treated essentially as a place of pilgrimage and awe even more than as a place of education.

So in a deeper sense than the labels, we see that the mysterium tremendum that is at the heart of religious experience is somehow engaged in these murders.

Awaskow

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Monday June 01, 2009 · 9:43 AM PDT

2009/06/01 · 09:43

So another physician has been murdered for making it possible for women to actually use their constitutional right to choose an abortion.

All honor to Dr. Tiller, who joins the list of martyrs for ethical decency and human rights, killed for healing with compassion. – In his case, a religious martyr in the fullest classical sense, killed in his own church as he arrived to worship, killed for acting in accord with his religious commitments and his moral and ethical choices.

And all dishonor to those vicious attackers like Bill O'Reilly who have egged on the kind of violence that finally murdered Dr. Tiller. And who have blasphemously invoked the name of God to justify these incitements to murder.

There are two real-life cases of abortion that have shaped my own judgment on the practice, in addition to the Torah's only comment on abortion – which makes utterly clear that it it is not murder.

Awaskow

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Sunday May 31, 2009 · 12:42 PM PDT

2009/05/31 · 12:42

"The Mormons are Coming, the Jews are coming!"

Suppose you read that opponents of same-sex marriage had taken ads in newspapers shouting "The Jews are Coming, the Jews are Coming" to warn people against the nefarious influence of Jewish organizers who were (disproportionately to their numbers) involved in supporting same-sex marriage?

I would think it was disgusting bigotry.

Now imagine that supporters of same-sex marriage take ads in newspapers shouting "The Mormons are Coming, the Mormons are coming!" to warn people against the nefarious influence of Mormon organizers who were (disproportionately to their numbers) involved in opposing same-sex marriage?

I would think it was disgusting bigotry.

The former has not happened; the latter has.

This incident reminds us of the wisdom of the biblical teaching, "Justice, justice, shall you pursue!" Why is "justice" mentioned twice? To remind us that just ends must be pursued by just means. People who claim to be "against hate" should not mobilize hatred in support of their goals.

This teaching was ignored or subverted this past week by the FBI itself – an institution presumably committed to pursue justice.

Awaskow

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Tuesday May 26, 2009 · 4:10 AM PDT

2009/05/26 · 04:10

Learning from Shavuot & Pentecost:
Can We Share Our Food? Can We Share Our Talk & Tongues?
Can We Relearn how to Share our Work & Rest?

This coming Thursday evening, May 28, there begins the festival of Shavuot. The ancient rabbis assigned a special reading for Shavuot: the Book of Ruth, which focuses on harvesting, on tongues of native and of "foreign" speech, of wealth and poverty. The biblical Ruth, though a foreigner, was welcomed to work and food. What if Ruth came to America today?

For Christians, Shavuot became Pentecost, now counted 50 days after Easter (this year on Sunday, May 31), when the Holy Spirit came like the rush of a strong and driving wind, helping the early community of believers speak and understand all the languages of every nation under heaven.

Both these festivals look beyond the narrow boundaries of nation, race, or class.
Intro

Awaskow

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Wednesday May 13, 2009 · 9:14 AM PDT

2009/05/13 · 09:14

If the US Insists on M. E. Peace --
Will There Be a Crisis over Values & Identity
Within American Jewish Life?

It is not yet clear whether President Obama is ready to use pressure against Israeli policies of occupation and blockade. If he does, there will be not merely a deep political crisis within the American Jewish community, but a deep identity crisis: can American Jews whose values seek peace and who admire Obama break with an Israeli government that refuses to take the crucial steps for peace? What would such a collision mean for the comfortable assumption of most American Jews that there is no conflict between their commitment to liberal values and American interests, and their commitment to Israel?

One step even deeper into the values crisis: Forget about US policy. If the Israeli government's behavior and policy diverge further and further from the values of peace and justice rooted in prophetic and rabbinic teaching, will American Jews choose to support Israeli government policy anyway, or pursue their ethical commitments?

Awaskow

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday April 30, 2009 · 1:32 PM PDT

2009/04/30 · 13:32

There is a lot more to the swine flu outbreak than a virus and a vaccine:

The press in Mexico has been reporting that swine flu may have originated in the factory farming of pigs by Smithfield Foods (the world's largest pork packer and hog producer).

One week into the epidemic, not a single major American newspaper has reported even the possibility that factory farming may be implicated in swine flu.

AND -- When the Stimulus Bill ("Recovery Act") came to Congress, it included almost a billion dollars to prepare for a possible flu pandemic. But Karl Rove organized Republicans to take this money out of the bill,

There is a reason that we speak of people "hogging " everything for themselves, or eating "piggishly." It is about ignoring the needs of others and seeking to gobble up the world's abundance for the benefit of a few.

It is a remarkable irony that this kind of piggish politics may have helped create the swine flu epidemic ---

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Ten best reasons for a bigger US war in Afghanistan

Yom Kippur & the Middle East: Our misdeeds and theirs

Recession, Rabbis, & Rahm

The Atmosphere --- or Mere Atmospherics?

Jews Call Climate-Healing Shabbat for Noah/Rainbow Torah-time

SOLIDARITY WITH IRAN: WEAR GREEN!

Murders in the "Cathedral": Holocaust Museum & Wichita Church

Murder Is Murder -- and Abortion is NOT

"The Mormons are Coming, the Jews are Coming!"

What if the Biblical Ruth came to America Today?

Will M..E. Peace => internal values crisis in Am. Jewish community?

Swine flu, pig farms, & piggish politics