The fundamental problem with politics is that it is conducted entirely in the voice of The Accuser. Whereas Jesus repeatedly warns us in the strongest possible terms not to judge others, politics, especially American party…
“I am a monk,” says Hue as imperturbably as ever. “I do nothing against the government. I live in silence and I pray. I have been in prison for two hundred days now, for no…
How often have we misperceived the situation, a look, a sound? We need to be detached from our perceptions, because we are not infallible. –Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace
In the East, and especially in India, Tolstoy’s beliefs seem still to be very much alive. Gandhi regarded himself as a humble follower, and his tremendously effective civil disobedience campaign stemmed in large measure from…
… I used to remind my friends that agitating for peace and actually bringing it about are not necessarily the same. Stirring up passions, provoking animosity, and polarizing opposition may sometimes produce short-term gains, but…
We boast that we are the descendants of the Prophets, but we are really the descendants of the Jews who stoned the Prophets. –Amos Oz, in Robert Alter, Amos Oz: Writer, Activist, Icon
It’s good for me to be the citizen of a state in which there are eight and a half million prime ministers, eight and a half million prophets, and eight and a half million messiahs….
One ought to be clear about at least a few matters — war, capital killing, aborting the unborn! Isaiah invites such clarity, and in a sense, leaves to us the conclusions, the details, the issues. …
[Isaiah] lived the word, endured it, and paid for it. –Daniel Berrigan, S.J., Isaiah: Spirit of Courage, Gift of Tears, 2
The distance we have gone is less important than the direction in which we are going. –Leo Tolstoy, Spiritual Writings, edited Charles E. Moore