Since the Hamas / Israel war began on Oct 7, 2023, I’ve been dreading what the future holds for the Jews and the Palestinians. I was raised in the Reformed Jewish religion, but I’ve been an Atheist since around 11 or 12 years of age. I’ve always thought that religion is a dead end for humanity, but I realize that most of the rest of the world does not believe the same things that I do. I also realize that if I were to live in a different place, my atheism would be considered a reason to be put to death, as would my Jewish background. I see the terrible things happening in Gaza right now, and I am horrified by the death and destruction. I don’t hold Israel completely responsible, and I likewise don’t hold Hamas completely responsible - as many Israeli supporters have claimed. There is plenty of of blame for both Israel and the Islamists in Hamas. However, at its core, this conflict is one that is based upon ancient religious hatred that goes back thousands of years, and in my opinion, the best way forward would be for more members of the Jewish, Muslim AND the Christian faiths to wake up and realize that we humans can outgrow our need for god, and religion, and most importantly for war, and begin to live together without lying to ourselves and to each other about the evils of anyone who doesn’t see the world the same way that we want them to. There is certainly room for improvement in human relations here on planet earth. We need to get to work on improving our socially evolved adaptation to living in large populations. Thanks for your work! I’ve enjoyed reading your blog.
I'm an atheist, too, and I basically agree but include a stop-gap solution. I also know that conflict over religious differences--or the excuse of them--has existed throughout history. My neuropsychological perspective is how people form explanations of things (through the prefrontal cortex), which is adaptive when accurately done. It can also provide a sense of comfort, as for ages through religious belief. However, science has come along to increase accuracy and provide widespread practical benefit for comfort, which is highly threatening especially to religious authorities (as alluded to by Dr. Lee). Unfortunately, because religious belief is based on a matter of opinion (faith) and not material evidence (science), it is highly vulnerable to authoritarianism whose leaders dictate a similar "believe me because I say so." I think that now radical, authoritarian religious believers, largely from the religious leaders of such people, have maintained these current, horrible situations of conflict. My solution is with the U.S. First Amendment--properly interpreted and administered to be consistent with the priority of Constitutional, secular law (as in equal justice under). Ideally (I admit), if everybody began to follow this paradigm shift in history about religion, then it would put conflicts at least due to the excuse of religious differences ultimately in a safe place. The blueprint is there, and as it's also written that even Jesus said, "He who has eyes to see, let him see, and he who has ears to hear, let him hear." If only!
Religion has generally embraced oneness, understanding we are all connected, brothers and sisters living on one planet together. We need to love and with war hate abounds.
thank you for your work Dr Lee. I was a catholic but left the church because of its misogyny. however I am initiated into the sacraments so my foundation of spirituality reflects that training. I am sending peace to all from the Lenape/Delaware Esopus Creek outside Kingston NY. I have been fortunate to have learned from the Mohawks and other traditional peoples about the Law of Peace. This land's orginal people of the East had a peacemaker who taught the waring tribes a way to live in harmony. The founding fathers appropriated their Great Law with its 3 branches of government et al but with the omission of the balance of power by male and female. The current world is a hyper masculinity out of wack with unchecked destruction. There is a template of how to live without destroying the earth and its people. Will humans value life enough to rebalance by valuing the feminine?
I have had the thought that Israelis are doing to the Palestinians what the Nazis did to the Jews. The sins of the fathers passed onto the sons, for example. We see this in the abuse of children of mothers whose ancestors were slaves in America. Children whose mothers abuse their children as their ancestors were abused becoming a pedagogy of unconscious violence. Dr. Lee is correct in foreseeing a new generation of terrorists in the making as a result of the physical and psychological violence done unto the children of Gaza. I'm looking for someone in this conflict to lead us out the war and madness.
Dr Lee, Merry Christmas, Happy new year and best of wishes for holidays. May you have the eternal spirits to fight for the just cause. May you find peace & purpose in your life.
On Palestine - Israel issue, i see it from multiple dimension.
1. Hamas atrocity of Oct 7 and disproportionate use of force by Israelis. Israel fighting terrorism with terrorism. Media narrative = Both side-ism. Hamas did terrorism. Israel shall respond in worse ways. Both Arabs and Israelis are violent creatures and thrive for blood of each other. Hence there cannot be any peace.
2. DeGaulle's view. DeGaulle once viewed Arabs as irrational actors and Israel as rational & responsible actor. But he discovered the nature of Israel. The reality is in reverse. Israel is an imperial and immoral state. Israel use disproportionate force and keep the region in perpetual instability. In fact, Arab states are actually rational. Reject Both side-ism argument. The problem is Israel, not the Arabs.
3. My view that supplements DeGaulle's position. Before we blame both side atrocities - Israel for disproportionate force and Hamas for terrorism. We need as assessment of Oct 7 attacks. I want to know how these attacks happened. Why Israel Intelligence failed? Did it fail on purpose? Who really benefits from these attacks?
Then we need to view Israel's response to Oct 7 attacks. My assessment is that it has nothing to do with defeating Hamas. This is purely an operation of ethnic cleansing. The plans for such ethnic cleansing have been in Israeli think tanks for several years. That is ethnic cleansing & mass displacement of Gaza population. Oct 7 is just a pretext to execute such a plan.
4. Cui bono. See the long pattern of conflict. Whenever Bibi or any Israeli ruling Govt is in trouble, suddenly a terror attack happens and a war breaks out. War becomes a cover up for domestic political failures. If you look at current Bibi regime. Bibi is in the league of Trump - a failed corrupted ruler despised by the population. Mass protests going on against his failures since many years. The protest against his dictatorial overtaking of judiciary are the latest in line. Bibi is already staring a prison cell for bribery & other scandals.
Only thing that can save Bibi is a long war & destabilization that will help him suppress the domestic opposition.
5. Who is Hamas? Decades ago, there was no Hamas. There were secular intellectual forces in Palestine that used foreign diplomacy to overturn Israel's aggression and occupation. These forces established contacts with other states to lobby for two state solution. But Israel killed these intellectuals with targeted assassinations. At the same time Israel created a 'controlled' opposition that was radical. The radical opposition which has no rational intellectual appeal in foreign states. This was done to divide & isolate secular forces of Palestine & break down their global outreach. A weak Islamic militant opposition called Hamas was directly & indirectly nurtured.
Hamas should be seen as a strategic asset of Israelis. Looking at big picture. Whenever Bibi is in big trouble. Hamas terror attack came at very convenient time to his rescue. Hamas attack also became an Israeli pretext for ethnic cleansing of Gaza. The plans were already prepared & ready to be rolled out. The Hamas gave those plans a green light.
7. US also wants a conflict in middle east (ME). US has obsession with controlling middle east. The last two decades of conflicts (overt & covert) - Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria etc shows US long desire to keep this region in perpetual instability. With US withdrawal, there was relative peace in ME for a short while. The Chinese brokered a peace initiative between Iran Bloc & Saudi Bloc. The region is supposed to a target for Chinese Infrastructure investment & new silk road. After decades of war, the region have chance of stability & development.
But as US & China are geopolitical foes, US can't let ME to be in Chinese sphere of influence. One way to keep Chinese out of middle east is to keep the region in eternal war & instability. US & Israel wants a big war in ME for their own reasons. Bibi wants to stay out of jail, rescue his political career and wag the dog event with ethnic cleansing of Gaza. US wants war in ME to keep Chinese out & also to fulfill bulk orders of military industrial complex. US needs constant conflicts to keep its military industry in profit.
Oct 7 attack was the 'event' - an attempt to start a war in ME by goading Iranians into a conflict.
8. I suspect, Biden has little say in this matter. Just like Dubyaman (Bush Jr.) - had any idea about how Cheney, Wolfowitz & Neocons ran US foreign policy. Right now US foreign policy in run by similar ilk (Blinken, Nuland etc).
9. In the great game of geopolitics & Bibi's politics, Palestinians are just poor pawns, sheep who will get slaughtered & disposed off. BTW, it's also an interesting case study on how Genocides happen and how countries turn blind eye at critical moments.
10. Silence and intellectual bankruptcy of western intellectuals. There are several stages of Genocide. One of the stages is the conspiracy of silence by western intellectuals. They become mute right when it matters most. You will find that experts like Lawrence Tribe, Timothy Snyder, Ruth Ben Ghiat etc have very little, almost no perspective to offer on Gaza Genocide.
11. So far 20,000+ civilians killed in Gaza. 100 journalists killed in Gaza. Nearly 11,000 children killed. More than 140 UN relief workers killed. 60% of Gaza residential homes & infrastructure reduced to rubble. The real casualty figures (from famine, cold, sickness etc) is unknown.
You're a thinker, for sure. Number 3: It's obvious that Israel can't destroy Hamas....70,000 or so are Hamas. They are using this as an excuse to eliminate Palestinians, those who aren't killed will have no place to live. Or, die of disease. Israel is creating more Hamas, not less. They also don't expect to rescue the captives....they started bombing immediately. Israel is creating antisemitism; do they love being "victims"...it's especially gratifying when the USA is their best friend. The USA is one big generous sucker. Biden says ,"easy does it"...Israel just laughs.
There is much to be said about the Israeli/Palestinian divide but there is much to be said about our religious beliefs that are based on the many misinterpretations of the Bible. I recall Pastor Matt Chandler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOAtecsIes0&ab_channel=awaketoreality
who humbly and passionately admitted that the members of his congregation were leaving his church because he unwittingly misinterpreted the Bible. He was worshiping what he referred to as "moralistic deism" that "does not transform". He replaced God with a strict morality that no one could live up to and it seems this is a big problem in all religions, not just Christianity.
Alan watts said that
“The problem with our ecclesiastical goings-on is that we run a talking shop. We pray, we tell God what to do or give Him advice, as if He did not know. We read the Scriptures. Jesus said, "You search the Scriptures daily, for in them you think you have life." Saint Paul made some rather funny references to "the spirit which giveth life and the letter which kills.” I think the Bible ought to be ceremoniously and reverently burned every Easter, in faith that we need it no more because the spirit is with us. It is a dangerous book, and to worship it is of course a far more dangerous idolatry than bowing down to images of wood and stone. Nobody can reasonably confuse a wooden image with God, but you can very easily confuse a set of ideas with God, because concepts are more rarefied and abstract. This endless talking and preaching in church does nothing, by and large, but excite a sense of anxiety and guilt. You cannot love out of that. No scolding or rational demonstration of the right way to behave is going to inspire people with love. Something else must happen”
I believe that what must happen is a radical change in our understanding and conception of who we believe God is. If we BELIEVE that God is a supernatural deity, that’s very different from KNOWING who God is as the mystics from all the wisdom traditions tell us, respectively. When Meister Eckhart said,
"The knower and known are one. Simple people imagine that they should see God as if he stood there and they here. This is not so. God and I, we are one in knowledge"
Clearly, Eckhart is interpreting God in a very different way that is not heavily impregnated with faith or belief but based on an experiential awakening that goes beyond the egoic mind. Most Christians reading Eckhart's quote would think of it as either incomprehensible, sacrilegious, or a difference that makes no difference. Such refusal to consider a deeper and better understanding of God arises from the fact that the vast majority of Christians have unwittingly turned their many interpretations of God into an object of idolatry. The more we take on our interpretation of God AS a supernatural deity, the more we entrench ourselves into an impossible situation. Mainly because if God is regarded AS a supernatural deity, then this God is-de facto-beyond all categories of thought. So no matter how many ways we interpret God, it will ALWAYS be an idea, a conception, a feeble approximation, a story often turned into dangerous absolutes. Even the most highly regarded scholars on the Bible can never have a flawless interpretation of who God actually is.
So, for us to assume that reading the Bible on Sundays and that we got it right at the first crack, is more illusion than reality. This is not to say that the Bible is devoid of wisdom. The problem is the manner in which we are interpreting it i.e. exegesis vs eisegesis. It has been said by other wisdom traditions that proper translation gives proper transformation. So, if we are not aware that our interpretation of the Bible is mostly subjective, we will never realize that the real objective is to achieve an authentic spiritual awakening. The reason why we can't achieve this awakening is because we are stupidly subjecting ourselves to an ongoing MIS-interpretation of the Bible (passed on from generation to generation) that is keeping us all in a state of arrested spiritual development-I cannot emphasize this enough.
Sadly, millions of people don’t know this. Hence they go about reading the Bible ad-nauseum as an end in itself i.e. spiritual bypassing. They have unknowingly reified their subjective interpretation of the Bible and turned it into an object of idolatry -often with the zeal of a fanatic- unaware of the fact that it is precisely their subjective mis-interpretation of the Bible that impairs their capacity to see, as Eckart said “God in knowledge”.
As we all know, people around the world kill, die, and get killed in God’s name. It’s time we stop this madness by bringing about a deeper transformative understanding of the divine that resides in us and not outside ourselves.
I’m sorry, despite my respect for Dr Lee I can not take her assessment seriously. The war, yes war, has been going on in the ME for a long time. Since the mandate in 1948, the ‘67 and ‘73 wars and more recently terrorist attacks on the settlements , Israel is still the only democracy and real ally to the US. Unless I missed something and the orthodoxy haven’t taken control, women have the same rights as men and Arab citizens do so too. Israel is in a state of war and as long as Hamas, or Hezbollah, or fascists/autocrats like The Saudi ruler (MBS?) continue to massacre or chop apart journalists that expose corruption and despots, then Israel has every right to fight for its salvation. Only a sociopath would not care about the Palestinian deaths or casualties. But Israel is rooting out Hamas, you know the people who killed babies, raped and the beheaded and burned settlers alive in their “safe rooms”. The US killed or caused the deaths of 200K Iraqi civilians and I don’t remember articles about genocide. And we didn’t even have a legitimate reason to there such as survival as Israel can rationally submit. I wish Israel would stop, no more civilians killed. But they don’t want to deal w this any longer. If the Arab world cared about the Palestinians they would take them in , feed the families but instead they feed them terrorist leaders whose goal is the destruction of Israel. Things were going well so Hamas decided to throw a rock at the hornets nest. It worked.
My comment: There are well known reasons to severely disrespect the Catholic Church, which I do not need to rehash here. That doesn't mean all Catholics are evil, although one wonders why they cling so loyally to such a corrupted institution. Locally at least it gives them some value, a community and a hope. The global size of the Church may be a source of pride. And they may fear looking outside, as the world is so filled with argument about whom to trust.
It reminds me of the Trumpist/MAGA insanity. As deluded as MAGAts can be, they are not all vile as persons. Such misplaced loyalty is a trap any of us could fall prey to if we let others think for us.
Mankind's Enemy wants us to either trust deceivers or to believe there is no one, and no One, worthy of trust. Atheists of course say there is no Enemy outside of the physical world, we are alone in this universe and must solve our own problems. Not working well so far... and looking worse by the day.
I am confident God exists, but is holding off intervening (we may question why, but he has a higher perspective; the main point is, he will intervene at the time He deems best). We will not save ourselves, we cannot. Not wrong to try, as long as we do not try methods that make things worse (the usual methods.) And false beliefs about God (such as denying his existence, or that he is pleased with aggression or exploitation, or that he wants us to be passive) are some of those "methods." For that reason, the prominent and politically involved religions we have are not the answer; they have not led us toward peace, fine words notwithstanding. Despite their immense power to influence millions, the world continues to march inexorably toward an abyss.
Side note: "apocalypse" actually means 'to reveal, expose,' not 'to end it all.' When God does finally intervene, that will fully expose who has been lying and what the truth really is. And that will be a good thing, and only good things will come of it. This beautiful planet will finally know the peace He created it for.
For those who wonder how it got the way it is, and why its Creator let it happen, see if the explanation given at www.lifespurpose.net makes sense to you. (That's a website-book 'Finding the Purpose of Life' I wrote some years back.)
"god" has moved on to another creation/project/playground after seeing what a mess this higher animal is. If not, "God" should find a way to destroy all the humans before the humans destroy all of nature....soon.
"Hearted" "A voice crying in the wilderness." The state of Israel has a right to exist, while with a responsibility to be protected in a way that is as civilized and humanitarian as possible. There could be at least some peace if only every nation would have a U.S. First Amendment, properly interpreted and administered to prioritize secular, Constitutional, equal justice under law.
When UN women was given the burden it was an aside, a way to give the problem of language to one group but a group that is already carrying a heavy burden. Those protecting women are targetted.
I find it odd, and difficult to connect to my children who are also targetted with this idea that some are worthy and some are not. During the hearings to elect for life, justices, women were silenced, and ridiculed. Then the people who silenced them did it again, with laws. Kamala Harris spoke of the binary nature of this decision, how it will show up as black and white, and linguist Kenneth Burke wrote that the centre of binary language is rotten. This is what we can see. There are those who wish to remain correct, and the rest who are expected to be quiet.
Once, just a few years ago, I had an order with the court to have my child returned, and the other party's lawyer wrote, 'stop telling everyone [child] is missing. He is with his father'. This is the type of gerrymandering of existing law. When fewer people are following the law than those who are - the rotten really shows up.
Dear Dr. Lee,
Since the Hamas / Israel war began on Oct 7, 2023, I’ve been dreading what the future holds for the Jews and the Palestinians. I was raised in the Reformed Jewish religion, but I’ve been an Atheist since around 11 or 12 years of age. I’ve always thought that religion is a dead end for humanity, but I realize that most of the rest of the world does not believe the same things that I do. I also realize that if I were to live in a different place, my atheism would be considered a reason to be put to death, as would my Jewish background. I see the terrible things happening in Gaza right now, and I am horrified by the death and destruction. I don’t hold Israel completely responsible, and I likewise don’t hold Hamas completely responsible - as many Israeli supporters have claimed. There is plenty of of blame for both Israel and the Islamists in Hamas. However, at its core, this conflict is one that is based upon ancient religious hatred that goes back thousands of years, and in my opinion, the best way forward would be for more members of the Jewish, Muslim AND the Christian faiths to wake up and realize that we humans can outgrow our need for god, and religion, and most importantly for war, and begin to live together without lying to ourselves and to each other about the evils of anyone who doesn’t see the world the same way that we want them to. There is certainly room for improvement in human relations here on planet earth. We need to get to work on improving our socially evolved adaptation to living in large populations. Thanks for your work! I’ve enjoyed reading your blog.
I'm an atheist, too, and I basically agree but include a stop-gap solution. I also know that conflict over religious differences--or the excuse of them--has existed throughout history. My neuropsychological perspective is how people form explanations of things (through the prefrontal cortex), which is adaptive when accurately done. It can also provide a sense of comfort, as for ages through religious belief. However, science has come along to increase accuracy and provide widespread practical benefit for comfort, which is highly threatening especially to religious authorities (as alluded to by Dr. Lee). Unfortunately, because religious belief is based on a matter of opinion (faith) and not material evidence (science), it is highly vulnerable to authoritarianism whose leaders dictate a similar "believe me because I say so." I think that now radical, authoritarian religious believers, largely from the religious leaders of such people, have maintained these current, horrible situations of conflict. My solution is with the U.S. First Amendment--properly interpreted and administered to be consistent with the priority of Constitutional, secular law (as in equal justice under). Ideally (I admit), if everybody began to follow this paradigm shift in history about religion, then it would put conflicts at least due to the excuse of religious differences ultimately in a safe place. The blueprint is there, and as it's also written that even Jesus said, "He who has eyes to see, let him see, and he who has ears to hear, let him hear." If only!
Actually, maybe it's a long-term solution, too! R
Excellent! Thank you!🙏
Religion has generally embraced oneness, understanding we are all connected, brothers and sisters living on one planet together. We need to love and with war hate abounds.
Per 'The Hill', "Bethlehem has been Closed for Christmas this Year".
thank you for your work Dr Lee. I was a catholic but left the church because of its misogyny. however I am initiated into the sacraments so my foundation of spirituality reflects that training. I am sending peace to all from the Lenape/Delaware Esopus Creek outside Kingston NY. I have been fortunate to have learned from the Mohawks and other traditional peoples about the Law of Peace. This land's orginal people of the East had a peacemaker who taught the waring tribes a way to live in harmony. The founding fathers appropriated their Great Law with its 3 branches of government et al but with the omission of the balance of power by male and female. The current world is a hyper masculinity out of wack with unchecked destruction. There is a template of how to live without destroying the earth and its people. Will humans value life enough to rebalance by valuing the feminine?
I have had the thought that Israelis are doing to the Palestinians what the Nazis did to the Jews. The sins of the fathers passed onto the sons, for example. We see this in the abuse of children of mothers whose ancestors were slaves in America. Children whose mothers abuse their children as their ancestors were abused becoming a pedagogy of unconscious violence. Dr. Lee is correct in foreseeing a new generation of terrorists in the making as a result of the physical and psychological violence done unto the children of Gaza. I'm looking for someone in this conflict to lead us out the war and madness.
Dr Lee, Merry Christmas, Happy new year and best of wishes for holidays. May you have the eternal spirits to fight for the just cause. May you find peace & purpose in your life.
On Palestine - Israel issue, i see it from multiple dimension.
1. Hamas atrocity of Oct 7 and disproportionate use of force by Israelis. Israel fighting terrorism with terrorism. Media narrative = Both side-ism. Hamas did terrorism. Israel shall respond in worse ways. Both Arabs and Israelis are violent creatures and thrive for blood of each other. Hence there cannot be any peace.
2. DeGaulle's view. DeGaulle once viewed Arabs as irrational actors and Israel as rational & responsible actor. But he discovered the nature of Israel. The reality is in reverse. Israel is an imperial and immoral state. Israel use disproportionate force and keep the region in perpetual instability. In fact, Arab states are actually rational. Reject Both side-ism argument. The problem is Israel, not the Arabs.
3. My view that supplements DeGaulle's position. Before we blame both side atrocities - Israel for disproportionate force and Hamas for terrorism. We need as assessment of Oct 7 attacks. I want to know how these attacks happened. Why Israel Intelligence failed? Did it fail on purpose? Who really benefits from these attacks?
Then we need to view Israel's response to Oct 7 attacks. My assessment is that it has nothing to do with defeating Hamas. This is purely an operation of ethnic cleansing. The plans for such ethnic cleansing have been in Israeli think tanks for several years. That is ethnic cleansing & mass displacement of Gaza population. Oct 7 is just a pretext to execute such a plan.
4. Cui bono. See the long pattern of conflict. Whenever Bibi or any Israeli ruling Govt is in trouble, suddenly a terror attack happens and a war breaks out. War becomes a cover up for domestic political failures. If you look at current Bibi regime. Bibi is in the league of Trump - a failed corrupted ruler despised by the population. Mass protests going on against his failures since many years. The protest against his dictatorial overtaking of judiciary are the latest in line. Bibi is already staring a prison cell for bribery & other scandals.
Only thing that can save Bibi is a long war & destabilization that will help him suppress the domestic opposition.
5. Who is Hamas? Decades ago, there was no Hamas. There were secular intellectual forces in Palestine that used foreign diplomacy to overturn Israel's aggression and occupation. These forces established contacts with other states to lobby for two state solution. But Israel killed these intellectuals with targeted assassinations. At the same time Israel created a 'controlled' opposition that was radical. The radical opposition which has no rational intellectual appeal in foreign states. This was done to divide & isolate secular forces of Palestine & break down their global outreach. A weak Islamic militant opposition called Hamas was directly & indirectly nurtured.
Hamas should be seen as a strategic asset of Israelis. Looking at big picture. Whenever Bibi is in big trouble. Hamas terror attack came at very convenient time to his rescue. Hamas attack also became an Israeli pretext for ethnic cleansing of Gaza. The plans were already prepared & ready to be rolled out. The Hamas gave those plans a green light.
7. US also wants a conflict in middle east (ME). US has obsession with controlling middle east. The last two decades of conflicts (overt & covert) - Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria etc shows US long desire to keep this region in perpetual instability. With US withdrawal, there was relative peace in ME for a short while. The Chinese brokered a peace initiative between Iran Bloc & Saudi Bloc. The region is supposed to a target for Chinese Infrastructure investment & new silk road. After decades of war, the region have chance of stability & development.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/21/china-brokered-saudi-iran-deal-driving-wave-of-reconciliation-says-wang
But as US & China are geopolitical foes, US can't let ME to be in Chinese sphere of influence. One way to keep Chinese out of middle east is to keep the region in eternal war & instability. US & Israel wants a big war in ME for their own reasons. Bibi wants to stay out of jail, rescue his political career and wag the dog event with ethnic cleansing of Gaza. US wants war in ME to keep Chinese out & also to fulfill bulk orders of military industrial complex. US needs constant conflicts to keep its military industry in profit.
Oct 7 attack was the 'event' - an attempt to start a war in ME by goading Iranians into a conflict.
8. I suspect, Biden has little say in this matter. Just like Dubyaman (Bush Jr.) - had any idea about how Cheney, Wolfowitz & Neocons ran US foreign policy. Right now US foreign policy in run by similar ilk (Blinken, Nuland etc).
9. In the great game of geopolitics & Bibi's politics, Palestinians are just poor pawns, sheep who will get slaughtered & disposed off. BTW, it's also an interesting case study on how Genocides happen and how countries turn blind eye at critical moments.
10. Silence and intellectual bankruptcy of western intellectuals. There are several stages of Genocide. One of the stages is the conspiracy of silence by western intellectuals. They become mute right when it matters most. You will find that experts like Lawrence Tribe, Timothy Snyder, Ruth Ben Ghiat etc have very little, almost no perspective to offer on Gaza Genocide.
11. So far 20,000+ civilians killed in Gaza. 100 journalists killed in Gaza. Nearly 11,000 children killed. More than 140 UN relief workers killed. 60% of Gaza residential homes & infrastructure reduced to rubble. The real casualty figures (from famine, cold, sickness etc) is unknown.
You're a thinker, for sure. Number 3: It's obvious that Israel can't destroy Hamas....70,000 or so are Hamas. They are using this as an excuse to eliminate Palestinians, those who aren't killed will have no place to live. Or, die of disease. Israel is creating more Hamas, not less. They also don't expect to rescue the captives....they started bombing immediately. Israel is creating antisemitism; do they love being "victims"...it's especially gratifying when the USA is their best friend. The USA is one big generous sucker. Biden says ,"easy does it"...Israel just laughs.
Well said, Sanjeev! Thank you for your insightful analysis of these complexities.
Thank you for sharing truth via your brilliance, Dr. Lee. Please keep it up. You give us hope.🙏
Thank you Dr Lee.
Beautifully said, Dr. Lee. Peace to you and your family and to all the peoples in Palestine/Israel this holiday.
There is much to be said about the Israeli/Palestinian divide but there is much to be said about our religious beliefs that are based on the many misinterpretations of the Bible. I recall Pastor Matt Chandler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOAtecsIes0&ab_channel=awaketoreality
who humbly and passionately admitted that the members of his congregation were leaving his church because he unwittingly misinterpreted the Bible. He was worshiping what he referred to as "moralistic deism" that "does not transform". He replaced God with a strict morality that no one could live up to and it seems this is a big problem in all religions, not just Christianity.
Alan watts said that
“The problem with our ecclesiastical goings-on is that we run a talking shop. We pray, we tell God what to do or give Him advice, as if He did not know. We read the Scriptures. Jesus said, "You search the Scriptures daily, for in them you think you have life." Saint Paul made some rather funny references to "the spirit which giveth life and the letter which kills.” I think the Bible ought to be ceremoniously and reverently burned every Easter, in faith that we need it no more because the spirit is with us. It is a dangerous book, and to worship it is of course a far more dangerous idolatry than bowing down to images of wood and stone. Nobody can reasonably confuse a wooden image with God, but you can very easily confuse a set of ideas with God, because concepts are more rarefied and abstract. This endless talking and preaching in church does nothing, by and large, but excite a sense of anxiety and guilt. You cannot love out of that. No scolding or rational demonstration of the right way to behave is going to inspire people with love. Something else must happen”
I believe that what must happen is a radical change in our understanding and conception of who we believe God is. If we BELIEVE that God is a supernatural deity, that’s very different from KNOWING who God is as the mystics from all the wisdom traditions tell us, respectively. When Meister Eckhart said,
"The knower and known are one. Simple people imagine that they should see God as if he stood there and they here. This is not so. God and I, we are one in knowledge"
Clearly, Eckhart is interpreting God in a very different way that is not heavily impregnated with faith or belief but based on an experiential awakening that goes beyond the egoic mind. Most Christians reading Eckhart's quote would think of it as either incomprehensible, sacrilegious, or a difference that makes no difference. Such refusal to consider a deeper and better understanding of God arises from the fact that the vast majority of Christians have unwittingly turned their many interpretations of God into an object of idolatry. The more we take on our interpretation of God AS a supernatural deity, the more we entrench ourselves into an impossible situation. Mainly because if God is regarded AS a supernatural deity, then this God is-de facto-beyond all categories of thought. So no matter how many ways we interpret God, it will ALWAYS be an idea, a conception, a feeble approximation, a story often turned into dangerous absolutes. Even the most highly regarded scholars on the Bible can never have a flawless interpretation of who God actually is.
So, for us to assume that reading the Bible on Sundays and that we got it right at the first crack, is more illusion than reality. This is not to say that the Bible is devoid of wisdom. The problem is the manner in which we are interpreting it i.e. exegesis vs eisegesis. It has been said by other wisdom traditions that proper translation gives proper transformation. So, if we are not aware that our interpretation of the Bible is mostly subjective, we will never realize that the real objective is to achieve an authentic spiritual awakening. The reason why we can't achieve this awakening is because we are stupidly subjecting ourselves to an ongoing MIS-interpretation of the Bible (passed on from generation to generation) that is keeping us all in a state of arrested spiritual development-I cannot emphasize this enough.
Sadly, millions of people don’t know this. Hence they go about reading the Bible ad-nauseum as an end in itself i.e. spiritual bypassing. They have unknowingly reified their subjective interpretation of the Bible and turned it into an object of idolatry -often with the zeal of a fanatic- unaware of the fact that it is precisely their subjective mis-interpretation of the Bible that impairs their capacity to see, as Eckart said “God in knowledge”.
As we all know, people around the world kill, die, and get killed in God’s name. It’s time we stop this madness by bringing about a deeper transformative understanding of the divine that resides in us and not outside ourselves.
Tragic, heartbreaking, preventable. A new poll today shows Netanyahu’s approval rating at about 30% with the Israeli people.
Thank you for this Dr. Lee.
You are a rare voice of reason in this time of corruption and anarchy.
I’m sorry, despite my respect for Dr Lee I can not take her assessment seriously. The war, yes war, has been going on in the ME for a long time. Since the mandate in 1948, the ‘67 and ‘73 wars and more recently terrorist attacks on the settlements , Israel is still the only democracy and real ally to the US. Unless I missed something and the orthodoxy haven’t taken control, women have the same rights as men and Arab citizens do so too. Israel is in a state of war and as long as Hamas, or Hezbollah, or fascists/autocrats like The Saudi ruler (MBS?) continue to massacre or chop apart journalists that expose corruption and despots, then Israel has every right to fight for its salvation. Only a sociopath would not care about the Palestinian deaths or casualties. But Israel is rooting out Hamas, you know the people who killed babies, raped and the beheaded and burned settlers alive in their “safe rooms”. The US killed or caused the deaths of 200K Iraqi civilians and I don’t remember articles about genocide. And we didn’t even have a legitimate reason to there such as survival as Israel can rationally submit. I wish Israel would stop, no more civilians killed. But they don’t want to deal w this any longer. If the Arab world cared about the Palestinians they would take them in , feed the families but instead they feed them terrorist leaders whose goal is the destruction of Israel. Things were going well so Hamas decided to throw a rock at the hornets nest. It worked.
Very good newsletter.
My comment: There are well known reasons to severely disrespect the Catholic Church, which I do not need to rehash here. That doesn't mean all Catholics are evil, although one wonders why they cling so loyally to such a corrupted institution. Locally at least it gives them some value, a community and a hope. The global size of the Church may be a source of pride. And they may fear looking outside, as the world is so filled with argument about whom to trust.
It reminds me of the Trumpist/MAGA insanity. As deluded as MAGAts can be, they are not all vile as persons. Such misplaced loyalty is a trap any of us could fall prey to if we let others think for us.
Mankind's Enemy wants us to either trust deceivers or to believe there is no one, and no One, worthy of trust. Atheists of course say there is no Enemy outside of the physical world, we are alone in this universe and must solve our own problems. Not working well so far... and looking worse by the day.
I am confident God exists, but is holding off intervening (we may question why, but he has a higher perspective; the main point is, he will intervene at the time He deems best). We will not save ourselves, we cannot. Not wrong to try, as long as we do not try methods that make things worse (the usual methods.) And false beliefs about God (such as denying his existence, or that he is pleased with aggression or exploitation, or that he wants us to be passive) are some of those "methods." For that reason, the prominent and politically involved religions we have are not the answer; they have not led us toward peace, fine words notwithstanding. Despite their immense power to influence millions, the world continues to march inexorably toward an abyss.
Side note: "apocalypse" actually means 'to reveal, expose,' not 'to end it all.' When God does finally intervene, that will fully expose who has been lying and what the truth really is. And that will be a good thing, and only good things will come of it. This beautiful planet will finally know the peace He created it for.
For those who wonder how it got the way it is, and why its Creator let it happen, see if the explanation given at www.lifespurpose.net makes sense to you. (That's a website-book 'Finding the Purpose of Life' I wrote some years back.)
"god" has moved on to another creation/project/playground after seeing what a mess this higher animal is. If not, "God" should find a way to destroy all the humans before the humans destroy all of nature....soon.
"Hearted" "A voice crying in the wilderness." The state of Israel has a right to exist, while with a responsibility to be protected in a way that is as civilized and humanitarian as possible. There could be at least some peace if only every nation would have a U.S. First Amendment, properly interpreted and administered to prioritize secular, Constitutional, equal justice under law.
When UN women was given the burden it was an aside, a way to give the problem of language to one group but a group that is already carrying a heavy burden. Those protecting women are targetted.
Tomson Highway a comedian, says that we ignore the whole group of women https://www.cbc.ca/radiointeractives/ideas/cbc-massey-lectures-tomson-highway
I find it odd, and difficult to connect to my children who are also targetted with this idea that some are worthy and some are not. During the hearings to elect for life, justices, women were silenced, and ridiculed. Then the people who silenced them did it again, with laws. Kamala Harris spoke of the binary nature of this decision, how it will show up as black and white, and linguist Kenneth Burke wrote that the centre of binary language is rotten. This is what we can see. There are those who wish to remain correct, and the rest who are expected to be quiet.
Once, just a few years ago, I had an order with the court to have my child returned, and the other party's lawyer wrote, 'stop telling everyone [child] is missing. He is with his father'. This is the type of gerrymandering of existing law. When fewer people are following the law than those who are - the rotten really shows up.