If G-d's on Our Side. . .

This post also appears in Pandora's Box is Open at: https://www.facebook.com/Pandoras-Box-Is-Open-1112847405431719/

If G-d’s on Our Side. . .

            In “Pope Francis Enters 2016 Election With DIRECT Verbal Attack On Donald Trump (DETAILS),” by Carissa House-Dunphy, on November 6, 2016, Ms. House-Dunphy reported that Pope Frances spoke out against the Trump campaign. He said: 

No tyranny can be sustained without exploiting our fears. This is clear. All tyranny is terrorist. And when that terror ignited in the peripheries with massacres, looting, oppression, and injustice explodes in the centers in the form of violence, including with hateful and cowardly intent, the citizens who still have some rights are tempted by the false security of walls, physical or social—walls that close some in and banish others. Is that the life our father God wants for us?

            To read this article, visit: http://bipartisanreport.com/2016/11/06/pope-francis-enters-2016-election-with-direct-verbal-attack-on-donald-trump-details/

            This Pope is old enough to remember World War II and Hitler’s tyranny.

             His comments also echo and explain why a Sister, who is part of the Nuns on the Bus’ get-out-the-vote campaign, felt free enough to say that, while the Church is antiabortion, there is a lot more to the choices that Catholic American voters face. During a CNN interview over this past weekend, she said that supporting life meant not only being against abortion but also creating the kind of society in which an unwed pregnant woman would not feel compelled to have an abortion. Moreover, she added that, during President Obama’s time in office, the rate of abortions had gone down.

             All of this is part of the Pope’s shift away from concentrating solely on divisive issues and seeking to shed light on the context in which these issues emerge. If we truly want to end abortion for good, going back to coat-hanger deaths is not the way. A strong social safety net is. When any pregnant woman can feel that her unborn child will not be born into a world that rejects her need for help for her and for that child, that is when she will have a true choice. When we end the shame surrounding unwed pregnancy and offer mercy instead, again, that will give her a true choice.

             O.K. This is all good. Yet, there are still problems. Our Pope still calls G-d a Father. And our Pope still maintains that there will never be female priests. This is because, back in Jesus’ time, the disciples were males. Excuse me, but what about cultural context? Back in that time, it was an extremely misogynist society that was totally based on patriarchy. Haven’t we progressed at all since then? How do we know that G-d has a gender? Last time G-d showed up it was through a fire in a burning bush.

             In the Pope’s worldview, it seems we can elect a female president to lead the free world, but no woman is suited to represent G-d in the highest Catholic Church offices. We can be ruled by a woman, but we cannot be given G-d’s Word from a woman. This is a contradiction.

             Here’s another thing. Abortions are not permitted in the Pope’s worldview. Neither is contraception, which would prevent a heck of a lot of abortions. Again, we have a contradiction.

             Push–pull, push–pull. The Pope got me to admit that I am at least some kind of a Catholic. Maybe a cafeteria sort. I prefer to call myself a dissident Catholic. That means I believe in the miracles of Jesus Christ and many Catholic values, especially those that are antiwar and antipoverty. It also means that, when it comes to women, or homosexuals, I don’t subscribe at all to the Catholic doctrine. I’m into contraception, choice, and gay marriage. I’m into living together. None of these views prevent me from praying to G-d, especially through St. Jude (Patron of Impossible Causes). None of these views stop me from seeing Jesus Christ as a Jew who was sent by G-d to deliver a new Covenant. And none of these views stop me from appreciating the Pope’s ecumenical message that does not harp on only one way to salvation. None of these views prevent me from recognizing, in the words of Rabbi Schlomo Carlebach, that “there are many roads to G-d, and they are all valid.”

            So what do G-d and the Pope have to do with the choice Americans face tomorrow? Our Pope pushes the envelope and then retreats. He is stuck between an essentially kind and merciful heart and his strict Jesuit training. This has characterized the Pope’s reign since he started. And with Hillary Clinton, it’s kind of the same thing in the political arena. She is caught between what is desired and what can be done. Yet even that conflict is better than Holocaust II, which is what Trump would usher in.

            To bastardize a Bob Dylan song, “if G-d’s on our side, She’ll choose Hillary Clinton and give the Senate to the Democrats.” Why? Because, I believe that G-d wants us to progress—not to go backward.

Black-and-Blue Nation

Black-and-Blue Nation

HELTER SKELTER burning up hot July /Manson sits in his cell laughing cause he knows why/He gets his 3 squares and shelter/doesn't have to lead Helter Skelter/People are doing it for him/Killing each other on a whim/The man was crazy like a fox/He had visions of this pox/Look into his crazy eyes/All the hate there was no disguise/The Hounds of Hell come a-pelter/Straight Satans ready for Helter Skelter/All the girls shake their bootys/Charlie scratches his cooties/Got a swastika on his head/Showing everybody has to be dead/Black-and-blue nation/Killing all  creation/Abomination/Assassination/Helter Skelter in the smelter/Apocalyptical/Typical. . . .

The Socialist Pope: What’s Not to Like?

The Socialist Pope: What’s Not to Like?

My Parents

      I was what they call a “red diaper baby.” That’s the kind of child who was brought up in a home with socialist or communist ideas. My parents looked like ordinary working class folk. They didn’t go to jam sessions or take drugs. My father didn’t sport a beard—not even a mustache. They didn’t go to political meetings or attend demonstrations.

      But their ideas and tastes in music were much more to the left than I realized. How many children’s parents sang songs by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger while riding in their cars? Later on, the songs would also include Peter, Paul, and Mary and Bob Dylan. And they also listened to what we would call today World Music.

      Our home was full of books. Books galore. And I was allowed to read anything I happened to pick up. Those books included Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique and The Communist Manifesto, both of which I read as a preteen. I also read Pregnancy and Birth at age 11 when my mom was pregnant with my youngest sister. Many years later when I asked my mother why these particular books were around, she said “oh a neighbor left them in the hall, so we picked them up.” Ha, some excuse! Why pick them up? “Ma, you were a communist,” I teased her.

      Well, not really a communist. More like an American socialist, much like Bernie Sanders, what one would call a Democratic Socialist. My mom and dad were both union. When transit workers threatened to strike the Long Island Railroad, higher-ups where I worked complained. Hey, it was going to really inconvenience me, but I piped up: “My mommy was union. My daddy was union. And if those people need to go on strike, it’s going to really mess up my commute, but I support them just the same.” And my husband is union too. I would be except my field is not unionized. They all looked at me like I had two heads.

      My father was a regular Archie Bunker type—he even looked like him. He’d say things and my mother would get furious at him for that. But when push came to shove, he would help anybody in distress no matter what that person’s race was. I was taught to despise racism and that started when I was very young. I remember visiting a friend and saying to my mother that my friend was nice but “she is so dirty.” My mom explained that my friend wasn’t dirty at all. She was just Hispanic. I saw the first black person in our area while I was on a bus. I asked my mother, “why is that lady so black?” My mother was horrified but the lady rose magnificently to the occasion by saying “I was born that way.” Our neighborhood was becoming more and more diverse and my parents didn’t care. I went to school with and played with all sorts of people, and they were always welcome in my home—race, religion, and economic class did not matter.

Jesus

      In Catechism, we were taught about how Jesus Christ fed the poor and healed the sick. He did not ask for means testing. He would just as soon run to heal a Roman soldier’s child as he would any fellow Jews—any day of the week. Nobody in the crowds were asked for proof that they were poor. They got their loaves and fishes no matter what. Jesus was always telling people to ditch their riches and give to needy people. Jesus was one heck of a socialist, if you ask me.

      Jesus accepted people who were different, such as the Good Samaritan. He ate with sinners and allowed a tax collector to be a disciple. He also accepted a prostitute to be one of his followers and appeared first to her after he died. When Saul became converted, he had a vision of allowing Gentiles to be part of Christianity. That was all part of the plan.

      Jesus believed in redemption. One could atone for past sins. No person’s fate was set in stone. There was no predestination in his worldview. When he said to be “born again,” he did not mean to become part of an elite group of people who looked down on everybody else. He believed in spreading the Word, but not in torturing or discriminating against people who did not listen.

      And let us remember one very salient fact: Jesus was born as a Jew. He lived as a Jew. And he died as a Jew. So, there was absolutely NO room for any kind of antisemitism in what he preached. He never preached hate against any group of people. He only preached about what he thought was best to do. He talked about behaviors and did not marginalize people. My parents pretty much believed this way.

Differences

      Yet, there were differences too. My parents were not churchgoers. They used birth control. They did not spurn unwed mothers. They did not disapprove of my going to my best friend’s apartment, where a drag queen watched the younger children. My parents were years ahead of their time in accepting that people had different lifestyles.

      With a background like that, I wasn’t exactly going to turn into a conservative Republican.

      What about Protestant? There are all sorts of Protestants. Some are very liberal and others are very backward. I could see myself with the liberal Protestants, but never with those crazy evangelicals who claim that there is no salvation except in their own particular sects. There are evangelicals with great hearts who mean no harm, but the other kind are really poisonous. In fact, they are the exact opposite of all the things that Jesus preached with their homophobia, racism, and lack of compassion for poor and disabled people.

      Pope Francis fired the ambassador who set up a meeting that included the homophobic Kim Davis. That meeting made a horrid, hateful blot on the Pope’s glowing visit.

Pope Replaces Ambassador to U.S. Who Set Up Kim Davis Meeting

By Daniel Burke, CNN Religion Editor

Visit: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/12/europe/pope-vigano-resign/index.html

      I can’t say whether or not Jesus would approve of gay marriages but I can say that he would never had denied a gay person therapy for any problem. I can say that Jesus would never have tried to keep people out of the country simply because they had different backgrounds and beliefs. I can say that he never, ever, ever would have denied poor people help. He would never, ever, ever have blamed them for their economic problems.

      I can’t say whether or not Jesus would approve of contraception, but I can say I think he would have preferred it to abortions. And I believe he would have been very compassionate toward women who felt that they needed abortions. He would not have made up laws about these things. He also would have favored the kind of safety net that would provide a much better alternative to abortions.

      Yes, indeed there are differences between what I believe in and what is current Catholic doctrine. Yet, the socialist strain that runs through true Catholicism and the antiwar stance of the Church has its appeal. When the Pope meets with Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Socialist, and then goes to Greece and picks up a little refugee girl crying at his feet and lifts her up to stand and pats her head, and then takes 14 refugees on his plane back to the Vatican, what’s not to like?

      Jesus was the original socialist and Pope Francis is following the Way of Jesus.

Pope Pushing Papal Envelope

Pope Pushing Papal Envelope

Pope Francis continues to push that papal envelope as hard as he can. It’s a tough sell to both conservatives and liberals, because he is walking a tightrope between both factions. As a Jesuit, duty-bound to remain within canonical law, he still does what is possible without changing the law.

       On April 11, 2016, Kaitlin Menza reported “5 Things the Pope Said Today That Have Shocked the World” for Yahoo News.

       Visit: https://login.yahoo.com/config/login?.lang=en-US&.done=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.yahoo.com%2Fnews%2F5-things-pope-said-today-140155414.html%23comments

       The Pope discussed, among other things, in his Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), which was released today, (1) divorced and remarried Catholics, (2) equality between the sexes, (3) unmarried couples, (4) the role of sex in life, (5) the definition of “marriage,” and (6) same-sex romantic relationships. Only one of these six was not shocking.

       Visit: https://w2.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20160319_amoris-laetitia_en.pdf

       So what was so shocking? I can tell you that #1 was for me. I remember when one of my sisters sought a divorce and had to go through a very rigorous annulment process because her husband demanded it. (Yet, he ended up marrying a Jewish woman later on. . . .so much for his devoutness). So, now we have the Pope saying that divorced and remarried Catholics are part of the Church and should not be excluded from Communion. Hallelujah! I wish Pope Francis had been making the rules when my sister got her annulment. Conservatives will want the old rules, and liberals will smile.

       # 2 had me scratching my head. What exactly is meant by his call for “more equality” between the sexes? Is he prepared to have women priests? A female Pope? Or is he only talking about the lay world, while keeping the ecclesiastical world the same as it has been for centuries? Conservatives will hate it, and liberals will ask how far Pope Francis is willing to go on this issue.

       Unmarried couples “not living in sin” (#3) almost knocked me off my chair! Why? When I was getting married, one friend whom I wanted to include in my bridal party refused to be in it, because she said I was living in sin with my fiancée. However, when I told this to my husband’s Aunt Paula, a Catholic nun, her response was pretty much like the Pope’s: “I’m sure you are doing it for good reasons.” So much for my ex-friend’s idea of sin. Conservatives will hate this one.

       I like #4 a lot. Pope Francis says that sex is meant to be enjoyed, because it was created by G-d. Nice going, dear Pope. I only wish you had been the first Pope and spread this message around, because there has been an awful lot of misery around the issue of sex and sexuality. I’ve always found the Catholic view of sex-for-procreation-only positively medieval. This one, I’m sure will be a big shock for a heck of a lot of Catholics. A good shock in my humble opinion. It almost makes me laugh.

       The definition of marriage (#5) will make the conservatives happy, and the liberals will be displeased. It’s still that old man-and-woman thing. I disagree. I was ecstatic when same-sex marriage became legal in the State of New York. On TV, I watched our Mayor marry two Jewish men and I was moved to tears. I rejoiced when Ireland, that oh-so-Catholic country, legalized same-sex marriage for the Free State. I wasn’t shocked because, when my husband and I were in Limerick, those rainbow flags were flying, and we witnessed an openly gay march that included drag queens and teachers and socialists. Ireland did it the right way—by popular vote. Seems that the Irish feel secure in their separation of church and state, while the United States is paranoid to the hilt on that subject. Yet, the United States followed suit in a different way. The Supreme Court made it legal throughout the land. That surprised me because that Court is made up of a bunch of old folks and is tipped toward the conservatives. I guess the swing vote worked here. Why was I so concerned? Because, although I am a happily married heterosexual (30+ years), I have people whom I love who are gay. I want them to be able to have what I have. Conservatives will like #5. It’s not shocking to anybody because the liberals know darn well where the Jesuits stand on this issue.

       And that leads me right over to #6. This one is a shocker all right. It’s a half-a-loaf, push-the-envelope kind of thing. Pope Francis recommends more tolerance for gay romantic relationships. O.K., so living together is not a sin, so gay people can do that. And sex is for enjoyment, so gay people can do that too. But they can’t marry in the Church. This one will have everybody wondering: if Pope Francis had his druthers, would gay marriage actually be OK? Here he is attempting to keep the Jesuit line on marriage while opening up the discussion regarding homosexuality. It’s like he is saying, “it’s technically wrong, but it doesn’t hurt anybody, so let them be.” It’s a sort-of progress. Conservatives will scream: “NO WAY!” as they are around the Southern United States with a spate of antigay laws. Liberals will say: “That’s all fine and dandy, but you are still shutting gays out when it comes to marrying.” Half-a-loaf hardly ever pleases anybody.

       Keep pushing that envelope Pope Francis! Maybe someday there will be a revolution in the world, and we will make even more progress. I, for one, would hate the clock to be turned backward.

Desperately Seeking Tickets

to See Pope Francis in New York City:

Disappointed and Down in the Dumps

New York City is the only place where every single event to see Pope Francis requires tickets. Who would have thought that getting to see a Pope was harder than trying to see a rock star? I've had better luck with Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, The Beatles, and many others. There was always a ticket to be found somewhere, somehow.

What is particularly disturbing is that some people entered the recent contest for tickets to the Central Park Event simply to obtain tickets to sell at outrageous prices for people who were desperate to see the Pope. Again, I've had better luck with rock stars.

There was only ONE way for an unchurched person like me to obtain a ticket: Enter the Central Park contest. Madison Square Garden was not giving or selling any tickets. Those were only for the faithful members of the various parishes around the city (understandably). Tickets for the Ground Zero event were only open to people who lived in the area or who were affected by 9/11 (again, understandably).

So, what's a person like me to do? I know of somebody who won and declined the tickets, not realizing that I would have been more than happy to relieve her of them. She found the security arrangements too onerous. I would have gone through that no matter what.

It's very disheartening that a Pope of the people is harder to even get a glimpse of than a rock star ever was. Seems like nothing has really changed except now that the head of the Catholic Church is totally inaccessible to people in New York City.

And they wonder why religion is flaming out over here? It's not just all the ideological things, although those play a major role. It's putting the Pope up on some pedestal and making us all feel worthless because we are not allowed in his presence.

 Pope Francis, My Father, and St. Jude

Or the Strangeness of the Universe 

and the Need for Divorce

OMG, I'm nearly ready to go back to Church! The Church has never had such a Pope as Pope Francis. This man is infused with supernatural understanding of the human condition. How he got it I don't know. He is the first Pope I ever knew that was so intelligent and aware. 

I haven't blogged in a while because everything was pretty much the same, and I already had written so much about how capitalism stinks and how we have to care for the poor. Mind you, I'm not complaining because it's great that Pope Francis talks about this issue a great deal.

But today I found this, and it is absolutely remarkable:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/25/pope-francis-marital-separation_n_7657512.html?cps=gravity_2677_-5002707399435042344

In "Pope Francis Says Divorce Can Be 'Morally Necessary' To Protect Kids," Huff Post Religion reporter Rosie Scammell notes that Pope Francis actually said that it was "morally necessary" for parents to separate, especially “when it comes to saving the weaker spouse, or young children, from more serious injuries caused by intimidation and violence, by humiliation and exploitation, by lack of involvement and indifference.”

To this I add a LOUD and RESOUNDING AMEN! AMEN! WORLD WITHOUT END! 

Here's the deal. I've been happily married to a wonderful man for 30 years! He is my twin flame, my soul mate, and my all. Sometimes, I think of something and he just brings it to me. That's how close we are. So, you might well ask: "Why do you believe so fervently in divorce?" Well, there is a darn good reason for that: I am the product of a bad marriage. From the time I was 8 years old, I would tell my mother: "If I were you, I would divorce the son of a bitch." 

I said that and many other worse things because my father was a very cheap and mean person for most of his life. He did not like to share any part of himself or what he earned, even when his family needed it. When he was displeased, he would curse and holler and threaten. 

I never saw him hit my mother, but we children certainly got it. Mostly it was The Strap. That could come out because we giggled in bed past bedtime. It could come out because one of us would wake up screaming from a nightmare. It could come out because we made sexy jokes (which he himself loved to make). It could come out because we cursed (which he did very often). I got a shoe thrown at my head for not hearing him tell me to move out of his way to watch the TV. These days, they would call that child abuse. Back then, it was just what fathers did—at least so my mother thought.

I lived in fear of him. I would never go near him or talk to him unless it was absolutely necessary, with few exceptions. I never asked him for anything until I was already old. I felt he did not love me at all. He threatened to put me in a mental institution, which frightened me no end. Ironically, when I did land in a Day Hospital for patients with problems, it was a great experience that not only included a lot of caring and healing, but was also a lot of fun.

He was stingy with money too. My mother always had to make do with scant amounts of money. Fortunately, she was very resourceful, and we ended up having lovely bespoke clothes before that became fashionable. He would not pay for a tonsillectomy that one of my sisters needed.

He was a hard worker, but when it came to doing things needed around the house or carrying things, he left that all to my mother. She literally did the heavy lifting.

My parents fought all the time, with unkind words and a lot of hollering. When my father would leave the house saying he wasn't going to come back, my sisters and I would laugh like crazy. We hoped it was true.

I will never forget the day I realized that I had some courage. My sister had brought her male dog in the house, and the male dog got together with our female dog and started doing what male and female dogs do naturally. This embarrassed and enraged my father, especially because the event was taking place in front of a few of us, including our youngest sister. 

My father hollered at the dogs but they didn't separate. Dogs can't just separate; they have to finish their business. That enraged my father even more. He went to our basement and got a lead pipe and advanced toward the porch where the dogs were. His intention was clear—he wanted to beat the brains out of the dogs. My youngest sister, who was sitting on a porch chair, became hysterical. 

I was this little skinny thing weighing less than 100 lbs. He was muscular and much bigger than me. I don't know what possessed me, but I grabbed an umbrella from our coat tree and pointed it straight at my father and said calmly: "Don't you come one step closer." He threw down the pipe, said "son of a bitch," and walked away. I could have been brained. I think G-d was with me. G-d gave me the strength to face my father down when it was needed.

But, let me set the record straight, lest you believe he was a total ogre. In his later years, he became much nicer toward me. It had to do with the fact that I had married a wonderful man and it was clear that there were many things that I loved about my husband. I think my father realized then that I was not a "man hater"; I just hated cruelty. We still had arguments, but he began to model some of his behavior on my husband's benevolent ways. My father would then do favors for me. He would say decent things about me. 

And one day, when I was upset, he gave me the greatest gift ever. No, it wasn't money. It wasn't even a hug or saying "I love you." He handed me a card with a picture of St. Jude and a copy of the prayer to St. Jude. "When you get upset, take this card and say this prayer," my father said. "It will help you." Well, I never knew my father to be a praying man. I was astounded. But I figured anything was worth a try. So, I did it. I prayed to St. Jude and each time, my prayers were answered. I'm not saying I always got what I wanted, but I always got what I needed. To this day, St. Jude is my adopted patron Saint. That was the gift my father gave me—him of all people! It just goes to show that one never knows from where and from whom the universe will bestow much needed blessings--or Grace as President Obama called it recently.

So, here's the thing. Perhaps if my parents had separated, I might have had a very different kind of relationship with my father when I was younger. I might have been more able to appreciate his lighter side and his creativity. I might have been able to enjoy the family magic shows he put on or the other nice times that were sandwiched in between those bouts of cruelty.

He did, after all, take me to Willoughbys to look at cameras and eat at Horn and Hardarts. He did let me in his darkroom while he made pictures, and he did show me how to do that. He did drive us out to our country home, singing country and folk songs. He did make good jokes. Yes, actually there was some good in this otherwise mean man. And maybe if he didn't live and fight with my mother and the rest of us, we all might have been happier. Maybe we would have seen him for the good times and enjoyed that.

Yes, my parents should have divorced. They should have done so for themselves and for us children. Perhaps we all would have had better examples of what men could be. I was darn careful and picky, but I also got lucky when it came to getting married.

The Pope understands this about human beings. They do not always get along with one another. Sometimes, their values or their intellectual levels are too different. Sometimes, they simply grow in different—and highly conflicting—directions. Sometimes, they are just not made for family life. Sometimes, they just can't stand all the noise and chaos of children. I've never seen the sense of two miserable people staying together because they made a huge mistake by getting married.

It's because I believe in divorce so fervently that my marriage has lasted so long and been so happy. Both my husband and I realize that we must tend to our marriage or it will fall apart. We must always show our love to one another and respect each others' equal rights. We must do the necessary tasks in life cheerfully. I'm not saying we are perfect. We mess up. We get in our moods and have our misunderstandings. But underneath it all is the love that is so strong and enduring, so G-d given, so full of Grace. The "musts" become joyous for us. We are not perfect but we are perfect for each other.

Let Catholics marry with this understanding. Let them prepare for marriage and choose wisely. And, if they make mistakes, let them be liberated from those mistakes without any stigma of sin. Our much-beloved Pope Francis realizes this. He is truly receiving his wisdom from G-d. He is able to see the human condition with mercy that comes so much closer to the love of Jesus Christ than any previous Pope has ever had. Truly, I know people who would have benefited so greatly had Pope Francis been around when they were going through their troubles.

Viva il Papa. We don't have to agree on everything, but Pope Francis is MY Pope.

Pope Francis Tells It Like It Truly Is

Pope Francis Tells It Like It Truly Is

Today on Facebook, a meme came from SANDERS.SENATE.GOV and this was it:

The other day, on my Facebook page, I was saying how we do not truly have freedom of speech for many reasons. Among them, was that “we live in a corporate dictatorship.” The sad truth is that, no matter how much our leaders tell us that we should be honest, everything in our society, from the time we are born, tells us to lie, steal, and cheat. Almost everything is fake. That’s not just a modern complaint; the ancients had the same problem. Moses faced the Golden Calf. The Romans claimed that they were liberal about worshipping various gods, but when it came to the Jewish god, this claim was not true.

John the Baptist and Jesus were both executed for speaking truth. In John’s case, it was because he railed against Herod breaking Jewish law by marrying his brother’s wife. Herod was supposed to be the leader of the Jews but he felt that he was above the law. Sounds like a lot of people in the news these days. And we all know what happened to Jesus Christ. Crucified. Just because he said words that the Romans took offense at. Sounds like all the authoritarian dictatorships in today’s world.

Jesus tried to pave the way for the betterment of humanity. Have we truly progressed? I think not. Remember Copernicus? Galileo? They were the victims of Christianity gone rogue; the sweet and gentle religion that Jesus died for had turned into vicious Crusades and the Inquisition. If anything, in modern times we are very much like the people in the desert worshipping the golden calf while Moses went to seek the word of G-d. We are still a society that reveres power and money, and sacrifices goodness for it. From making shoddy—and sometimes dangerous—products to creating little corporate kingdoms and queendoms in which people must bow to the rulers in order to make a living.

Wherein lies this dismal failure? Let’s start in childhood. It begins innocently enough when little Emma says she thinks Aunt Bertha’s green dress is ugly and makes her look fat. Emma is immediately shushed by Mamma, whose embarrassment is very obvious. So, first, we teach our children to tell white lies. That’s not so bad; the intention is to prevent needless hurt caused by brutal frankness.

Let’s move on to when Emma is about 8 years old. She walks into a candy store and steals a pack of gum. When he mother discovers the gum, she is shocked because she knows that Emma didn’t have any money to buy it. So, in an angry tone, she grills Emma. “Did you steal that gum?!!!” Emma hears the anger and becomes afraid of punishment. She knows that, when Mamma sounds that angry, a good smack on her rear is likely to follow. So, Emma invents a way to extricate herself from the situation. “No. My friend, Cathy, gave it to me.” The lie works. Or, if Mamma uncovers the truth, Emma is in for more than a spanking. She probably won’t get to watch TV for a week too. Well, we think, “of course, stealing is wrong and should be punished.”

Here’s the problem: With the best of intentions, Mamma has lost a very good teachable moment. She could have asked Emma calmly how she got the gum. Emma probably would have told the truth. Then what? Then, Mamma could have explained to Emma that it is wrong to take things from other people and that they are hurt when they are robbed. Mamma could have said to Emma: “I forgive you because you didn’t realize this. Let’s go back to the store and say ‘sorry’ and return the gum. I’m sure Mr. Finkelstein will understand and forgive you too.” And, if the good Mr. Finkelstein realizes that Emma and her mother are trying to right a wrong, he, too may forgive the child.

Which lesson is better for Emma? In the first scenario, Emma has learned that lying is convenient and easy. She is able to steal and lie to get what she wants and not be punished. In the second scenario, Emma learns that she did something wrong, but that she can fix it. She can be forgiven. This is what mercy is all about. This is what Jesus meant when he said to the prostitute “go, and sin no more.”

Unfortunately, too many children learn the wrong lesson. This persists through school and college and then into the workplace, which is a particularly harsh and cruel setting to navigate.

Being hierarchical is another problem. Emma learns that she should never contradict a grownup, even if the grownup is wrong. The reason given is that “grownups know more than children and children need to show respect.” If Emma rebels against Aunt Bertha distributing candy to her and her cousins but giving the boys more candy than the girls, instead of being praised for speaking out, Emma is shushed again—this time by both Mamma and Aunt Bertha. The inequality is allowed to persist. Why? Because the grownups should not be contradicted. This is senseless.

Had Mamma told Aunt Bertha that her candy distribution was unfair, maybe Aunt Bertha would be angry. Maybe not? Maybe Aunt Bertha would explain that she thought that the boys were more active, so they needed more candy. Whether or not that is correct isn’t the point. The point is that the event would have been explained rather than simply enforced. Maybe Aunt Bertha, realizing the inequality, would give the girls more candy to make up for the deficit. Or, at least, she might explain why she did it. Or, if Aunt Bertha stalks off in anger, at least Mamma will back Emma up. Emma then learns that she did the right thing, even if some people disagree with her.

In the first scenario, Emma learns that one must always give way to people “above” her. In the second scenario, Emma learns to speak truth to power and that power can sometimes respond well.

And once again, unfortunately, too many children learn about this hierarchy when they are very young, and this negative lesson persists throughout their lives. By the time people reach the brutal workplace, they are already primed to be obedient slaves to their bosses instead of collaborators trying to make things work out the best for everyone.

As Leonard Cohen said: “It starts with your family and soon it comes ’round to your soul.”

Bernie Sanders (by promoting this meme) and Pope Francis are using their positions of power to speak for those of us who have been silenced. Although the law says we have free speech, in truth, we do not. We are, in essence, wage slaves, doomed to lie and cheat and bow down to the hierarchy in order to survive. We are punished every time we dare to do the right thing, correct a wrong, or speak the truth. It’s not crucifixion or torture on the rack, but there is the threat of homelessness caused by economic deprivation. If we lose our jobs because we have done the right thing or spoken the truth instead of pretending that everything is OK, how, indeed, can we survive?

There are worse things occurring that are routinely covered up, such as the police making it open season on black males and devising lies about why they do this. When investigators probe, if they are honest, they reveal a hornets’ nest of racism, crawling with all kinds of nasty actions and statements. This stems from people being taught at an early age that they are superior to other people.

Religious leaders instill a feeling of superiority among their flocks. Such a leader will promise that a particular religion is the only right way and that everybody else’s paths are wrong and will lead to damnation. This backfires badly. Instead of everybody being satisfied to follow their own beliefs, we end up with jihads and other kinds of abuses, such as discrimination against people who are different.

People could be taught to value their own beliefs and to feel strong enough not to have to destroy people who have other faiths. Rabbi Schlomo Carlebach was asked what Jews being a “chosen people” meant. He explained that this designation simply indicated that the Jews had a particular spiritual mission. Then he said: “There are many roads to G-d, and they are all valid.” These are profound words to live by.

Pope Francis, when questioned about gay people, replied: “Who am I to judge?” Jesus associated with prostitutes, lepers, tax collectors, and other hated people. What is the lesson? It’s all about being inclusive. It’s all about living one’s beliefs and allowing other people to live theirs. It’s all about being in the world but not of the world. When one’s faith is strong, one never worries about being tainted because of associations with others. One realizes that people with different values don’t necessarily have to be our best friends, but we can do business with them. We can associate with them in a harmonious way that is inclusive.

Politicians, police officers, CEOs, and religious leaders could use their positions to make life better if they were not beholden to financial interests or to the hierarchy. Laws could be passed that truly serve the people. Communities could be protected against real crimes. Companies could have happy employees working for them to do the best possible jobs. People in their churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, and ashrams could be led to extend mercy and love toward everybody.

I suppose this is my version of Imagine, by the late John Lennon.