I really liked this post. Not only did you make a compelling case for your cause, but you also made me realize something about the social justice movement: it’s a long list of fixes to the many problems that bedevil us, but it doesn’t go near the biggest one of all — why am I here? It avoids dealing with the biggest existential question by focusing exclusively on the social ones.
Put another way: we can’t seem to solve the G*d question, so we turn all our attention to more manageable ones. Does something vital get lost in the process? Yes, I think so. Humility, a sense of proportion, and the realization that we can’t solve these problems alone. Moses needed a partner to liberate the slaves from Egypt. We need a partner too.
And I really like your comment Alan, thanks for it. I like that we can talk about such things together.
I'm not sure how Judaism approaches this, and look forward to learning more about that.
In the Christian tradition some people feel that God is love. That perspective can help unite secular social justice actions and religious culture. As example, if the atheist is involved in charity work, they are engaging love in action, and are thus connecting to God. From this perspective (hardly the only one in Christianity) whether they believe in God is not as important.
But yes, thousands of years of experience demonstrate that a conscious and deliberate embrace of the God idea can assist greatly in some people's good works. As example, Catholic Charities is the second leading provider of social services to the needy in the United States, topped only by the federal government. Yea, Catholic culture has a variety of other pretty ugly problems, but when it comes to charity work, they pretty much rock.
My own motivations appear to be far more mundane. I'm a junky for getting off on big ideas, challenging the group consensus, and ok, doing something useful too if possible.
I'm sincerely hoping this project goes somewhere useful. My days on Substack may be numbered if it doesn't. But so far, still hopeful.
I really liked this post. Not only did you make a compelling case for your cause, but you also made me realize something about the social justice movement: it’s a long list of fixes to the many problems that bedevil us, but it doesn’t go near the biggest one of all — why am I here? It avoids dealing with the biggest existential question by focusing exclusively on the social ones.
Put another way: we can’t seem to solve the G*d question, so we turn all our attention to more manageable ones. Does something vital get lost in the process? Yes, I think so. Humility, a sense of proportion, and the realization that we can’t solve these problems alone. Moses needed a partner to liberate the slaves from Egypt. We need a partner too.
And I really like your comment Alan, thanks for it. I like that we can talk about such things together.
I'm not sure how Judaism approaches this, and look forward to learning more about that.
In the Christian tradition some people feel that God is love. That perspective can help unite secular social justice actions and religious culture. As example, if the atheist is involved in charity work, they are engaging love in action, and are thus connecting to God. From this perspective (hardly the only one in Christianity) whether they believe in God is not as important.
But yes, thousands of years of experience demonstrate that a conscious and deliberate embrace of the God idea can assist greatly in some people's good works. As example, Catholic Charities is the second leading provider of social services to the needy in the United States, topped only by the federal government. Yea, Catholic culture has a variety of other pretty ugly problems, but when it comes to charity work, they pretty much rock.
My own motivations appear to be far more mundane. I'm a junky for getting off on big ideas, challenging the group consensus, and ok, doing something useful too if possible.
I'm sincerely hoping this project goes somewhere useful. My days on Substack may be numbered if it doesn't. But so far, still hopeful.