Analog Body in a Digital World: What Have You Got to Lose?
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Lisa Martinovic explores the frightening long-term neurological consequences of digital devices on our bodies.
80 Years Since the Holocaust Began: Can We Stop Fascism Today?
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“The speedy rise of fascism always seems to hit the world by surprise. Yet what we’re witnessing did not begin with the Bolsonaros, Trumps or Dutertes, just as German fascism did not begin with Hitler.” by
Martin Winiecki
Protesters carry posters against the far-right’s presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Sept. 29, 2018. (Photo: Victor Moriyama/Getty Images)
“November 9 this year marks the 80th anniversary of what went down in history as “Kristallnacht” or the “Night of Broken Glass.” On the night of November 9, 1938, the Nazis burned down 1000 synagogues and 7000 Jewish businesses all over Germany.
Venery: a Prayer
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Richard Michelson reflects on the Pittsburgh massacre: “An anguish of mothers / A coward of congressmen / A plague of Martyrs / A martyr of angels.”
Trump and the Ghosts of the Past in Fascist America
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In reexamining the history of fascism in the U.S. and elsewhere, Henry Giroux writes that “Trump is the endpoint of a malady that has been growing for decades.”
Saint Oscar Romero: “Cease the Repression” (in Honduras and on our borders)
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Saint Oscar Romero: “cease the repression”
by Marco A. Gandásegui, Jr. Professor of Sociology, University of Panama CELA Research Associate
Ten days ago the Catholic Church canonized Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.. For the ceremony, Pope Francis wore the blood-stained liturgical garment Saint Oscar Romero was wearing when he was murdered, on March 24, 1980. The day before he was martyred, the Archbishop had delivered a sermon urging Salvadoran soldiers to disobey the orders of their superiors:
“I call on the men of the army and the bases of the National Guard, the police, the military bases. Brothers, you are of our people. You are killing your own peasant brothers. The law of God –‘Thou Shall Not Kill’ — must prevail over an order to kill that a man may give In the name of God and the name of this suffering people, whose cries rise up to heaven, I implore you, I beg of you, I order you in the name of God: stop the repression”. At the same time as the Canonization, an almost three thousand strong Caravan departed Honduras, headed for the United States. Men, women and children left, seeking peace and employment.
The Gradual Acceleration of Fascist Violence: “Cloudy Sunday’s” Portrayal of The Extermination of the Jews in Thessaloniki
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In this review of “Cloudy Sundays,” Peter Gabel highlights the common ground between fascists and the indifferent majority: “a common flight from their true social being as grounded human persons seeking the love and affirmation of fellow humans.”
Social Gospel or Prosperity Gospel: A Forum
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Shaul Magid argues––and other scholars respond to his claim––that “American Jews are fighting an uphill battle against privilege at the same time many are devoted to maintaining it.”
The Dream Defenders and False Accusations of Anti-Semitism
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by Donna Nevel
False accusations of anti-Semitism are always shameful. They wrongly smear people and groups for actions and behavior they are not guilty of, often with destructive consequences; they also make a mockery of, and trivialize, real acts of anti-Semitism. In recent weeks, Florida’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis has consistently tried to tar his Democratic opponent, Mayor Andrew Gillum, by associating him with a social justice organization, Dream Defenders, which, he claims, is anti-Semitic. Nothing could be further from the truth. Dream Defenders was created after the killing of Trayvon Martin to make sure that all Floridians have the right to live in dignity and be safe in their own communities.
This Country by Judy Kronenfeld
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Anti-Semitism was something that happened in history
that happened in other places. —Sophia Levin, 15, Tree of Life congregant
My immigrant father, born in Germany,
was “a little roughed up” after Hitler,
after the first anti-Jewish decrees,
was scared “once or twice” by a knock
on the door before he left for America
with his younger brother in 1934,
following his parents the year before. Only his settled older sister and her
family made the mistake of staying
until they couldn’t escape. Maybe in order to live
in this new country, to have
a wife and child of his own,
my father chose to keep his sister’s story
mostly close within, his private
memorial flame. Maybe his heart
was so heavy it broke, but he wouldn’t let
it scar and harden against love, or let
a furrowed brow cloud every hour,
unlike a few whom evil terrorized
beyond hope.
Shiv’ah
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J. David Cummings’s poem calls for solidarity in grief: “he taught me that the grieving heart / speaks everywhere a single prayer.”