#we love an interfaith king

[oakappleday]

According to Buckingham Palace, Rabbi Mirvis and King Charles spoke about ways to support interfaith harmony in the UK and their continued hope about a path to peace in Israel and Palestine. Yesterday, a Palace spokesperson shared "This is a situation His Majesty is extremely concerned about, and he has asked to be kept actively updated. His thoughts and prayers are with all of those suffering, particularly those who have lost loved ones, but also those actively involved as we speak." King Charles also had private conversations with Israel's President Herzog and King Abdullah of Jordan.

[zoroastriancowboy]

A Refutation of an anti-Zoroastrian Evangelical

A few years ago I was browsing Twitter when I stumbled upon a thread written by a pseudo-intellectual evangelical Christian apologist from Texas by the name of Sir Travis Jackson. In this thread, the evangelical was attacking Zoroastrianism, my ancestral Iranian religion.

As an advocate and defender of the ancient Zoroastrian faith, I didn't hesitate to get into a theological debate with him.

During the debate, I so thoroughly wrecked him, that he deleted the thread and retreated from Twitter to Tumblr so he could continue the debate without me.

He was seething so hard that he had to go on to Tumblr and write a 3,000 word barely coherent polemical rant to refute the Zoroastrian influence on Judaism and Christianity, where he mentions me by name in the first few paragraphs. I didn't even know about it until today. You can read it here: https://www.tumblr.com/sirtravisjacksonoftexas/627024203052433408/did-judaism-and-christianity-borrow-from

In order for this spasticated brainwashed evangelical to cope with the insecurity that he was feeling towards his beliefs, he had to jump through some very impressive mental gymnastics to refute my views. He should get a gold medal for that.

I have lived in Oklahoma my whole life so I have dealt with my fair share of Iranophobic anti-Zoroastrian evangelicals like him in the past. The evangelical christians are well-known for their bigotry, ignorance, judgemental intolerance, hostility, political extremism, incoherency, hypocrisy, and insular close-mindedness towards people of other faiths and ways of life. I have experienced it time and time again. It is a reputation they have thoroughly earned.

The Zoroastrian community, on the other hand, has earned a reputation of being honest, egalitarian, philanthropic, kind, joyous, charitable, industrious, entreprenuerial, and resilient in the face of adversity. The Zoroastrians have maintained their faith and tradition for thousands of years, surviving countless invasions and genocides from various bloodthirsty armies, and have made contributions to the fields of philosophy, science, literature, art, architecture, and jurisprudence. The ancient Zoroastrians literally invented Human Rights under King Cyrus. They are also well known for their rich cultural traditions such as Nowruz and their interfaith cooperation and positive relations with other religious communities. They also gave the world Freddy Mercury.

If you don't believe me, just ask the Hindus what they think of us. They love us. And we love them.

Anyways, here is my refutation to Sir Travis Jackson's refutation:

The argument presented in Travis Jackson's article against the fact that Judaism and Christianity borrowed from Zoroastrianism is weak and lacks evidence. The article argues that the Wise Men or Magi who visited Jesus were astrologers and not Zoroastrian priests. However, the term "Magi" was used specifically to describe Zoroastrian priests, and there is evidence that they were known to travel beyond Persia to conduct religious ceremonies.

Sir Travis Jackson argues that the Syrian Infancy Gospel is too late to be used as evidence that Zoroaster predicted Christ's birth. However, the fact that the text was written in the 6th century AD does not necessarily mean that it did not draw on earlier traditions. Moreover, the author ignores the fact that there are other sources that suggest a connection between Zoroastrianism and Christianity, such as the Acts of Thomas and the Clementine Recognitions.

Travis argues that the Jews did not borrow the concepts of heaven and hell, angels and demons, the devil, and the final resurrection from Zoroastrianism because these concepts were already present in pre-Zoroastrian Iranian religion. However, this argument overlooks the fact that Zoroastrianism played a key role in shaping the development of these concepts in Judaism and Christianity. For example, the Jewish concept of Satan was influenced by the Zoroastrian figure of Angra Mainyu, and the idea of a final judgment and resurrection was taken from the Zoroastrian concept known as Fareshokereti.

While it is true that many cultures and religions had the idea of an afterlife, including a realm of demons or evil spirits, the concept of Heaven and Hell as a binary choice for souls after death is unique to Zoroastrianism. This is not just a general idea of an afterlife, but a specific concept that has similarities to the Christian and Jewish belief in an eternal reward or punishment. Additionally, there is evidence that Jewish and Christian ideas of Heaven and Hell developed after contact with Zoroastrianism, particularly during the Babylonian exile of the Jews in the 6th century BCE, where they would have been exposed to Zoroastrianism.

While it is true that other cultures had similar concepts of lesser spirits or gods, the idea of angels and demons as specific categories with distinct roles is again unique to Zoroastrianism. In Zoroastrianism, there are good and evil spirits that are in constant conflict, which is similar to the Christian and Jewish ideas of angels and demons. While there may be similarities to other cultures, the specific concepts of angels and demons in Christianity and Judaism are likely influenced by Zoroastrianism.

While it is true that other cultures had similar concepts of a devil or evil deity, the specific concept of a single entity that is in constant conflict with God is again unique to Zoroastrianism. The concept of a fallen angel or Satan in Christianity and Judaism is likely influenced by Zoroastrianism, particularly given the similarities in the descriptions of the Christian devil Satan and the Zoroastrian devil Angra Mainyu.

Finally, the article argues that the concept of heaven and hell, angels and demons, the devil, and the final resurrection were not borrowed from Zoroastrianism because the ancient Iranians worshipped gods called "Daevas" that were later considered demons by Zoroaster. However, this argument does not negate the numerous historical occurences of Zoroastrianism making contact and exerting influence on Jewish and Christian beliefs through the Persian Empire, as there are similarities to be found between their religious texts.

Overall, while the article attempts to refute the claim that Judaism and Christianity borrowed from Zoroastrianism, it fails to provide convincing evidence to support its argument.

[college-girl199328]

But the powerful religious ties that permeated the life of his grandmother and his father are notably absent from Spare. In fact, the Duke reveals in his new autobiography that he is "not religious" despite his family’s historical and significantly close ties with the Church of England.

Broaching the subject after recounting hunting and shooting a stag during his childhood in Balmoral, the Scottish home, the Duke wrote I wasn’t religious, but this bloody face was, to me, baptismal.

He continues by revealing that, conversely, King Charles, or Pa, was deeply religious, adding that he prayed every night, but now, at this moment, I am close to God. However, the Duke does not elaborate on the proximity he felt to religion while hunting as a young boy. The other mention in the book relates to him getting spanked at school with the Bible.

He said there was one particular teacher who, whenever he caught me, would give me tremendous clout, always with a copy of the New English Bible. The hardback version.

Meanwhile, the book is littered with spiritual references, claiming that “some force in the universe” was repeatedly blocking the King’s wedding to the Queen Consort and believing that an encounter with a leopard was a sign from his mother.

Prince Harry suggested that the universal force behind the wedding disruption might be his mother. I couldn’t help but think that the universe was blocking rather than blessing their union. Maybe the universe delays what it disapproves of?

Describing his encounter with a leopard in Botswana, he said I was thinking about Mummy. The leopard was clearly a sign from her, a messenger she’d sent to say all was well and would be well. Given the spiritual references in his memoir, it may be that the Duke fails to mention the subject more, given the Royal family’s well-known piety.

The role of Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England was one that she felt closely connected to. It was also part of her personal life. In June last year, she was presented with a special Canterbury Cross for her years of unstinting service to the Church of England.

The Archbishop of Canterbury gave the late Queen the small silver cross, inspired by a ninth-century Saxon brooch and incorporating a triquetra pattern, as a heartfelt symbol of his love, loyalty, and affection for her. The Most Rev. Justin Welby said the life was an example of a Christian life well led.

She would often speak of the strength she drew from her Christian faith and the teachings as an example to herself and the nation. In her 2016 Christmas address, which followed a year of political turmoil in Britain, she said even with the inspiration of others, it’s understandable that we sometimes think the problems are so big that we can do little to help.

King Charles, the new head of the Church of England, has described himself as a committed Anglican Christian who holds beliefs and love at their very core. Last September, he pledged to protect the multiple faiths of a diverse Britain no less diligently than Christianity, a nod to his long-standing work to promote interfaith dialogue.

Addressing religious leaders during a reception at Buckingham Palace, the King promised to protect the space for faith to uphold the numerous religions, cultures, traditions, and beliefs to which our hearts and minds direct us as individuals.

[writingwithcolor]

Hi! I’m writing a comic where one main character is Jewish and the other main character (her ex/love interest) isn’t and at a point he’s near-fatally injured and I was wondering how/if she would pray for his recovery? (Also kinda unrelated but I do think it’s important, if a Jewish character is speaking or thinking and they say/think god would it be spelt like “G-d”? Asking because Jewish creators I follow on things like tiktok and youtube spell it like that in the CC of their videos)

Jewish character prays for recovery of another character, and the spelling of God/G-d

The healing prayer is called Misheberach and here is a text:

Mi Shebeirach - Prayer for Healing

You don't need to bleep out the “o” when you write God. We do that (or some of us do, anyway -- I don't bc to me the word 'god' is not the same as The Name but just an English word, but obviously I'm in the minority here) because according to our beliefs if you write the name of God on a piece of paper it sanctifies the paper and that turns into a whole thing bc that means when it's time to dispose of the paper you can't just recycle it you have to give it a proper burial and who wants to deal with that every five seconds, right? So someone thinking that in their heads doesn't do anything to any physical object and also if those aren't your beliefs then you don't need to change the way you write.

--Shira

Agree with this, also if she usually says the weekday Amidah there is a part where you can insert a prayer for the sick:

Specified text above reads:

HEALTH AND HEALING

Heal us, HASHEM - Then we will be healed;* save us - then we will be saved, for You are our praise. Bring complete recovery for all our ailments, for You are God, King, the faithful and compassionate Healer. Blessed are you, HASHEM, Who heals the sick of His people Israel.

* At this point one may interject a prayer for one who is ill:

May it be Your will, HASHEM, my God, and the God of my forefathers, that You quickly send a complete recovery from heaven, spiritual healing and physical healing to the patient [Name] son/daughter of [mother’s name] among the other patients of Israel.

--Shoshi

The Mi Sheberach is usually a communal prayer, but people have been using it in settings like you are describing for a long time, possibly since its creation.

I have prayed for the recovery of two secular Jewish people in my life. Once I did it without asking, and once having discussed it beforehand. Now, your character's love interest isn't Jewish, so things are a little different, but I can tell you that when I prayed without asking, I felt guilty. As though I had taken the person's agency away when it came to religious decisions. I spoke to the person after (it was my husband, and it was a hospital-room panic move on my part), let him know what I had done, and apologized for not thinking to ask first. It turned out that it was fine with him, but he appreciated me discussing it with him, since he is secular, and it's important not to just decide religious things for people.

When another secular family member became ill, I had the opportunity to ask if he wanted me to say Mi Sheberach for him, and he agreed, so I took that on guilt-free. When dealing with issues of religious consent, and interfaith (or differing observance) relationships, feelings can get complicated. Just something to keep in mind as you write your scene.

-- Dierdra

Commentary

@terulakimban said: The above are relatively formal options. Other things that are possible: saying or reading tehillim (Psalms) while thinking about the injured (this one is a common custom) and saying his name on Thursday/Friday while separating and burning her challah (or asking someone observant enough to follow both those traditions to do so). Those are more “while he’s in the hospital” type things. If you need a “he is bleeding out in front of her and she is freaking out and defaults to prayer”-type of prayer, another option is a very angry potentially one-sided conversation with G-d, either in her head or out loud.

@captainlordauditor said: I personally will only tell/ask about saying Mi Sheberach for someone if I'm not sure what their Hebrew name is. For nonJews and people I know well I'll just say it. Asking feels like I'm trying to make it about me or perform my religion for their image of me and not for Gd.

@fluencca said: I'd also like to pitch a "tehil" or two... i.e., psalms. lots of people read psalms as a generic "pray for someone sick", while they're in surgery or whateve, rather than read "mi she'berach" over and over again. There are 150 psalms, so it's also a calming act that takes time and serves as a ditraction (they're very poetic, as well, and the right psalm can resonate very meaningfully)

[dwellordream]

If you could rewrite Alysanne and J****erys’ daughters to make them fully-fledged characters instead of paper-thin stereotypes, what would you change? (Censored you-know-who’s name because we don’t acknowledge him in my house 🙅🏿‍♀️)

Lmfao at you-know-who.  Daenerys: I actually think Fire and Blood does an okay job of building up Daenerys’ character (though of course it’s pretty obvious from her very first appearance she’s going to die tragically young, forever the ‘darling of the realm’). I don’t know, maybe we could have had a scene of her interacting with Aerea or Rhaena or something to get their reactions to her being heir for the first two years of her life before Aemon’s birth. Alyssa: My problem with Alyssa is not that she’s a tomboy. My problem with Alysaa is that she is a generic trope of ‘not like other girls!’ with no actual development. Unlike Arya’s very well-written arc in canon, Alyssa’s failure to conform to her society’s rigid gender roles and her interest in more traditionally masculine Westerosi pursuits like dueling, riding, climbing, etc is never examined in terms of how it effects her relationships with her family members and her thoughts about her future. There’s no scene like the one between Arya and Ned where Arya questions why she can’t be rule in her own right or build castles or advise kings, etc. There’s no detail given to how she got along with her mother and if Alysanne encouraged her ‘wild’ behavior or was more disapproving of it, etc.  Despite all this attention paid to how Alyssa refuses to conform to the expected role of a ladylike and demure princess, she seemingly has no problems with being married off at 15 and being expected to stick to being a wife and mother? There’s absolutely no conflict there, and there should be. Even if she was really in love with Baelon and had no issues marrying him, I find it hard to believe that she would pivot from wanting to spar with her brothers in the training yard to telling Baelon, totally seriously, “You were made for battles, and I was made for this. ...As soon as I am well, let’s make another. An army of your own!”  That seems like a pretty drastic shift in personality, and it’s never explained. Maegelle: Maegelle just needs more development, in general. She’s not this offensive character archetype, she’s just incredibly barebones, the barest outline of a character. Only one line is spared to her relationship with Alyssa, who was only two years older, and that is ‘Alyssa bristled at the baby at her skirts’. It would have been nice to see some interaction between them, any at all; they were close in age growing up, surely they spent time together, even if they had very different interests, and they must have been educated together by a septa. There’s also barely anything devoted to how Maegelle viewed Daella beyond being her ‘guiding star’. What does that mean? Was she protective of Daella? Did she spend more time with her little sister than the rest of the family? Was she upset when Daella was married off? How did she and Daella react to Alyssa’s untimely death?  What about Maegelle’s ‘gift for healing’? When did that show up? When did she begin to study healing? What motherhouse did she go to? She was very bright, so what else did she like to study? Did she ever wish she could study at the Citadel? Did she correspond with Vaegon? Did she do any writing of her own? How did she help her parents resolve their conflicts? Did she help resolve any other political or familial strife? Did she wish for Viserys or Daemon to join the Faith as boys? Daella: Daella seems to have been intellectually disabled in some way. How did that affect her everyday life? To what extent was she aware of this? How did it affect the way her siblings treated her? Was she scared of her father, who she seemed incapable of pleasing, no matter what she did? She liked flowers, did she like to spend a lot of time in the gardens, or did she have a personal flower garden of her own that she tended to, like Myrcella in canon? What caused her to be scared of gardens? Was she bullied in one by her siblings?  Daella didn’t speak until she was almost two. Was this scene as a cause for concern at the time? What did the maesters think? Did Maegelle teach her to read, and praise her when she was able to read aloud, albeit haltingly? Who were her other tutors? What did Alysanne and Jaehaerys think of her being known as ‘simple’? Why was she scared of Alyssa?  Was Saera punished for her cruel pranks on Daella? Did Saera single her out because Daella annoyed her or because she felt Daella took up attention from their parents that Saera did not get? How much did Saera and Vaegon’s bullying contribute to Daella’s obvious anxiety and many phobias? Why was someone asking the 9 year old Daella when she would marry Vaegon?  Why did Alysanne and Jaehaerys feel Daella needed to be wed at all? At the time they had plenty of healthy children who would presumably have multiple grandchildren to continue the Targaryen line. The overwhelming pressure for Daella to marry does not make sense when the family tree was still fairly vast in 77 AC. Why was Daella left alone with for young squires seemingly encouraged to flirt with and pursue her, a frightened teenage girl with a child-like mentality? Why was there no uproar over Simon trying to get her drunk, and Ellard forcing a kiss on her? Why was this incident seen as ‘Daella being picky’ and not an assault on a royal princess? What drew Daella to Royce Blackwood? Was he kind to her? Why did no one consider that Daella’s strong religious faith in the Seven might pose an obstacle to this marriage? Why could Daella not be permitted to wed in a sept and raise her children in an interfaith marriage, as Catelyn and Ned do in canon?  Why did Jaehaerys feel Daella needed to be married off by the end of her sixteenth year seemingly for no reason other than annoyance? Why would the marriage of a royal princess be treated so lightly? Why did Jaehaerys then threaten to send Daella to the Silent Sisters when Alysanne asked why Daella could not wait to be married? Why did Jaehaerys hold such animosity towards his 16 year old daughter that he would rather her be forced into a severe religious order where she would likely never see her family again, rather than simply let her wait to marry or not marry at all? Why were two of the men Daella was then ordered to choose between old enough to be her father? Why was she not offered the choice of Rodrik’s sons or Boremund’s son? What was to be gained from wedding her to Rodrik, since her children by him would never inherit the Eyrie? Jaehaerys just decided to chuck politics out the window in order to be rid of her? He loathed his daughter that much at that point? Daella is given no voice following her marriage to Rodrik, nor is there any interrogation of his frankly disturbing interest in a 16 year old girl he’d known since birth and watched grow up over the years, calling her his ‘precious princess’ and seemingly fetishizing her naive, child-like innocence and fragile physical state? To add onto this, there is then zero outcry towards Rodrik himself when he proceeds to impregnate Daella, leading to her horrible death in childbirth. Why do we not even get Jaehaerys’ reaction to the realization that he essentially pushed his daughter into an early, agonizing death?  Saera and Viserra: Saera is brave and clever but that gets one brief mention, and then the rest of the narrative spends all its time harping on how she’s an evil, sexy, manipulative teenage girl. Viserra is just a slightly watered down version of her. They don’t just need to be rewritten, they need actual personalities to work with, because they have none, they’re just plot devices with names designed to make their parents fight with each other.  The same goes for Gael, who seems to just be ‘Daella 2.0′ in terms of being regarded as ‘simple-minded but sweet’, and then being raped (I don’t think Gael was capable of giving proper consent to sex or understood what that meant) and left to commit suicide after her stillborn son.

[iphisesque]

gio give us your expert opinion on the top 5 federico ii's lovers. it's for science

coming in at #5 we have miss Adelaide von Urslingen! imagine being the holy roman emperor's very first out-of-wedlock lover, and on top of that mothering the icon that was Enzo of Sardinia? legendary. truly a game changer for us all. where would we be without her

at #4 of course we have local slut and antichristfucker Bianca Lancia. she's one of my personal faves but she only gets fourth place because she may have been a piem*ntese and that is a war crime according to the geneva convention. other than that she is an all around ICON she saw the opportunity to become the antichrist's mistress and she took it so hard he actually ended up marrying her on his deathbed depending on who you listen to. name a more culturally relevant bitch

the bronze medal rightfully belongs to the one and only Gayboy Extraordinnaire Al-Malik Al-Kamil. he literally gifted him a fucking elephant name me a better present you could possibly get your lover. he was a holy roman emperor he was a sultan what more can I say. said #stoptheviolence by bouncing on that dick and preventing the sixth interfaith war in a hundred years. historically the most relevant of them all. Literal King

coming in at second place is Constance of Aragon. you may say that she technically wasn't his lover as she was his first wife and to that I say I don't care. the blueprint for MILFs all over the world to this day. Fede's first ~tRuE LoVe~ whatever that is. her name was the same as his mother's though which probably made it a bit awkward during sex. an absolute delight of a woman whom I dearly love and cherish and still cannot comprehend how in the hell she gave birth to Enrico.

and of course #1 goes to Pier delle Vigne! literally the gay lovers-to-enemies Shakespearean tragedy we all love and need. managed to make Dante "internalised homophobia" Alighieri tear up. helped Fede write the Liber Augustalis honestly get you a man who will rewrite your country's constitution with you. probably wrote each other love sonnets or some other sappy shit as they were both in their poetic school ew disgusting. he was also from Capua iirc and you guys Know how I feel about neapolitan/sicilian romance. I think about them and tear up at least once a day and that's that

[jewishconvertthings]

And to sort of tangentially follow up on that PSA post - 

Recently, I did a lot more reading into the whole messianic movement and the Jewish response to it (primarily from Jews for Judaism, but also others) because I firmly believe in researching a thing if you’re going to condemn it wholesale. 

Here’s the thing - front and center in the orgs whose web pages I viewed (on incognito and using donottrackme because I don’t want to bring them to my front door!!) is the message that you can be xian and Jewish. That you don’t have to choose. That’s their selling point. But it’s very clear that what they mean is: religiously xian, culturally/ethnically Jewish (sort of). 

None of the beliefs they portray except those that are extremely generalist have any basis whatsoever in Judaism. They are xian, full stop. Here an example of a self-description for a specific community: 

[Congregation] exists to effectively spread the good news that King Messiah has come and His Name is Yeshua (Jesus). We do this in a Jewish way because we believe you can be Jewish and believe in Jesus. We do this in a congregational setting because being Jewish is traditionally passed on in community, l'dor v'dor, from generation to generation. The resulting testimony should be that God has neither forgotten His people or His promises. We want to be a normal and a healthy expression of Jewish faith in Jesus as Messiah.

Chesed means "loving kindness." We have experienced His loyal love; literally His "chesed." God accepts us based on His goodness, not ours. Therefore we can rest in full assurance of eternal life because of God's promise. [Congregation] offers a unique opportunity to bring our worlds together - our family of faith and those we love who have not yet found Messiah. It is our goal to provide accessible and vibrant Jewish worship, education, and community, by putting the Messiah front and center. We want to make the issue clear that you can be Jewish and believe in Jesus. We want to tell an old story in new ways to speak to a new generation of younger, open-minded people.

There’s.. a lot to unpack here, but I’m gonna try to summarize the beliefs laid out here, sentence by sentence: 

this congregation exists to spread the news of Jesus <-- entirely xian

thesis that you can do this in a Jewish way because a blending is possible <-- entirely xian, specifically messianic

congregational setting is used for missionizing because . . . Jews also have congregations? 

God has neither forgotten His people or promises <-- technically either, but then again, religious Jews have never struggled to reconcile the problem of supersessionism because it isn’t part of our theology 

flat assertion that belief in Jesus is somehow Jewish with nothing to substantiate it <-- entirely messianic, aka xian. 

Chesed does, in fact, mean loving kindness, which google can also tell you. 

We have experienced God’s chesed <-- true, but it’s clear that they’re defining God as including Jesus, which is undeniably xian (and arguably polytheistic, which is totally contradictory to Judaism) 

God accepts us based on His goodness, not ours. <-- While not inherently problematic on Jewish theological level it is nevertheless followed by . . .

Therefore we can rest in full assurance of eternal life because of God's promise. <-- this is super extra xian, because it is a central tenet of xianity that Jesus acted as a redeemer for all of humanity. While different sects may argue over whether acts + faith or faith alone is necessary, the believe that eternal life is guaranteed through Jesus’ sacrifice (euphemized here as “God’s promise”) is a universal xian belief. In Judaism, God’s promise is that if we fulfill the Covenant as a people, then it will bring Olam Ha-Ba into being and is therefore entirely dependent on Jews doing mitzvot. Moshiach will come because we have fulfilled the Covenant, not to fulfill the Covenant for us. 

Explicit statement that the congregation missionizes to Jews <-- definitely xian and not Jewish

It is our goal to provide accessible and vibrant Jewish worship, education, and community, by putting the Messiah front and center. <-- NOTHING is Jewish about this?? It is only ““Jewish”“ because they claim it to be so. 

Another flat statement that you can be both, without demonstrating any Jewish theological beliefs in the mix (which, of course, they cannot do) 

Generic advertising statement about their community. 

This is . . . one of the less aggressive ones I found. Others include even more about Jesus than this one does. 

Anyway, my point with this is - I had considered visiting one of these congregations (ideally out of town) to try to understand them better before condemning them. After reading up on their own words and statements of belief, I do not feel that this is necessary. 

While I can certainly appreciate efforts made by blended families to honor both xian and Jewish traditions, as well as interfaith outreach for understanding and solidarity, this is not that. Rather, this is the weaponizing of one’s faith to cannibalize another beautiful tradition. 

Messianic “Judaism” is a form of violent xianity that seeks to destroy Jewish community and assimilate us into evangelical xianity. That is it’s primary goal. Anything else it claims to do is simply meant as an attractive veneer to lure those who are most vulnerable away from their heritage and true community. 

[jordanianroyals]

29 March 2019: King Abdullah II participated in a Q&A session with young friars, refugees, and journalists at the Sacred Convent of St. Francis of Assisi, attended by Queen Rania.

The session, held following a ceremony to award the 2019 Lamp of Peace award to King Abdullah, also included German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

Responding to a question on refugees and the role of the international community in supporting host countries, His Majesty said Jordan hosts over 15 per cent of the world’s refugees. (Source: Petra)

“This has been a great challenge, but, at the same time, when we looked at refugees, how could we turn our backs on them, when mothers and children were coming to our borders, escaping violence, escaping persecution? How could we, people who have love in our hearts, turn them away?” the King said.

“It was very clear to all of us that we had to accept them into our country… not only just to accept them as refugees; they have to have a future in our country until the opportunity is ready for them to be able to go back,” His Majesty added, thanking countries like Italy and Germany for supporting Jordan.

The King said hosting refugees has caused a tremendous strain on Jordanian citizens, noting rising unemployment rates and pressure on healthcare, education, and housing.

“The overwhelming majority of refugees, at least the ones that are in Jordan, want to go back home. And unless we empower them, unless we give them education, unless we look after them, give them opportunities; how are they going to be able to go back as positive building blocks of society?” His Majesty added.

“So when we look at Syria, we hope that we are all working together to improve the political aspects of this, but the next phase is stabilisation. Stabilisation is an opportunity for young people to go back and be a building block. It’s not going to be easy; it needs a lot of hard work,” the King said.

His Majesty praised Chancellor Merkel for setting the tone in Europe in dealing with refugees, describing her as “a model and an example for all of us in the Middle East”.

Friends like Chancellor Merkel, the King said, give Jordan strength. “We do need more help; there is donor fatigue, unfortunately. So more and more is the pressure on the Jordanian government to look after refugees,” His Majesty continued.

“But at the end of the day, we have to do the right thing. We have to do what is in our heart. And in our heart, the right thing is to look after refugees, give them a chance, and include them into our society,” the King affirmed.

Answering a question on the role of interfaith diplomacy in countering extremism, His Majesty said Jordan “realised many years ago that there was going to be a challenge of extremist rhetoric that was going to plague our societies for some time to come.”

“This is why as Muslims we reached out in the ‘Amman Message’ to talk to each other, as Christianity did many hundreds of years ago,” the King said, citing also the ‘Common Word’ initiative in which Muslims reached out to Christians.

“We realised that we were going to be in this battle for our future, our dignity, our humanity,” His Majesty underscored.

“The long term challenge that all of us have is the ideological battle,” the King said, pointing to the spread of extremism around the world.

“This is a challenge that you, as the younger generation, unfortunately, have inherited. But we need to give you the enablers to be able to overcome these issues,” His Majesty added, addressing the young attendees.

The King said part of the problem is how some groups have been utilising means such as social media to spread hatred, citing as an example the recent massacre that targeted Muslim worshippers in New Zealand.

“What binds all of us together is to love thy God and love thy neighbour. But do we actually believe that? Too many people talk about [how] ‘we tolerate each other’; shouldn’t we respect and love each other? If we truly have God in our heart, then we will overcome these challenges,” His Majesty said.

“There’s nothing probably stronger than this old saying, that for evil to succeed, is for good men and women to do nothing. Can we as a majority of people be able to stand up and count on each other when something is wrong? To be able to come together and look at the glass half full, to bring love into our hearts—that is going to be the challenge,” the King added.

People around the world must stand united in the face of evil groups; “otherwise, this is a long term challenge will be there for generations to come,” His Majesty said.

In remarks at the top of the Q&A session, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte welcomed Their Majesties, expressing his appreciation for Jordan’s efforts in hosting Syrian refugees despite the social and economic strain it puts on Jordan.

Prime Minister Conte noted that Jordan, led by His Majesty, is a shining example of harmony, with the King’s commitment to promoting peace and stability.

He added that Jordan is a worthy example to follow for its humanitarian positions, thanking the Jordanian people for their solidarity with others and for their strength and determination, and describing the King as an inspiring leader.

He added that Italy is committed to supporting Jordan, especially its healthcare and education sectors, describing the Kingdom as a strategic partner for Italy in the region, and a partner in promoting peace and countering extremism.

During the session, Chancellor Angela Merkel underscored the importance of supporting refugee host countries, such as Jordan, adding that all should work towards stability and prosperity in countries that have witnessed conflict, so that refugees may have a chance at returning home.

[oakappleday]

Hosting a gathering of UK community and faith leaders at Buckingham Palace, December 13

[script-a-world]

Any ideas on the varying attitudes and bigotry of interracial marriage when it comes to normal common people vs royal diplomatic marriages?

Mod Miri note: Please remember this is a writing advice blog, so please phrase your questions in that context. 

Feral: What kingdom? What century or decade? How are we defining "interracial"? Because race as a modern concept really wasn't a thing until like the 15th century. Are we including "interfaith"? What about between ethnic groups that would in modern American/western standards be counted as same race?

And also, whose attitudes? The common person's, the aristocrat's, the monarch's? Do you want to know what the specific laws were?

Unfortunately, this question is too vague to answer properly. You've asked for the whole of human history across the globe. It varies. A lot. Way too much to do it justice. 

Tex: Feral brings up several excellent points - the language you're using is tilted toward vagueness and a given perception which I'm not sure if you're wanting us to match, since we're here to try and give impartial knowledge.

I will say that marriage as a concept is a very deep topic, where just looking at its cultural value and significance strictly in the very modern day is enough to write several essays on, much less sticking to one area and even less so including historical changes for any given time period.

If you would like to come back with the specific information you're looking for, such as region, time frame, social strata, etc, we'd be glad to help you.

Werew: Also, if you are working with a completely made up culture, we'd be happy to help you critique/expand your ideas, if you can give us a description of the culture and/or what marriage views you have in mind. We're happy to help you brainstorm a bit, we just need some more to build from than this! 

Constablewrites: This is a situation where looking to the real world can help. Depending on the time period/culture you're working from (whether writing directly in that setting or using them as inspiration), you can probably find a good deal of information about their marriage customs, marriage for politics vs marriage for love, people who were discouraged (or flat-out forbidden) from getting married, that sort of thing. 

Feral: For an example on why it is so important we have more information on the when and where you're looking, let's take a look at King Afonso III of Portugal and his mistress Madragana in the mid-13th century. 

Madragana may have been black (this was kinda before the invention of race so it's hard to tell); she was definitely born to an Iberian Muslim family before she converted (likely via coercion) to Christianity. Eventually she became the mistress of the king (also her godfather, ew); now, this was not a marriage, but the children she bore to Afonso were known to be his and were part of the court. Her son Martim had a noble title and was a member of his half-brother's, King Denis of Portugal's, court. There seems to be no real issue about Martim's or his sister Urraca's (who was legit styled "infanta" (aka called a princess)) race. 

Until 500 years later when Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (a German woman) married George III of England. From their 1761 wedding, Queen Charlotte has been rumored to be the descendant of Afonso and Madragana. And this was a really big deal in late 18th century England and its colonies. Now, how the much the common person knew about this rumor, we couldn't begin to speculate though she is often noted as "looking mulatto" (whatever that means), but we do know that she became a poster child, quite literally, for the abolitionist movement. Google "Allan Ramsay portrait of Queen Charlotte." Some 15 generations removed from a woman who might have been black, and Ramsay depicted Charlotte with darker skin, natural hair, and a wider, flat nose, basically saying that "hey our queen is of African descent! we should free all those slaves who are of African descent!" 

200+ years later, Harry, Queen Charlotte's great^5-grandson, married Meghan. Reactions have been... varied. Both among the common folk and the Queen's relations (coughprincessmichaelofkentcough). 

[queertheology]

Faith Based Activism Starter Kit

When I was 21, a conversation with my parents about health insurance devolved into an argument about my queerness.

I had come out as gay three years earlier and they had a mixed response. They checked a few of the right boxes: they were quick to assure me that I was still their son, they made it clear they would still help me with college, they loved me and wanted me to be happy. But they also had their stumbles: they asked that I go see a Christian counselor, they never asked about my dating life, they were uncomfortable  talking about anything LGBT.

So I waited.

I did what I thought was the “good Christian thing” to do: I was patient and gracious. I tried to not ruffle any feathers (though I did have a few outbursts of frustration). I was “giving them time and space” for their “process.”

And then three years later we were sitting in the kitchen arguing about whether it was OK for gay people to be camp counselors and youth leaders, whether gay relationships were valid, whether anyone even expected gay people to get married in the first place. And I realized, in that moment, that they hadn’t changed. My parents were, for the most part, in the exact same spot they were three years ago when I came out.

All of my grace and patience and gentle reading suggestions and subtle attempts to talk about LGBTQ topics had done nothing. My parents hadn’t changed because, frankly, I hadn’t asked them to. I thought I was being kind, gracious, patient; I thought I was giving them time and space. But what I was really doing was being silent, tacitly approving the status quo.

The night of that argument, when I realized that my parents hadn’t changed because I hadn’t asked them to, I also realized that if the Church and America are to change, someone is going to have to ask them to change also. And not just ask once, meekly. We are going to have to force the issue. In his Letter From A Birmingham Jail, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. explains,

“Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.”

That day, I decided I would be an “angelic troublemaker,” as Bayard Rustin said. I applied for (and was later accepted to) Soulforce’s Equality Ride and spent 2 months studying nonviolence and theology, including in-person training with civil rights leader John Lewis, and then 2 months traveling the country engaged in activism and speaking at schools, churches, and communities around the intersections faith, justice, gender, and sexuality. In the decade since, I’ve dedicated much of my time, passion, and energy to social justice causes. I do this because of my Christian faith, not in spite of it.

I’m sure you’ve had some similar experiences. Parents who need a little more time, a church that’s still discerning their stance, pastors who have a good heart but don’t quite get it. Whether it’s around LGBTQ issues or something else like race, sexism, police brutality, Islamophobia… I bet there’s been someone in your life who is “not quite there yet” (maybe you have been that person).

And perhaps you’ve even wanted to be more active in creating change in your life, family, and community. If you have a similar stirring in your soul to do something, I see you. Here’s a bit of what I’ve learned from my past decade of faith-based LGBTQ activism.

In Romans 12, Paul says,

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God–this is your true and proper worship.”

Putting your body on the line — literally — is a spiritual act of worship.

A faith-based pursuit of justice is found throughout the Bible.

Micah tell us that what God requires is “to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Amos tells us that God “hates” and “despises” religious festivals, but instead desires that “justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.”

On Palm Sunday, Jesus stages a massive nonviolent direct action by riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, and later that week even goes so far as to destroy property by turning over tables in the temple.

Imagine what our community, our churches, our world would look like if Christians rolled up our sleeves a little more and worked a little more fervently for the Kingdom of God, on earth as it is in heaven?

How to get started with faith-based activism

Read

Activism doesn’t happen in a vacuum and simply being LGBTQ (or loving someone who is) doesn’t automagically make you an expert (if only!). Take some time to learn about the issues you find yourself in the midst of, issues that you are connected to, issues that you can work in solidarity with. And learn from those who have gone before about the tactics that worked — and those that didn’t. Innovation is important, of course, but so is learning from those who have already been doing the work, when possible.

Here are some book recommendations to get you started:

Jesus & Nonviolence: A Third Way by Walter Wink

Jesus Acted Up by Robert Goss

Why We Can’t Wait by Martin Luther King Jr. (the published version of Letter From A Birmingham Jail)

How Nonviolence Protects The State and The Failure of Nonviolence by Peter Gelderloos

Color of Violence by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence

The Kingdom of God Is Within You by Leo Tolstoy

When We Rise by Cleve Jones

I got my start as an activist with Soulforce, which is committed nonviolent direct action as a means of sabotaging Christian supremacy. Why nonviolence? Here’s how they put it,

It is effective for the kind of work that we do

It is open and accessible in the sense that it provides tools to everyday activists and “pre-activists”

It contains a call to action

And finally, it offers a path of personal transformation. Our goal is always first and foremost the internal healing, reconciliation, strengthening, and transformation of the individual and community.

This is the nonviolent process that I learned:

Experience the nature of the problem and be with the people most affected

Research the problem and the adversary; understand the facts and the cultural texture of where we are located

Negotiate with the adversary directly on what justice can look like

Use direct action to elicit a re-dedication to moving toward justice when negotiation fails

Use tools of communication and media to bring more people into the conversation to lean into the strength of social accountability to work towards cultural change

Return to negotiation when the adversary is willing; the question is not whether we shall move toward justice but how and how soon

Soulforce has a detailed and accessible guide to nonviolence which I highly recommend.

Stay Current

In order to be effective activists, we have to know what’s going on! Some of these groups and resources are not specifically Christian but are doing work around issues that we think are important for Christians. It can be powerful for Christians to work alongside non-Christians on issues that matter to us.

Black & Pink – supporting LGBTQ prisoners

@prisonculture on Twitter

POWER an interfaith activist organization based in Philadelphia (but who is engaged with issues of national and international significance)

National Immigrant Justice Center

@BreeNewsome is a fierce Black, Christian activist. Follow her on Twitter to stay connected to current events + be blessed by her keen insight

Queer Theology – on our Facebook and Twitter, we regularly share information about issues that are important to LGBTQ Christians and supporters as well as actions you can take to make a difference

Connect Locally

Groups meeting at your local LGBT Center are a great place to start. Look up who is there and get involved in one that resonates with you

Everytown for Gun Safety has actions you can take — digitally and in-person — to make a difference in your community

Soulforce has opportunities to educate yourself and take action digitally and locally.

Trans Day of Action is an annual event organized by Audre Lorde Project in NYC and has local actions in some cities. It’s a great way to offer your body as a living sacrifice by showing up for trans justice

Black Lives Matter has chapters across the country. If there’s one in your town, you can link up!

Practice Activism in Your Daily Life

Activism isn’t only being part of an official organization, it also happens in your personal life.

Speak up when a family member says something homophobic, racist, or otherwise prejudiced

Ask your pastor to use examples of LGBTQ people in their sermons

Start a group at your church — maybe it’s something simple like an LGBTQ fellowship, or more active like an activist group

Ask your church leaders to read our article on how to tell if your church is welcoming for transgender people and go through our Inclusive Church Checklist

You don’t have to be outspoken and in your face to practice activism. Fr. Shay wrote an article on how introverts can get involved with activism in a way that feels safe and sustainable.

Take Care of Yourself

If you want to be an effective activist, helping make the world a better place… then you need to make sure that you’re taking care of yourself too.

We have a bunch of resources on self-care including An LGBTQ Christian Guide to Self-Care

There may be a peer support group you can join at a local nonprofit that centers around your experience (in major cities, healthcare nonprofits often have these, as well as community- and issue-specific groups such as LGBTQ, veterans, immigrants, etc).

You may find therapy to be helpful in taking care of yourself (I know that I do!). If you have insurance, you may be able to see a therapist for relatively cheap. If you don’t, there might be a nonprofit that offers those services to you at no or lost cost. You can also look into virtual counseling with a company such as BetterHelp. We can’t recommend enough that you work with a licensed therapist who does not have a religious agenda. This type of therapist will be much more helpful than a “Christian counselor” through your church or a religious organization.

Get Started

I know there’s a lot here and the last thing I want you to do is get stuck in analysis paralysis. I know that a fear of doing or saying the wrong thing can take keep many of us from ever taking action.

What sort of world would we live in if we were always ruled by fear of failure? You may mess up along the way and that’s human. The key is to graciously admit your mistakes, learn from the experience, and commit to making things right. We’re in this together.

So today, pick one book to read or one organization to connect with. Take one step today, and another tomorrow, and a third next week. Keep on with the work until that day when justice rolls down like a river. Because together, we’re gonna change the world.

We’ve got more resources for Christian activism coming, if you want to make sure you get ‘em all, you can signup here and we’ll send ‘em your way

[revlyncox]

Deeds That Beckon

This sermon was drastically revised from a previous version to fold in a discussion about how individualism and paternalism -- two hallmarks of white supremacy culture -- affect the way we understand our religious history. We must unpack that history in order to repair the damage that is our heritage and claim the positive mission of justice and kindness that is also our heritage. Delivered to the UU Church of Silver Spring, November 25, 2018, by the Rev. Lyn Cox.

As Unitarian Universalists, we need stories that help us, on an emotional and metaphorical level, understand who we are and how to live in the world. Our history provides those myths. Stories about admirable Unitarian Universalists are grown from seeds of historical accuracy, yet they are family stories. When we study our prophetic ancestors and take up the path of service in our own generation, we are becoming part of that mythic story.

The seminary I attended invited us into one such story. My school was named after Thomas Starr King, a minister who served both Universalist and Unitarian congregations in the 1840s through the 1860s. He got a lot done. Thomas Starr King was about five feet tall. One of his famous quotes is, “though I weigh only 120 pounds, when I am mad I weigh a ton.”

As a nature writer, he persuaded people of the importance of preserving places like the White Mountains of New Hampshire and Yosemite Valley in the West. His accounts were published in the Boston Evening Transcript. He has two mountains named after him, one in New Hampshire and one in California’s Sierra Nevada.

He helped the Unitarian church in San Francisco grow into their mission as a vital congregation involved in the life of the city. Starr King was a vocal abolitionist. When the Civil War broke out, he traveled up and down California, speaking to everyone from miners to legislators about joining the Union instead of the Confederacy or trying to become a separate country.

When I lived in California and walked the hills of San Francisco, sometimes I would think, “If Thomas Starr King could hike up the mountains, I can, too.”  Visiting Yosemite, I could see his point about the landscape being the scenic equivalent of Beethoven’s ninth symphony. Acts of service are like moveable temples, places where we can go to greet the spirits of our beloved ancestors, both blood ancestors and chosen ancestors.

Individualism and White Supremacy Culture

The story of Thomas Starr King can function as a UU religious story, bringing connection and inspiration, and a way to enter the story through acts of service. Even so, it’s worthwhile to go back and take another look at the stories that are important to us through the lens of white supremacy culture.

White supremacy culture is a system of oppression that uses everything from social norms to cultural narratives to corporate policy to federal law to maintain the privilege of one group over all other groups. White supremacy functions even in the absence of people who self-identify as racists. By design, the power and operating rules of white supremacy are unnoticed by most of the people who benefit from it.

Even when we have a story about someone like Thomas Starr King, who dedicated his life to causes like ecological preservation and abolition of slavery, we have to ask ourselves about what ways the form of the story we are telling upholds white supremacy culture. Sometimes oppression is baked in from the beginning, with our admired ancestors working against justice in certain facets while making progress in other facets. Sometimes the white supremacy culture is in our retelling, in the details we emphasize or the details we forget.

Tema Okun from the organization dRworks has published a guide to recognizing fifteen characteristics of white supremacy culture. Okun focuses on the unspoken norms that maintain the status quo, even in organizations devoted to justice. There is a lot to unpack in it, so I’d like to focus on one characteristic now and one a little later in the sermon. https://collectiveliberation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/White_Supremacy_Culture_Okun.pdf

One of the characteristics of white supremacy culture that Okun describes is individualism. Organizations that are under the influence of individualism have difficulties with working in teams. Individuals believe they are responsible for solving the problems of the organization alone. There is an emphasis on individual recognition and credit, leading to isolation and competition. Few resources are devoted to developing skills in how to cooperate.

The way we UU’s typically tell the story of Thomas Starr King is steeped in individualism. He did do important things, but a lot of his impact was through organizing and teamwork, and those are the strategies that are hard to replicate based on the mythology that we carry on in his memory. He didn’t just go around preaching on street corners, he traveled to speak with and work with coherent groups of people from different social classes and walks of life. He made a difference because of the way he was able to get outside his comfort zone and work with teams, not by his preaching skills alone.

The way history is taught and discussed in general is susceptible to this pitfall, and the way we talk about Unitarian Universalist history in particular is vulnerable to individualism. Sometimes our quick introductions focus on famous Unitarian Universalists, trying to make our religious movement more familiar by reminding people of its famous adherents.

One of the most famous UU’s is Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote an essay called “Self-Reliance” in 1841. In his memory, I worry that Unitarian Universalism has taken individualism to a place that limits our mutual accountability and our responsibilities to the most vulnerable among us. I appreciate Emerson’s healthy skepticism toward the way things have always been done. Emerson’s suggestion that sometimes social expectations are not the most important value is important for our anti-racism work, because you have to push back on politeness at least a little bit if you are challenging white supremacy. And. It is important not to let our admiration for Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” prevent us from being in covenant with each other, being loving in our truth-telling, and opening ourselves up to learning new ways of cooperation.    

Contrast the image of Emerson as a poet who stands apart, an individualist hero, with what we know about another writer, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Harper was born into a family of free Black educators in Baltimore in 1825. She joined the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia in 1870, and also maintained her membership in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Like Emerson, Williams wrote poems, essays, and lectures. She also wrote short stories and novels. Like Emerson, she wrote about personal development and used her writing to promote social causes. Unlike Emerson, Harper also wrote about responsibility to the community, and she practiced it in concrete ways. In her 1855 article, “A Factor in Human Progress,” she spoke of “the science of a true life of joy and trust in God, of God-like forgiveness and divine self-surrender.” Harper worked in her community feeding the poor and mentoring youth. She was part of several groups who moved toward progress together, for women’s suffrage and for Black suffrage, against lynching, for peace. We learn from her legacy that a writer can be a literary voice and also be a leader who encourages cooperation, solidarity, and true relationship with the people who are most impacted by oppression.

Individualism has its good points, yet there is more to Unitarian Universalist history and more to our current character and potential than we can access through that doorway alone. Hyper-individualism maintains white supremacy culture when it prevents us from getting outside ourselves and building relationships with interfaith partner and community partner organizations. Hyper-individualism privileges the lone dissenter to the point where it is hard to put personal preferences aside so that congregations can work one one thing together. Hyper-individualism leads us to celebrate only the heroic faces of social justice, forgetting to gather in those who are called to work behind the scenes. There is a place in this congregation, this faith, and in the movement for people with many different talents and ways of being. As we study the past, may we celebrate the groups and movements as well as the superstars, knowing that progress is a team effort.

Deeds That Beckon Us To Be Transformed

In addition to individualism, another characteristic of white supremacy culture we can explore in our UU history is paternalism. Paternalism is a cultural norm in which “those with power think they are capable of making decisions for and in the interests of those without power” (Okun). This characteristic is tricky, because paternalism can feel like compassion, yet there are times when paternalism got in the way of true progress. Impact is more important than intention.

If we want a positive example of accountable, grounded, not-paternalistic leadership in our UU history, consider Fannie Barrier Williams. She was an organizer, lecturer, journalist, artist, and musician. She was born in 1855 to one of the few Black families in Brockport, New York. She is most famous for her work in Chicago, where she belonged to All Souls Unitarian Church. Williams made strides in integration through the establishment of the Provident Hospital, joining the Chicago Woman’s Club, and serving on the Board of the Chicago Public Library. She also worked within the African American community. She helped start the National Association of Colored Women, which, through their 200 local clubs, provided child care centers, classes, employment bureaus, and savings banks. There are models among our UU ancestors that disrupt paternalism, if we seek them out.

The compassion that gets mixed up with paternalism might be a good impulse that gets misdirected. So let’s start with what’s good. Being true to compassion means meeting challenges and growing from them, allowing our minds and hearts to be transformed.

Dorothea Dix found that out when she entered the East Cambridge Jail as a teacher in 1841. Dix was horrified by what she saw. The jail was unheated. All of the residents were housed together: people who had been convicted of crimes, people with mental illness, children with developmental disabilities, all mixed together in unfurnished, unsanitary quarters. The only thing the residents had in common was that society had given up on them.

Using her contacts in Boston, Dix got a court order for heat and other improvements at the jail. She then set about a systemic investigation of jails and almshouses in Massachusetts, making personal visits to document conditions. She said, “what I assert in fact, I must see for myself.”  She read about mental illness and treatment and interviewed physicians. She gave her data to a politically connected friend who presented her findings to the Massachusetts legislature. After some attempts at denial and misdirection, funding came through to modernize the State Mental Hospital at Worcester. Dix followed the same pattern in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Hospitals sprung up in her wake.

OK, so all of that is great; however, in our continuing efforts at health care reform and mental health care and accessibility, we would need to do things differently today. Dorothea Dix did try to understand the experience of the people who were most impacted by incarceration, but she did not hold that all people have equal inherent worth. For instance, she did not think that slavery was wrong, she thought that white people were actually superior to Black people. She also harbored prejudice against Roman Catholics, and she regarded people with mental illness as helpless. Compassion is good. Deciding that you and people like you have to take leadership in compassionate change because you are better than the people you want to help is problematic.

Today, trying to undo the legacy of paternalism, we are called support the leadership and voices of the people who are most impacted. We can work with coalitions led by people who are formerly incarcerated and their families. We can support organizations like ADAPT, led by people with disabilities; the organization is even now fighting for the right of people with disabilities to live in the community rather than in institutions. The legacy of paternalism gives a heroic glow to our ancestors who struggled for others, but it is time for us to learn new skills of struggling alongside neighboring communities, learning how to accept the leadership of people who know the most about the issues they are facing.

   The path of service spurs us to many kinds of transformation. We meet challenges and build skills we didn’t have before. We gain awareness of a timeless spiritual truth, which is our oneness. Reflecting on history and our own experience, taking in the lessons of dismantling individualism and paternalism, the transformation that compassion brings becomes a spiritual as well as an ethical reality.

Conclusion

Collective kindness is a tradition worth growing. Role models from UU history and from our own congregation help us to place ourselves on a path with a past, yet a path where we have a choice going into the future. The practice of compassion is a tradition we receive, nurture, and share with the next generation. May we find our place in the mythic story of UUism. May we be transformed. May we come to new understandings of our past and our future. So be it. Blessed be. Amen.

[aegor-bamfsteel]

How do you think Rohanne’s perception of slavery changed from her time in Westeros? And how would the westerosi handle slavery during their exile?

Xen, could you go back to asking me which of the Great Bastards is ticklish? Because this is a hard one. It involves knowing about both Rohanne’s personality and background, of which we have no information. It also has me make assumptions about the history of Golden Company based on very scant information from A Dance with Dragons. For the first question, I will try to suggest some factors that may have contributed to Rohanne’s views of slavery, and how they may have changed in Westeros. For the second, I’m going to take what I assume about the character of the first generation of Westerosi exiles and compare it to information about the asoiaf-era Golden Company.

Question 1: How do you think Rohanne’s perception of slavery changed from her time in Westeros?

I think that Rohanne’s views on slavery before she got to Westeros were influenced by her:

Social status: We know very little about Rohanne’s background other than that the Archon was responsible for arranging her marriage, suggesting  that he was something like her paterfamilias or male head of house. As a high status woman in a city that lives off of the slave trade (so says Xaro Xhoan Daxos. I’m rolling my eyes at how unhistorical that a tiny island with no arable farmland has a population of 3 slaves for every 1 free person, but that’s the world building GRRM has created), she almost certainly came from a family who owned slaves. GRRM seems to base his slavery off of the ancient Roman model (it isn’t ethnically based, there doesn’t seem to be a ban on slaves reading/holding specific occupations, there is a reasonable chance of gaining one’s freedom), so if she were the lady of her household, she would have been responsible for tending to the basic needs of all of the slaves of her house—their food, clothing, physical health, and lodgings; even if she weren’t, her older female relatives would have taught her. Rohanne must have lived in a house mostly managed by slaves, and interacted with them on a personal level in her day-to-day life; would have been tutored by a slave in mathematics/science, her family accounts were seen to by a slave, her family’s agents were likely mostly slaves, and all the domestic chores were done by slaves. Perhaps she even had a personal maidservant from girlhood who slept beside her bed on a mat, as upper-class Roman women did. Due to her education, she may have developed a maternalistic attitude toward slaves, in which she considered it her moral duty to tend to her family’s dependents. However, she may not have necessarily considered them inherently inferior because…

Family background: Rohanne does not have any surname, let alone one with the Tyroshi-Valyrian “-is” suffix (Quaynis, Uhuris, Tumitis, Naharis), which might mean any number of things: that she was not of immediate Valyrian descent (likely, as the name “Rohanne" does not look or sound like any Valyrian names that we know, whereas the name “Kiera” is similar to the Lysene/Targaryen-Valyrian names Shiera and Shaera) or that her family was originally of a lower class that only recently reached the upper echelons of power (in Westeros if not in Tyrosh, a lack of a surname indicates smallfolk status; since Tyroshi culture is based on wealth rather than birth, those families which do have surnames could be Valyrian “old money,” although much reduced in circumstances). I don’t know if her lack of a surname definitely means that Rohanne’s family were originally slaves themselves; in Planetos, many ex-slaves don’t have surnames (though some like Rylona Rhee, Marq Mandrake, and Tumco Lho do have last names that belong to their own Ghiscari or Westerosi or Naathi culture, although these people were born free. If Rohanne’s ancestors were born slaves, they may not have surnames), but neither do most of the Myrish (close to Tyrosh, also many not of Valyrian descent). What it does mean is that she likely came from a “new money” family, and that doubtless had an effect on how she saw slaves. To clarify, the Valyrians believed themselves superior to all other peoples on the basis of blood, and many of their descendants (the Volantenes, the Lyseni, and the Targaryens) adopted the same attitude; Rohanne did not belong to this “in-group” and may have even faced passive-aggressive snubbing because of it, so she could have had a very different point of view on slavery than the “old money” families. Like many slaveowners who came from poor or even ex-slave backgrounds, she might have had the understanding that slaves were not enslaved because they were naturally morally/intellectually inferior, but were subjected to slavery through kidnapping or being born to a slave mother. The idea that slavery was a moral rather than an economic institution might have already seemed strange to her before her arrival in Westeros. 

After her arrival in Westeros and marriage to a Crownlands knight, Rohanne’s position on slavery may have further changed due to…

The Faith of the Seven: Daemon followed the Faith of the Seven, and while he did not spend a great deal of his time with septons, he was considered such an exceptional knight (who was required to take oaths based on each of the Seven) that his prowess was tied to the religious figure of the Warrior; whatever Yandel might say about his apathy to religion, he seems to have been bound up in Faith principles to a considerable degree. We don’t know whether or not Rohanne converted to the Seven before or during her marriage, as other interfaith marriages did not require the bride to convert (Catelyn Tully didn’t convert to worship of the Old Gods when she married Eddard Stark. In fact, he built her a sept for her worship, hired Septon Chayle as a librarian, and had Septa Mordane educate his daughters), although she may have done so to better integrate with the King’s Landing elite, especially due to the influx of septons in Daeron II’s court. If she did convert, she may have been taught that slavery was wrong on a moral basis, as all men belong to the Seven and owning them was to equate oneself to the divine (that was the argument of the 4th-century CE Christian bishop Gregory of Nysa, the only known abolitionist in antiquity). Even if she did not convert, the Faith was still present in her daily life because it was the religion of her husband, children (her daughters would have been educated by a Septa), smallfolk, and was centered in the nearby capital, so she would have been familiar with its teachings. Yet at the same time, her views on slavery might also have been influenced by…

The smallfolk: Tyrion Lannister observed that the smallfolk were similar to slaves because of the cruel treatment they suffered at the hands of their masters/lords with no hope for justice, but I believe the smallfolk have more rights than slaves. It seems that they were treated even better than serfs in at least one aspect; Brynden Rivers ordered them back to their lands following the Great Spring Sickness, indicating they had the right to move around and seek better employment as they wished. That leads into another point that gives smallfolk an advantage over being slaves: as primarily agricultural workers, smallfolk are spread out over a wider area and certainly don’t see their local lord on a day-to-day basis, whereas in tiny Tyrosh all of the slaves would have been familiar to their masters because everyone lives so close together. Rohanne may have even thought that the relationship between lord and smallfolk was rather distant for this reason, or she wondered why Daemon was not keeping his smallfolk close by in order to avoid potential rebellions. As she spent more time in Westeros, it may have occurred to her that the reason they didn’t rebel (and in fact raked their lives to pay tribute to him after his death) was because he was an honest man who made a fair liege; they had the freedom to follow him out of love, and were all the more loyal for it.  People are willing to fight for the preservation of that freedom. She could observe that the economic arguments for slavery she’d learned—that it was an integral part of the economy, that slaves would become lazy when freed, that fear of harsh punishments was needed to keep them obedient—just didn’t apply in this society. So I believe that Rohanne would have become less maternalistic toward her servants (as she now realized that they were capable of not causing trouble when independent) and may have come to see enslavement as a moral wrong due to the influence of the Seven/her family/her tenants (rather than just a “misfortune of circumstances”).

Question 2: How would the Westerosi handle slavery in their exile?

In the asoiaf era, the Golden Company disallows slaves from joining, calling themselves a “free brotherhood;” however, one of their prominent members is an ex-slave, Marq Mandrake (who has a hole in his cheek where his branding scar was), so they don’t appear to discriminate against men for having slave backgrounds. On the other hand, the Yunkish attempted to contract them by offering a “slave for every man in the company, ten for every officer, and a hundred choice maidens for the captain-commander” plus twice of what Myr would give them, so they obviously don’t have problems working for slaving cities. At the same time, it’s not made explicitly clear that the Company accepts slaves as a form of payment (Harry Strickland only pretended to think about the offer because he thought a blunt refusal would make their real plans too obvious); it would make more sense if they didn’t, since it’s said that they wear their wealth in gold and that their itinerant profession makes it hard to keep slaves. One could say that they have a sort of mercenary (heh) attitude toward slavery: they don’t mind if a slaver is willing to pay them to do a job, and they don’t care what a man’s background is as long as he is currently free, but don’t own slaves themselves for largely pragmatic reasons.

I assume that they felt differently in Aegor Rivers’ time; as many of Daemon I’s supporters were born in areas where the Faith has a greater presence (the Reach areas around Oldtown, the Riverlands close to the Crownlands where the Faith is centered, the Vale where the Andals first landed), and were loyal to the him in part because he embodied the knightly ideal of fairness and honor, they must have found the slavery reprehensible. Jon Connington’s words indicate that the grandfathers and fathers of the present members held more to Westerosi and Faith-inspired notions of chivalry and mercy than their descendants. Yet even by the asoiaf-era they still pay tribute to the legacy Aegor Rivers left behind, as breaking a contract is still seen as a stain upon the honor of the Company; it could be that the original members objected to slavery on moral grounds, but over time their prohibition became more pragmatic and a nod to tradition.

[livinginlandmarketing]

When M. Bernie Edmonds was growing up in South Central Los Angeles, he began seeing ads for Art Instruction, Inc. on the backs of matchbooks. Art contests that called for people to “Draw Winky” captured his imagination.

“I caught the art fever from then on,” he said. “I also got in trouble at school for doodling and not completing my class assignments.”

Riverside’s M. Bernie Edmonds, known in the art world as BerniE. (Photo provided by the artist)

Edmonds graduated from Cal State Dominguez Hills with a Bachelor of Science in public administration. But he also maintained his interest in art, taking courses while in college and from private coaches. He began studying pottery and sculpting, and went to Italy in 2006 to study line drawing.

“I love all art mediums,” said Edmonds, who added that he was raised to believe that he could do anything that he put his mind and hands to do.

Edmonds moved to Riverside 35 years ago. He developed the artistic persona BerniE. and began seeking to grow his client list beyond close friends and family.

With his business acumen and artistic talent, he began being represented by galleries throughout the country. His work has been seen on numerous TV shows and has been collected by several celebrities. The most surprising thing is the enormous range of mediums that this work encompasses, including residential and commercial design. It has even recently begun to include music and film.

Some of Edmonds’ favorite moments have been the personal interactions he has had with collectors.

“I recall the look on Coretta Scott King’s face and the tears in her eyes when she was presented with the crystal sculpture that I was commissioned to create for her,” he said.

Another one of those moments came during the unveiling of the Booker T. Washington sculpture Edmonds was commissioned to create by the Black Voice News and Foundation.

A bust of Booker T. Washington sculpted by artist BerniE. is featured in Riverside’s historic Mission Inn. (Photo provided by M. Bernie Edmonds)

“Booker T. Washington’s granddaughter leaned over and whispered in my ear that I captured his facial pose with great accuracy, as he often held his head a certain way,” he said. “We chuckled.”

Edmonds has recently turned his attention to raising awareness of and providing services for African Americans suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. He explained that according to the Alzheimer’s Association, the prevalence of the disease among older African Americans is substantially higher than in non-Hispanic Caucasians. Edmonds has created a song and video, “I Care,” as well as a series of paintings he has collected into a book. A portion of all sales is being donated to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Edmonds has also recently developed “Brands Opening” in response to businesses needing to rebuild and reshape from the pandemic.

“There is a disproportionate amount of minority artists and independent business owners whose equitable share of the business market will not be enough to allow them to get back to business,” he said. “The business community at large needs to recognize that there is value in diversity across the spectrum of all professions, including fine art, music and film.”

Edmonds recommends that young artists spend time searching for information online on how to get their artwork viewed by curators and gallery owners in consideration for consignments, shows and exhibitions.

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“In addition, reach out and establish contact with your favorite artists,” he said. “Join art groups. They generally sponsor shows and exhibit as frequently as monthly, which gives artists a greater chance of being featured. Most importantly, establish a strong trust and working relationship with your clients, gallery owners, curators and the art community in general. These are the ways that I went about gaining reputation and notoriety amongst clients and collectors.”

Information on BerniE., visit Bernieart.com.

Patrick Brien is executive director of the Riverside Arts Council.

-on November 20, 2020 at 05:00AM by Patrick Brien

[jordanianroyals]

29 March 2019: King Abdullah II reaffirmed that “today, nowhere is it more important to act than in safeguarding Jerusalem”.

Speaking at a ceremony attended by Queen Rania in Assisi, Italy, after receiving the 2019 Lamp of Peace award for efforts to promote human rights, harmony, interfaith dialogue, and peace in the Middle East and the world, King Abdullah noted Jordan’s duty in line with the Hashemite Custodianship of Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites.

“As Hashemite Custodian of Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites, we are bound by a special, personal duty to the security and future of the holy city,” His Majesty noted.

“Ties of love and concern bind the holy city to billions of Muslims and Christians around the world, and Jerusalem should be and must be a unifying city of peace,” the King underscored. 

In his speech, delivered at the Sacred Convent of St. Francis of Assisi, His Majesty also paid tribute to “the suffering families and victims of the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, two weeks ago.” (Source: Petra)

“Such evil, wherever it happens, is our suffering, too,” the King said, asking the attendees—who included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Italian Episcopal Conference President Gualtiero Bassetti, and President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani—to observe a moment of silence for the victims of the New Zealand attack and all victims of hatred.

His Majesty accepted the Lamp of Peace award, which recognises global figures for their work towards promoting peace and harmony, “on behalf of all who are working for a better future, and, most especially, on behalf of the people of Jordan, Muslim and Christian alike, who are making sacrifices every day for a better future for all.”

Since its launch in 1981, the Lamp of Peace has been awarded to a number of political and religious leaders, including Chancellor Merkel in 2018, former Polish president Lech Wałęsa, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, former Colombian president and Noble Prize Laureate Juan Manuel Santos, Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II, the Dalai Lama, and Mother Teresa.

The King, who received this year’s award from the Custos of the Sacred Convent of Assisi, Father Mauro Gambetti, said Muslims and Christians make up more than half the people on earth.

“It has never been more important to come together in harmony,” His Majesty noted.

“The principles of coexistence and interfaith harmony are deeply embedded in Jordan’s heritage. Our country is home to an historic Christian community. All our citizens actively share in building our strong nation,” the King said.

“And indeed, Christians have been part of Middle East societies for thousands of years and are vital to the future of our region,” His Majesty stressed.

“The people of the world do not have to be the same in order to have the same concerns, share the same needs, or hope the same hopes. To reach a better future, we must find a common path,” the King said.

Noting that “Jordan’s commitment to harmony and peace underlies our international role”, His Majesty highlighted the Kingdom’s role in the fight against terror and hatred on all fronts within a holistic approach, and in seeking effective solutions to global and regional crises.

The King also reaffirmed Jordan’s ongoing efforts for a lasting resolution of the region’s core conflict, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, based on the two-state solution.

His Majesty concluded the speech with a call for peace and harmony.

“Today, all over the world, millions of Muslims are coming together to perform Friday prayers, as those pious Muslims did who came to their mosques in New Zealand two Fridays ago. And today, as every day—five times a day—our prayers are calling for peace,” the King said.

“So I ask you to listen to that call. I ask you to help be the lights of peace who create the understanding and hope that our world desperately needs,” His Majesty concluded.

In his remarks at the beginning of the ceremony, Sacred Convent Custodian Father Mauro Gambetti commended the King’s efforts in promoting interfaith dialogue and peace.

He also lauded His Majesty’s commitment to education reform, protecting religious freedom, and offering millions of refugees a safe haven in times of conflict.

Father Gambetti referenced His Majesty’s speech at the European Parliament in 2015, quoting him as saying that Islam demands respect and caring for others.

Gambetti added that the Islamic greeting is one that wishes peace upon others, which is aligned with what Saint Francis of Assisi drew from the Bible.

The Sacred Convent Custodian thanked the King for promoting the shared commandments between Islam and Christianity on loving God and loving one’s neighbour. He added that such efforts enhance understanding between all religions and underscore the shared values of peace between them.

Father Gambetti thanked His Majesty for safeguarding Islamic and Christian holy sites, and called on him to continue his efforts in promoting and enhancing peace and interfaith harmony.

Also speaking at the ceremony, Chancellor Merkel commended His Majesty’s efforts in promoting peace and harmony, as well as Jordan’s role in hosting Syrian refugees.

Highlighting the refugee burden undertaken by Jordan, Merkel said it is as if Germany were hosting over 5 million refugees, or if Italy were hosting 4 million refugees.

She noted that Europeans should always remember what the King has done for refugees, adding that Jordan deserves Europe’s respect, solidarity, and support.

Chancellor Merkel said the message of interfaith dialogue that His Majesty promotes is one of utmost importance, pointing to “A Common Word” as a historic event in Islamic-Christian relations.

She described the King as a role model for people around the world, dubbing him a leader of peace.

Jordan, she said, has proven to be a cornerstone for peace in the Middle East, having maintained its safety and stability. She also commended the King’s efforts in the peace process, promoting the two-state solution for the Palestinians and Israelis.

The event included a tour of the Sacred Convent of St. Francis of Assisi, during which Their Majesties visited the Tomb of Saint Francis and signed the Flag of Peace.

His Majesty also signed the guest book at the Sacred Convent.

[oakappleday]

Throwback!

“I, personally, would much rather see it as ‘Defender of Faith,’ not ‘Defender of the Faith.”