Well – that is what we’ve been warning you about. Words create worlds. Violent words create violent acts. Fascist words create fascist acts. Seditious, treasonous, insurrectionist words create seditious, treasonous, insurrectionist acts. Even after the debacle spectacle at the Capitol yesterday, 147 Republican lawmakers voted against democracy, voted to overturn the election. I have been […]
We are in the midst of a public health crisis – the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. We are also in the midst of another global public health crisis – fascism. We are in the midst of a pandemic of the body and a pandemic of the mind. The first reported cases of Covid-19 were in Wuhan, […]
These essays have been a warning about how Words Create Worlds and the dangerous words that create fascism. If words create worlds, then we have the power to create and the responsibility for creation. There are spiritual traditions in which the world is created anew – every moment, every day, every season, every year. Joseph […]
“Words create worlds,” Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.[1] “Words create worlds.” These are the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, here is the full quote, remembered by his daughter, Susannah Heschel: “Words, he often wrote, are themselves sacred, God’s tool for creating the universe, and our tools for bringing holiness — or evil — into the […]
“Words create worlds,” said Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.[1] To Fight Against this Age: On Fascism and Humanism[2] by Rob Riemen The Words Create Worlds series of essays was inspired by Rabbi Heschel’s warning of the way certain words led to the Holocaust, Riemen’s To Fight Against this Age, and Rebecca Solnit’s Call Them by Their […]
“Words create worlds,” said Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.[1] Are we in a fight for humanity? You bet your life we are. In 1973 Bob Marley & Peter Tosh wrote the lyrics: Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights! Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights! Get up, stand up, stand up […]
This essay first appeared in The Badger, Year 6, Volume 6, Issue 1 (4/4/20). Thanks to The Badger for permission to reprint. “Words create worlds.” These are the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, here is the full quote, remembered by his daughter, Susannah Heschel: “Words, he often wrote, are themselves sacred, God’s tool for […]
Words Create Worlds, Part 2: Rebecca Solnit and Calling Things by their True Names This is the second essay in the series published in The Badger, Autumn/Winter (10/3/19), Year 5, Volume 2, pages 52-63. Thanks to The Badger for permission to reprint! “Words create worlds,” said Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.[1] What we call things creates […]
This is a series I have been publishing over the past couple years in the online journal The Badger. The Badger is not a political journal, but in my work with Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow) I have been seeing the intersection between spirituality and politics – particularly when politics is against peace and is […]
Words Create Worlds. Part 3 “Words create worlds.” These are the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, here is the full quote, remembered by his daughter, Susannah Heschel: “Words, he often wrote, are themselves sacred, God’s tool for creating the universe, and our tools for bringing holiness — or evil — into the world. He […]
Being Fully Human 