Submitted by Rabbi Arthur Waskow on
Today is, in both the American calendar of honor and in the Jewish sacred calendar, a day of rebirth and renewal. For Jews it is the rebirthday of trees and of the mystical Tree of Life, and for Americans the birthday of Martin Luther King, who embodied and still symbolizes the rebirth of struggle for an America beyond violence and beyond racism.
Exactly one year before he was murdered, Dr. King warned that America must cleanse itself of dangerous triplets: militarism, racism, and materialism. Today the whole of Humankind faces the most profound question in all our history: whether to ruin most of life on Planet Earth for the sake of bigger corporate profit through burning fossil fuels -– the ultimate in “materialism"-- or live with Earth in joyful self-restraint – the teaching of Y'H B'Shvat and of Dr. King's companion-in-struggle, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.
Three months from now is the first day of Passover, which gives vision and framework to our coming work against the Plagues imposed by Carbon Pharaohs..
The Shalom Center has worked during the past two months to shape a multifaith grouping focused on one aspect of healing Earth and Humanity from the Plagues of fire, flood, famine, and disease brought upon us by the Corporate Carbon Pharaohs. For the sake of their own power and wealth , they are acting in the pattern of the ancient Pharaohs described in the Biblical and Quranic tales of the Exodus. Because the powers of the US government are paralyzed in deadly deadlock, we have turned to ending the financial support that makes possible the fossil-fuel industry in all its permutations.
We do this as part of a broader “eco-system” being shaped by GreenFaith on a global basis, drawing on the spiritual energy of a number of great festivals in a Sacred Season stretching from March 19 to May 6. The “Exodus Alliance” is a multifaith amalgam that is one “species” in this broader “eco-system” – focused on using the Exodus tradition as a sacred vessel to achieve eco-social justice for both specific marginalized neighborhoods and Earth as a whole. Like any species in a larger eco-system, we will cooperate with the other forms of lively healing while focusing on our own approach.
To see the Call itself and the list of signers, look across this page.
To sign as supporter and participant in #ExodusAlliance, please click here:
