Readers Respond

SECULARISMVS.RELIGION? Ihavereadwithinterestthe winsomestatementofBruceLedewitz (Tikkun, March/April 2010) on the futureofsecularism.Itmayormaynot betrue,ashesays,that“thenumberof nonbelieversintheworldwillhaveincreased dramatically.” Without countingheads,whatmattersisthat suchsecularthoughtisindeedalive, crediblealternativetoestablishedfaith traditionsformanypeople.Ilikevery muchhisgenerousnotionthatthe thought and faith of secularists may indeedimpingeonthenatureoffaith, for he offers what I would term “an ecumenicalsecularism.” There is no reason to think, however , that the vitality of lively faith traditionswillshrivelordie.HereIdo notrefertoobscurantistfideismorto theinstitutionalstructuresthatbeset alltraditions,notleasttheRoman CatholicChurchatthemoment.Rather Irefertocriticalfaiththatis,formany, theologicallycompellingandthatcan holditsowninanintellectualengagement with critical secularism. Obviouslyuncriticalfaithanduncritical secularism cannot take each other seriously. Iimaginethat,givenacriticalfaith traditionandgivencriticalsecularism ofthekindLedewitzchampions,we mayanticipateanongoingcriticalengagementthatisnotaboutwinningor losing,butisanengagementwhereby allpartiescontinuetorethinkandreformulate .Surelyitistrue,asLedewitz anticipates,thatsecularismwillimpact faith,butinfluencethatrunsinthe thatinfluence.Iwouldaddtheinfluence ofReinholdNiebuhr’sChristianrealism onAmericanforeignanddomesticpolicy andKarlBarth’slettertoSwisstrade unionistsin1911,inwhichhespokeof“the inherentconnectionbetweenJesusand socialism.”IwouldincludeProfessor Brueggemannhimselfinthisconnection, with his biblically grounded teaching about the capacity for surprise in the heart of history. Myhesitancehastodowithsomethingdeeperinthebiblicaltradition . ProfessorBrueggemann’sentirelifehas been the exemplification of Israel’s encounter with the living God. This encounterissovibrantintheHebrewBible as tohavenoconcomitantinsecularism. Indeed,thatemptyspace,whereGod dwellsinthefaithtraditions—whether theyareliterallytheisticornot—mightbe saidtoreflecttheessenceofsecularism. Noonehasfoundawayyettobridgethat gulfofsignificanceandmeaning. ProfessorBrueggemannmightsay thatthereminderofthatemptyspaceis preciselythecontributionthatreligion makestosecularism.Ifso,Ifearitisareminderthatcanonlyemphasizetheloss thatsecularismhasexperienced.Iamnot asecularistbychoiceandsoIfeelthatloss particularly. DIVESTMENT Thisistrulyacomplexissue.Itis beingviewedasasnapshotofalongrelationship .Somethingmustbedone,and LETTERS otherdirectionmayalsobeacutelyimportant .Ihopethatthisotherkindof secularismcangetuspastthedismissivesillinessofDawkinsandcompany .I submitthatserioussecularistsmaytake noteoftheanalysisofTerryEagleton,a nonbelieverwhoinfactunderstands theclaimsofChristianfaith,who makesthespecificcasethatChristian faithappealsbecauseitdealswiththe “scumoftheearth.”Thatis,thecredibilityofthisfaithisnotinitsintellectual forcebutinitspracticeofa“preferential optionforthepoor”thatisdeeply groundedinatheologicalaffirmation. The tired categories of nineteenthcenturyquarrels ,asLedewitzknows, helpnoneofus,whetherrenderedby secularistsorbyfideists.Iwelcome Ledewitz’slargenessofspiritandexpect tobefruitfullyengagedintheongoing workthatmatterstothosesituatedin boththenarrativeofthesecularandthe narrativeoffaith.Bothnarratives,at theirbest,refusereductiontothe genericandsummontothespecificity oftime,place,andneighbor. Thanksforpublishingthepieceby Ledewitz. WalterBrueggemann Cincinnati,OH BruceLedewitzResponds: Itisafortunatesecularist whoseworkisreadbyProfessorWalter Brueggemann, America’s foremost interpreteroftheHebrewBible.Iagree withProfessorBrueggemannthatthe roadofinfluencebetweenreligionand secularismmustruninbothdirections. TerryEagletonisindeedanexampleof ANOTEONLETTERSTOTHEEDITOR: We welcome your responses to our articles. Send your letters to the editor to Letters@Tikkun.org. Pleaseremember,however,nottoattributetoTikkunviewsotherthanthoseexpressedinoureditorials . We email, post, and print many articles with which we have strong disagreements, because that is what makes Tikkun a location for a true diversity of ideas. Tikkun reserves the right to edit your letters to fit available space in the magazine. Readers Respond J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 0 W W W. T I K K U N . O R G T I K K U N 3 MORE LETTERS Thankyouforallyourletters!Wereceivemany morethanwecanprint.Gototikkun.org/letters toreadadditionallettersaboutGodandscience, Israelandglobalanti-Semitism,immigration,“the Obamayouvotedfor,”LibertariansandtheTea Party,forgiveness,andmore! Letters_1:Letters 6/1/10 4:57 PM Page 3 ThefirstproblemwasGreen’sassertionthattheemergenceofsciencerep resentedprogresstowardtheDivine . Thesecondwashisrepeatedreference totheevolutionof“morehighlydeveloped ”organismsandcultures. Thisthinkingclearlystemsfroma progress-orientedhistoricalnarrative. Yetbothevolutionarilyandhistorically, suchanarrativeisabsurd;animalshave beenknowntoevolvefrommoretoless complex,ashavecultures.Thismay seemlikeaminorquibble,butitisnot: Theprogressmodelofhistoryisa majorintellectualunderpinningof imperialismandotherpoisons.Even Greenfallsintothistrap,offensively dismissingculturesthatvenerate “primitivetribalgods”aslessenlightenedthanthosecapableof “greater abstractionanddepthofthought.” JustastroublingisGreen’sdeificationofthescientificprocess .All cultureshaveinvestigatedthenatureof theworld,andthiscanbeasacredpursuit .Yet“science”asweknowitisthe productofaveryspecific,nature-hating worldviewthatspiritualprogressives andradicalsshouldfindrepellent. Modernscience,asitistaughtand practiced,isintrinsicallyamoral, reductionist,andutilitarian,viewing natureasadeadthingtobedissected andcontrolled. Isthereaplaceforevolutionina spiritualnarrative?Ofcourse.ButI muchprefertheparallelstoriesmodel profferedbyCharaCurtisinherchildren ’sbooktothe“GodisDead;Long LiveScience!”theologyforwardedbyso manyauthorsinthelastissue. BenPachano Tuscon,AZ In“SacredEvolution”(Tikkun, March/April2010)ArthurGreensuggeststhatitispossibletoremainfaith fultotheDarwinianaccountof evolutionbynaturalselectionwhile alsoviewingevolutionas“ameaningful process”bywhichGodrevealsitself withincreation.However,naturalselectiondoesnoteasilylenditselftosuch animputationofmeaningfulness.The Darwinianpictureofevolutionisthat ofanessentiallyrandomprocessin 4 T I K K U N W W W. T I K K U N . O R G J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 0 LETTERS soon,toavoidafurthertragedy.Mostof uswereexcitedyearsagotodiscover ZenBuddhism.Butweseemtoforget thatwelearnedthatitisnotalwaysappropriatetoact /react;sometimesinactionismoreappropriateandpowerful . Sometimesnothingwecandocanbeof positiveinfluence.It’shumblingand frustrating. Allthosewhohonestlybelievethat thisisthecorrectandmosteffective toolwhendealingwithanabused paranoid(rememberevenparanoids haveenemies)—one who has been threatenedandabusedformostofhis livingmemoryandwill,iffurther threatenedandattackedbyhisonly protector—makeadifficult,dangerous, perilousdecision…pleasestandand votefordivestment. YoramGetzler MoshavAminadav,Jerusalem SACREDEVOLUTION AsanobservantJewtrainedin evolutionarybiology,Iwasfirstexcited thendisappointedbyArthurGreen’s articleinyourMarch/April2010issue. EDITOR Michael Lerner ASSOCIATE EDITOR Peter Gabel MANAGING EDITOR David Belden ASSISTANT EDITOR Alana Yu-lan Price ART DIRECTION AND DESIGN Design Action Collective POETRY EDITOR Joshua Weiner ASSISTANT POETRY EDITOR Lindsay Bernal FILM CRITIC David Sterritt ACADEMIC EDITOR Akiba Lerner LITERARY EDITOR Julian Levinson WEB DESIGN Craig Wiesner and Derrick Kikuchi FULFILLMENT Pete Cattrell and Natalie Wollner CONTRIBUTING EDITORS GilAnidjar,BradleyShavitArtson,MichaelBader,DavidBiale,PaulBuhle,ArnoldEisen, RogerS.Gottlieb,JoshHealey,MarkLeVine,ShaulMagid,RuthMessinger, BenNaparstek,OrRose,StephenZunes INTERNS AND EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS SarahAckley,BobAnschuetz,SarahKim,WillPasley,VanessaTa,KimmianneWebster, NatalieWendt,MarthaWoolverton,andSandraYolles(editorial);HilaryBrennanandTimRath(web); GaryAuandAlexChaves(art);DavidEhrens,AnnaFaktorovich,ChristinaHonde,NancyKleban,Nick Smit,andRebeccaWells(archive);VilmarysInesPichardo(business);andJustinDecker(operations). PUBLISHERS George & Trish Vradenburg ArticlesinTikkundonotnecessarilyreflectTikkun’sposition onanyissue.Tikkun’spositionsarepresentedinoureditorials. Tosubmitamanuscriptorsendaletter,pleaseemailmagazine@tikkun.org. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SendyourLetterstotheEditortoletters@tikkun.org EDITORIAL BOARD RachelAdler,GarAlperovitz,AlikiBarnstone,MichaelBerenbaum,ChetBowers,PaulBuhle, JayCantor,AbbyCaplin,DavidCohen,DanCohn-Sherbok,JosephineDonovan,ElliotDorff, TerryEagleton, Duane Elgin, Leslie Epstein, Sidra Ezrahi, Lynn Feinerman, John Felstiner, Barry Flicker,MargaretFlowers,SaulFriedlander,Nan Fink Gefen, LauraGeller,Ann Gleig, JohnP. Geyman,David N. Gibbs, ErikGleibermann,NancyGlock-Grueneich,BarbaraGoldberg, JillGoldberg,DavidGordis,JonathanGranoff,ArthurGreen,ColinGreer,MaryGrey,JameyHecht, BurtJacobson,JohnKelly,DavidKim,ReuvenKimelman,LindaKintz,RichardLaBrecque...