[Oe List ...] Alternative July 4th Celebration, from Tikkun Magazine

[Janice Ulangca]

Colleagues,
Home yesterday (Sat.) from exciting time with John Shelby Spong and Carleton and Ellie Stock at Chautauqua. Last night discovered this from Rabbi Michael Lerner, sent July 1.  Did a quick edit of part for the service at my new congregation, very open to such things - am talking to pastor about having it read by 2 folks alternating during prayers at this morning's service.  The edit is below the link.  Full article is long, contains much food for thought.  May your July 4th of July contain wonder and new insights!  And blessed anniversary to Fred and Nancy Lamphear.  Janice Ulangca

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Check out An Alternative July 4th Celebration -- How to Do It at http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/2010070113015360
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We are proud of the people of this country in many of the same ways that we are proud of our own families -- not by denying that there are problems, sometimes even overwhelming problems, but that we are still proud and care very deeply about them, and are committed to working through the problems.

 

At this July 4th celebration, let's give thanks for the ordinary and extraordinary Americans whose struggles have made this a better country for everyone.

 

We give thanks for the waves of immigrants from all parts of the world who struggled to accept each other and find a place in this country. Many of our ancestors were among them.

 

We give thanks for the escaped slaves and their allies,  who built the underground railroad and helped countless people to freedom.  And for the coalitions of religious and secular people -- women and men, black and white -- who built popular support for the emancipation of the slaves. 


We give thanks for the immigrants who refused to close the borders of this country to new groups of immigrants, and who continue to support a policy of "welcoming the stranger" just as this country opened its gates to their ancestors when they were the immigrants and strangers, and to all who fight for the safety and decent treatment of immigrants. 
 
We give thanks for the working people who championed protections like the eight-hour day, minimum wage, workers' compensation, and the right to organize, often at great personal cost to them. 

 We give thanks for those who continue to work for equal access for people with disabilities. 
 
We give thanks for those who advocate for sensitivity to animals and to the earth itself. 
 
We give thanks for those who developed innovations in science and technology, in literature and art, in music and dance, in film and in computer science, in medical and communication technologies, and in methods to protect ourselves from the destructive impacts of some of these new technologies. 

 

We give thanks for those who fought for peace and nonviolence, and who helped stop many wars.

 

And we give thanks for those who brought to this country the insights of their own religious traditions that emphasized love and caring for others and generosity toward those who had been impoverished --  and  who sought to turn those ideas not only into a call for personal charity but also into a mission to transform our economic and political systems in ways that would reflect those values.
                                                Adapted from Michael Lerner's July 4th Celebration





NOTE from Janice:  In Lerner's original there is also a line about those who advocate homosexuals and transgendered.  Our congregation, thank God, is very welcoming, has homosexuals in leading positions, speaks of that justice often.  I was sorry to leave it out, but it was late and I could not quite figure out how to gentle Lerner's language a bit - didn't think this was the time/way to put it in.  Enough radical here in other ways.

 

 
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