All societies wrestle with the scourge of prejudice, but validating that prejudice in statute makes a virtue of oppression.
Interpretation
Prejudice is a societal issue, but when it's encoded into law, it legitimizes oppression.
Ephraim Mirvis highlights the critical problem of prejudice in society, emphasizing that while it is an ongoing struggle, enshrining such biases in legal systems transforms mere discrimination into a recognized and sanctioned form of oppression. This statement serves as a call to recognize the moral implications of allowing prejudice to shape societal norms and legal structures.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech addressing human rights violations.
Jews are frequently compared to the proverbial 'canary in the coal mine,' an enduring signal for when the world is failing to meet its obligations in tackling bigotry. It has never been clearer to me just how widely understood that truism is.
Facebook seems to think that it would be liberating if everyone's News Feed could be personalized so that people see only and exactly what they want. Don't believe it. That's a prison.
Humanity today is like a waking dreamer, caught between the fantasies of sleep and the chaos of the real world. The mind seeks but cannot find the precise place and hour. We have created a Star Wars civilization, with Stone Age emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology. We thrash about. We are terribly confused by the mere fact of our existence, and a danger to ourselves and to the rest of life.
Sitting in a room, alone, listening to a CD is to be lonely. Sitting in a room alone with an LP crackling away, or sitting next to the turntable listening to a song at a time via 7-inch single is enjoying the sublime state of solitude.
Things are simply the way they are. They don't give us suffering. Like a thorn: Does a sharp thorn give us suffering? No. It's simply a thorn. It doesn't give suffering to anybody. If _x000D_ we step on it, we suffer immediately. _x000D_ Why do we suffer? Because we _x000D_ stepped on it. So the suffering comes from us.
We establish no religion in this country. We command no worship. We mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are and must remain separate.
Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.