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.
In my view, all that is necessary for faith is the belief that by doing our best we shall come nearer to success and that success in our aims (the improvement of the lot of mankind, present and future) is worth attaining...I maintain that faith in this world is perfectly possible without faith in another world.
Of course, Behaviourism 'works'. So does torture. Give me a no-nonsense, down-to-earth behaviourist, a few drugs, and simple electrical appliances, and in six months I will have him reciting the Athanasian Creed in public.
Taste cannot be controlled by law.
The difference between a good life and a bad life is how well you walk through the fire
A perception, sudden as blinking, that subject and object are one, will lead to a deeply mysterious understanding; and by this understanding you will awaken to the truth.
Indignation must always be the answer to indignity. Reality is not destiny.
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