Explosion Guts N.Y. Synagogue on Friday, October 13

[Guest guest]

I think that we ALL " live in very difficult times " .

I've not seen ANY of the " old guard " vegetarians

on the vegetarian lists contributing much of substance

to any of the issues that we face as vegetarians

in the face of geopolitical struggles.

 

First, there is an International Vegetarian Union (IVU).

This " something " called the IVU is pretty much

" up for grabs " , I think, and their webmaster, John Davis,

seems to have pretty much commandeered the

entire organization into a pretty-highly-functional website,

www.ivu.org . This website seems to be the archives

of the vegetarian movement, as the UK vegetarians

see it, and as US vegetarians contribute to it.

 

However, the issue of whether

IVU should become involved in regional conflicts,

issues, and discussions seems unaddressed.

 

This could be good. We see that parties to conflicts

are often wise enough to avoid extending their spheres

of official statements or behaviors beyond their safe

locus or base of operations.

 

IVU is firmly nestled within supportive England,

and English is the official language of the IVU,

and that seems to have been part of the instr5umentality

of spreading vegetarianism throughout the former

British Commonwealth, or may have been the

means of " connecting " English-speaking vegetarians

throughout Europe and the English-speaking world.

 

Yet it IS difficult to discuss international issues

knowledgeably within the vegetarian movement

without watching one vegetarian after another

shuffle over into another truly NON-vegetarian

position about those conflicts, issues, etc.

 

You've probably all watched it.

 

Many vegetarians ARE truly religious or

interested in religion and discussions about

religion, even if they are siding, permanently

or temporarily, on the anti-religious or

non-religious side.

 

Here's an example of such a position:

I don't see that type of thinking as making

much sense or as contributing to the solution

to real world problems, although I do see

confusions about religion as too easily

becoming entangled with other misunderstandings

and controversies. Those persons who misunderstand

one area

 

That type of vegetarian, who thinks that way,

may be more likely to see religion as a delicate

issue which needs to be meticulously and

surgically disentangled from the other issues

which are part of a conflict, but not as something

to be overlooked, even if the religion itself is seen

by such a vegetarian as not materially legitimate

as a reason for thinking, independent of the ways

that such issues have been drawn or dragged

into controversies.

 

However, on the other side of the controversy

about whether or not vegetarians ought to

speak up about issues -- not merely from

their own perspectives, nor from the perspectives

of morals, ethics, and the values (which may have

brought them into being vegetarians, if they're

principled), but from the perspective of how vegetarians

would live in situations of conflict, of how

vegetarians would and could address issues of

conflict, etc.

 

Consider the Middle East crisis, among others:

 

Imagine a Palestinian vegetarian

not knowing any Jewish vegetarians socially,

but perhaps being vegetarian from a sincere

insight into being a devout Muslim under Allah.

Imagine an Israeli Jewish vegetarian,

and listmembers probably know MANY

Israeli vegetarians.

Imagine a -- catch this -- a US-expatriate

" Messianic Christian " vegetarian living in a

Kibbutz in Israel.

Imagine an Israeli vegetarian disaffected with

both Judaism and the Israeli government.

Imagine a Hindu or Jain vegetarian living in Israel,

employed by or doing business with

an Israeli-based high-tech company,

but employed for his or her superior

engineering skills.

Imagine European or US vegetarians trying

to think out being vegetarian and whether

or not they are obliged to side with one

particular political strategy or not?

(How can one vote without a point of view?)

Imagine companies (whoever owns them)

trying to do a produce or vegetarian restaurant

business in the areas of conflict.

 

Obviously, a reduction in hostilities is

" good for business " -- if the business is

a consumer-based business, not

real estate in the Golan Heights.

Obviously vegetarians who don't want to

kill cows or sheep or goats or chickens for

food because they believe killing is wrong

will still have an interest in self-protection,

but would probably prefer having reduced

hostilities.

 

In secular Democracies every religious and

faith community seems to have the issue

of whether or not to vote, and how to vote,

and what voting does mean and what it

doesn't or cannot mean, since they are

" existentially obliged " to think out

every issue of behavior deliberately.

 

Marie

 

 

At 12:11 PM 10/15/00 -0400, Nicole wrote:

>I don't see how " food issues " are going to be understood

>by the general public as something they should associate

>with the hostilities between the conflicting parties in

>the Middle East.

>

>While we understand that " everything is connected " ,

>we also observe that " compartmentalization " of issues

>is one common way that the majority of our contemporaries

>deal with an array of complex issues that we understand

>as being interconnected.

>

>The US majority is seriously thinking of voting for

>George Bush OR Al Gore, aren't they?

>They're not discussing Ralph Nader or John Hagelin, are they?

>

>Nicole

>

>At 11:48 AM 10/15/00 -0400, Marie wrote:

>>A serious problem, and I puzzle why vegetarians try NOT to address

>>this topic in ways that WOULD truly TOUCH on " vegetarian ethics " .

>>

>>We're describing the behavior of NON-vegetarians in ways that

>>THEY engage persons and symbols in unconstructive ways,

>>as examples of how nonvegetarian approaches do NOT solve

>>problems. Give peace and vegetarianism a chance.

>>

>>Marie

>>

>>At 09:28 PM 10/14/00 -0400, THots8421 wrote:

>>>Explosion Guts N.Y. Synagogue

>>>.c The Associated Press

>>>

>>>SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -

>>>

>>>An explosion and fire gutted a Jewish synagogue, and local and federal

>>>agents

>>>were attempting to determine if the building had been bombed. No one was

>>>injured.

>>>

>>>Tension over violence in the Middle East was " in the back of everyone's

>>>mind,'' police Sgt. Joe Sweeny said Saturday.

>>>

>>>The fire that raced through Temple Beth El late Friday appeared to have

>>>started in an office at the rear of the synagogue, investigators said.

>>>

>>> " It was some type of an explosion, but we don't know what caused it,'' said

>>>Syracuse police Sgt. Norm Brown. ``Nobody's claimed any kind of

>>>responsibility and there were no threats prior to it.

>>>

>>>Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms joined

>>>the investigation.

>>>

>>>The fire occurred at the start of Sukkot, a weeklong festival

>>>celebrating the

>>>fall harvest and commemorating the desert wanderings of the Hebrews during

>>>the Exodus.

>>>

>>>Last Monday, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, an arson

>>>blaze gutted part of a synagogue under construction in Harrisburg, Pa.

>>>In New

>>>York City, bottles were thrown at the Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel

>>>last Sunday, breaking a glass front door.

>>>

>>>No one was injured in either attack. Four young men were arrested in

>>>connection with the New York City vandalism, and a criminal complaint said

>>>they did it because to make a statement about the Middle East conflict.

>>>

>>>Elsewhere, two Palestinians were attacked in separate incidents Thursday

>>>in a

>>>predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Chicago.

>>>

>>>First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, campaigning at a breast cancer awareness

>>>event near Syracuse on Saturday, appealed for religious tolerance.

>>>

>>> " I would just urge that everyone be very careful about how we treat one

>>>another, how we speak with one another, be vigilant against any who might

>>>want to cause any damage to any church or synagogue or mosque or any other

>>>holy site,'' she said. " We do not need that in New York. We do not need that

>>>in America.''

>>>

>>>AP-NY-10-14-00 1730EDT

>