RELIGION – REVIEWS AND VIEWS OF LIFE

THE MIDDLE WAY

As every American, particularly white people of conscience know, ethnic minorities are faced with hardship, violence, and social discrimination until ruling majorities realize that all human beings are entitled to equality of opportunity in the society in which they live.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Voice for the Voiceless (Over Seven Decades of Struggle with China for My Land and My People.)

Author: Dalai Lama

Narration by: Edoardo Ballerini

Dalai Lama (Author, born in 1935 is presently 91 years old. He is the spirtual head of Tibetan Buddhism.)

“Voice for the Voiceless” is the wish of every minority in the world. State supremacy over the individual in communism sharply contrasts with democracy in degrees of un-freedom revealed by what a citizen can be and do. Competition and descent, suppression of minority voices, control of information, collective identity, and human rights are insisted upon by communist leadership according to “Voice of the Voiceless” by the Dalai Lama.

American government checks and balances.

In a democratic government, there are multiple societally expressed interests like legal protection for dissent, creation of non-government organizations, guarantee of free speech, and institutional checks and balance on the power of its leaders. It is not that America or any democracy is perfect in its makeup but in the China that the Dalai Lama describes, communism is designed to prevent any form of opposition to its leadership. In the Dalai Lama’s view, no compassion exists in China’s government.

The infamous and unidentified “tank man” who stood in the way of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

The most prominent historical evidence of a lack of government compassion is shown by the Tiananmen Square massacre during the Deng administration. The Dalai Lama’s opinion is reinforced by a Chinese guide who closes the doors of a private meeting room in which several Americans are informed of China’s reaction to the Tiananmen massacre. Chinese students and citizens who demonstrated at Tiananmen Square were asking for communist party reform, a reasonable level of leadership accountability, and elimination of corrupt Chinese government leaders.

In today’s China, President Xi consistently supports authoritarian rulers’ right to rule without interference from outside interests.

The Dalai Lama writes “Voice for the Voiceless” to challenge China’s political system which denies rule of Tibet by the Dalai Lama as its head of state. His demand reminds one of histories of displacement of native tribal leaders in America in the 17th and 18th centuries. Recognizing the fates of proud native leaders in America, the Dalai Lama (who has been exiled to India since the 1950s) is asking the communist government to allow him to be the leader of his “tribe” in Tibet. In America, more than two hundred years passed before genuine recognition and opportunity were seriously offered America’s natives. It has taken nearly 200 years for America to offer equal opportunity for tribal natives to pursue their interests as recognized ethnic minorities. What the Dali Llama wishes for Tibetan people in China is in many ways the experience of minorities in a democracy, let alone a communist autocracy.

Mary Annette Pember offers a firsthand, intergenerational perspective of America’s effort to assimilate native inhabitants of America.

Natives of America grew together as common ancestors that could choose life in a system of government that came to understand the importance of tribal self-determination. Natives of America had land rights, and a concept of cultural difference; accompanied by jurisdictional authority to pursue economic development as a distinct ethnic minority. The Dali Llama clearly shows Tibetan people have a similar ethnic origin and desire for freedom and self-determination. Only time and ethnic solidarity offer hope for them to realize their goals.

Barbara Demick gives listeners a picture of Tibet with a darkness that rivals the narrative she creates for North Korea in “Nothing to Envy”.

Communist China is not America. However, the Dalai Lama appears to want a level of independence to protect a Tibetan way of life for Buddhists to preserve their cultural identity and language without violent resistance by the Chinese system of government. This is a reminder of native American’s struggle in democratic America. The Dali Llama seems only to wish for human and religious freedom, not nation-state hegemonic control. He notes Tibetans have no institutional power, no representation in the Chinese government, and no legal way to challenge state’ government policies.

Mao Zedong (1893-1976) Father of the Peoples Republic of China)

The Dali Llama’s book surprisingly notes the initial relationship with Chinese communism that proposed a “Seventeen-Point Agreement” which offered a framework for Tibet to have the recognition requested by the Tibetan culture. However, the tenor of the “…Agreement” is violated with Tibet being occupied by Mao’s government. Mao orders his administration to keep the Dalai Lama from fleeing and pressured Tibetan leaders to negotiate subservience to Chinese Communist Party. Mao’s goal is to unify Tibet with China, not provide Tibetan autonomy within the structure of Chinese suzerainty. There was to be no self-determination of Tibetans, no interest in preserving Tibetan institutions, no role for the Dalai Lama, and no Tibetan’ autonomy. Mao demanded integration, not reconciliation.

The book “Being Peace” is a layman’s introduction to Buddhist belief.

As the Dali Llama grew to understand what Mao and future leaders of the CCP really wanted, he chose to leave Tibet in the late 1950s. He exiled himself in India, the origin of Buddhism’s creation. Buddhism teaches liberation from suffering through compassion, wisdom, and meditation. These were not a part of the Communist ideals of Mao or his successors. The core belief of communism is that truth comes from the party whereas Buddhist believe truth is from inner realization. Every Buddhist is a sentient being that has compassion for individual suffering while a CCP member subordinates their feelings to the needs of the state and national unity. All religions are a potential threat to state control which is the basis and practice of communism and, to a lesser extent, all forms of government.

The Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet is the historic residence of the Dalai Lamas.

The Dalai Lama represents a threat to communism because he is a global moral figure, a symbol of Tibetan identity, and a spiritual authority independent of the state. Buddhist belief in inner freedom, compassion, and spiritual autonomy directly conflict with the ideals of communism because of its belief in the collective rather than the individual. China insists on centralized government authority, conformity to its edicts, and personal identification with the state’s government. One’s heart goes out to the Tibetan people and the discrimination they are suffering. Only time offers hope for their future.

GENERATIONAL DYSFUNCTION

“Yesteryear” is a hard book to complete because it reveals the many mistakes’ human beings make in their lives that repeat themselves in future generations

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Yesteryear (A Novel)

Author: Caro Claire Burke

Narration by: Rebecca Lowman

Caro Claire Burke (Author, social media influencer, co-host of politics and culture podcast.)

“Yesteryear” is a book about human society. One may see Caro Burke’s story as a picture of society from a woman’s perspective. She shows how life can fall off the rails in America or any culture. In identifying the prejudices of gender, Burke shows how an educated, intelligent woman can become psychologically unhinged by memories of her life experiences.

Gender inequality is a worldwide phenomenon.

Gender inequality is highly destructive in all societies. Burke is not suggesting all people are equal. Every human being is equal in the sense of being human. A person may be born rich, poor, and become formally educated, or remain uneducated. Some are highly intelligent; others not, but as a living person we are all human. Human beings have potential to bare hardship and grow to challenge, succumb, or overcome bad experiences and memories. Of course, hardship is greater for some because of their gender and/or color of their skin. Burke addresses the first form of a harder life rather than the second.

A story of a family.

“Yesteryear” is the story of an Idaho family and a young woman named Natalie Mills. Natalie is described as an attractive young woman of modest means who is doing well in college. She meets a handsome fellow student who comes from a rich family. They “fall in love” and marry. Her husband to be is Caleb Mills whose father is running for President while a member of the United States Senate. Burke’s story is of the relationship of Caleb and Natalie and how it changes from being two college students who become a married couple to what seems an irreconcilable marriage.

Wealth.

The Mill’s families’ wealth, political status, and family structure influence their son to believe marriage is a way of perpetuating his family’s future. Caleb’s father instills that belief in his son and makes a bargain with Natalie to ensure her role as a bearer of babies to perpetuate the family name. The bargain she and Caleb’s father strike is in funding the purchase of a farm in return for having more children. The name of the farm becomes “Yesteryear” and is meant to give Caleb an opportunity to thrive as an independent farmer.

Caleb and Natalie are two young college students who learn more about each other after they become married.

Natalie’s family background is different. Her mother has a quiet coldness that is non-protective toward her two daughters with no fear of loss of the family name. Natalie is blessed with intelligence and a desire to become better educated. Natalie’s sister is married and has children from an abusive husband whom she plans to divorce without a means of financial support once she divorces. Their mother seems oblivious to the consequences of her daughter’s divorce. Natalie sees her sister’s life as an imminent financial disaster. As the story progresses, one sees Natalie exhibit the same coldness and non-protectiveness toward her own children from memories of the way her mother raised her family.

The inheritance patterns of life; some of which are genetic while others are learned experiences that become our memories.

What Caleb and Natalie learn about their relationship comes from memories of experiences they have had in their respective families. Caleb is a young man trying to find his way in life. Natalie is a young woman who chooses to marry someone who offers a way of life much grander than her own. Caleb is characterized as a poor lover with no particular goal in life. As Natalie realizes Caleb’s directionlessness, she searches for a way to instill ambition in her husband and stability to their marriage. Natalie convinces Caleb’s father to invest $5,000,000 into a farm that could be made prosperous by the hard work of the newly married couple. For Natalie to convince her father-in-law to make the investment, she agrees to Caleb’s father’s demand for more children in her marriage to his son. Intimacy becomes a means to an end of having children to meet the demands of Caleb’s father’s bargain with Natalie.

Twenty first century farming is not for the faint of heart or uneducated.

The trouble with this arrangement is that Caleb seems unsuitable for a life of farming and Natalie is a failure as a nurturing mother of her children. The farming experience magnifies Caleb’s and Natalie’s weaknesses. Caleb cheats on his wife with a farm employee and becomes abusive toward his wife. Natalie injures herself, fails to nurture her children, receives little support from her family or Caleb’s father, and falls into a life of despair. Caleb compounds negative aspects of their marriage by becoming physically and mentally abusive toward Natalie. Their match made in college becomes a horror story of memories that diminish the joys of marriage, having children, or living life with either purpose or joy.

“Yesteryear” is a hard book to complete because it reveals the many mistakes’ human beings make in their lives that repeat themselves in future generations.

WHAT’S NEW?

Belief in God is a work in progress for every human being. The proof of God will be peace on earth, a human accomplishment that may only be possible with a belief in something greater than us.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The God Delusion

Author: Richard Dawkins

Narration by: Richard Dawkins & Sara Jill “Lalla” Ward

Richard Dawkins on the left is a British author, evolutionary biologist, ethologist, and science communicator. Sarah Jill “Lalla” Ward is an English actress, voice author, and actor on the former TV series “Doctor Who”. (A woman’s narration seems solely to represent a non-gender based argument for God as a “…Delusion.”)

Richard Dawkins is a formally educated Zoology and Philosophy graduate from the University of Oxford. He became the first Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. “The God Delusion” is a daunting book that argues God is a fiction created by authoritarian faiths. In light of the history of human violence in the name of different God’ beliefs, Dawkins offers a compelling argument for God as a delusion.

Religion and Science.

Religious belief has rarely, if ever, been the primary cause of war in history but millions of deaths from The Crusades to the Holocaust to the present day have fueled wars in the name of different concepts of God. Judaism preaches that there is one, indivisible God. Christianity believes one God exists in three forms; i.e. God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit”. Islam believes in the oneness of God with no partners, no intermediaries, no incarnation, and no images. Hinduism believes in many gods, one God, or God beyond form, depending on respective sects of the Hindu faith. Buddhism is non-theistic and believes there is no creator, or divine judge. Buddhists believe understanding reality is the source of enlightenment. Sikhism believes in one God that is formless, without gender, and beyond religion. Sikhs blend belief in one God with emphasis on equality. The Chinese traditions of Taoism, Confucianism believe in a natural order of the universe based on ethical behavior and social harmony.

Dr. Jay Lombard agues God is real because His existence is proven by evolution and human consciousness.

The point is God means something “other” in different cultures. That difference in belief has caused an uncountable number of deaths. To a believer and non-believer in God, those deaths are an appalling loss to humanity. Is a different belief in God, worth a human’s death? Dawkins argues God is a delusion because He or It cannot be proven. The weakness of that argument is there are many discoveries that have been found to be wrong with further scientific exploration. Science progress cuts both ways; i.e. it proves and disproves what seems right but turns out to be wrong as further experiments prove.

Girl at War (a novel about the war in Croatia).

The patent differences in religious beliefs in God shows that dogmatism replaces further exploration for God’s existence. There are religious scholars who have challenged dogmatic arguments for God’s existence. At the very least, Dawkins makes one think about the horrible consequence of authoritarian beliefs in God and the slaughter of innocents from those beliefs. We are seeing that slaughter today in Iran and Lebanon from attacks by America and Israel. Of course, there are reasons beyond religion for those attacks but is murder of innocents an answer or just collateral death and destruction for desired results?

Belief in God is a work in progress for every human being. The proof of God will be peace on earth, a human accomplishment that may only be possible with a belief in something greater than us.

NATIVE AMERICANS

Pember’s story of her life is heartbreaking but it reminds one of the harshness of life for every ethnicity and gender that is unfairly treated in society. Regardless of one’s ethnicity–poverty and unequal opportunity are plagues in every society. They are infections with no known cure.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Medicine River (A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools)

Author: Mary Annette Pember

Narration by: Erin Tripp

Mary Annette Pember (Author, national correspondent for ICT News, journalist, descendent of an Ojibwe family.)

Mary Annette Pember offers a firsthand, intergenerational perspective of America’s effort to assimilate native inhabitants of America. She details the 1950s brutality, hunger, impoverishment, humiliation, and emotional neglect that diminished the economic security and sovereignty of a distinct ethnicity (the Ojibwe) in America. From research of Indian boarding school records and her personal experience, she draws a picture of the ignorance, disrespect, and discrimination by white Americans of a culture different than their own. She notes the unmarked graves, survivor testimonies of boarding school experiences, and government investigations that fail to correct the misbegotten effort to destroy a native culture in America. (The name America came from a German cartographer’s labeling of a map to honor Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine-born merchant, navigator, and explorer in the 15th and early 16th century.)

The multicultural world in which we live.

Her story is not particularly well written, but it clearly documents the ignorance and brutality of a growing white American culture. She presents an emotional truth about American government’s discrimination and why, in modern times, it is still trying to assuage its guilt. Pember’s harsh assessment of nuns who ran early schools for native descendants seems to unfairly discount a stern and punitive habituation that is true of all early “nun-managed” schools in America. In the mid-20th century, Catholic schooling relied heavily on strict order, corporal punishment, and cultural obedience. Their religious vocation reinforced an authority that applied to all students, whether native American or not. That is why the American government chose to create grants to the Catholic Church for indoctrination and education of the Ojibwe and other native Americans.

Protestant and Catholic religions in America.

The U.S. government funded native American Catholic Church schools because of their strict teaching habits. Their teaching style would demand language conformance, common spiritual belief, and reinforce Christian ideals that were acceptable to most of America’s non-native citizens. This is not to minimize the cruelty of these native American boarding schools but to suggest all Catholic schools exercised strict order that went beyond education and devolved into neglect and death in many native American’ boarding schools. The harsh disciplinary treatment of native Americans is worse, but the discipline and teaching methods of Catholic nuns set a horrible precedent that grew out of control in their schools.

Poverty and predation is widespread in the world.

The poverty and predation that Pember reveals in the story of her family’s life grows to be more widespread. The history of America’s treatment of native American tribes is recounted in many books. The constant tribal relocations of the government and murder of native Americans is well documented. Poverty and lack of equal opportunity is shown by Pember to be severe for native Americans just as it was for black Americans. One can only imagine how hard it would be for an Indian woman when all women are equally disadvantaged by poverty and lack of opportunity in the world.

Poverty in the middle east.

CURING DISEASE

Green questions the profit motive of drug companies that ignore the benefits of drugs that poor societies cannot afford that would cure tuberculosis. At the same time, Green implies the political will of all nations fail to provide known curative drugs for tuberculosis.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Everything is Tuberculosis (The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection)

Author: John Green

Narration by: John Green

John Green (Author, YouTuber, and philanthropist.)

“Everything is Tuberculosis” is an apt title for John Green’s book but unlikely to attract many listener/readers. However, those who have read John Green’s books are attracted to his story because of the humor and insight he offers to living life. Green offers an interesting human perspective about a disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people every year and is both preventable and curable. Recognizing this critic’s own biases, “Everything is Tuberculosis” is a belief that there are only two important issues for human species’ survival, i.e., world peace and personal health. “Everything is Tuberculosis” deals with the principal of health while others write about world peace.

Tuberculosis transmission.

Peace is only indirectly addressed in “Everything is Tuberculosis” while health is the primary focus of Green’s book. Today, approximately 1.23 million people die from tuberculosis every year. Surprisingly, it remains the deadliest curable infectious disease in the world. An estimated 10.7 million people are presently diagnosed with tuberculosis. This high infection rate is for a disease that is curable and preventable. Green explains in countries with high rates of poverty, undernutrition, overcrowding, high HIV infections, and poor medical services tuberculosis becomes a greater killer of human beings than any other infectious disease.

The fear and anxiety of Covid mimics the fear of tuberculosis.

Green personalizes his story by being its main character. He writes in the first person and uses his personal anxiety driven thoughts to explain tuberculosis’ illness and vulnerability. As a child, Green recalls his own illnesses and anxieties that required hospitalization. He contrasts his life of economic security with the lives of many people in the world that have little to no economic security. He views tuberculosis, not as a scientist or patient, but as an observer of poverty in Sierra Leone and the personal life of a young boy with the disease.

The cost of medication.

The young boy’s recovery experience is on-again/off-again, in part because of his father’s skepticism about the effectiveness of drugs and his belief in God, but also because of a failure of experimental drug treatments from other tuberculosis patients that die. There is a happy ending when a new drug cure is found and started; the boy recovers, resulting in eradication of the infection. He finishes high school and goes on to college. Other stories of the disease in Sierra Leone show distances patients have to travel, the cost of treatments, and different economically challenged families who are discouraged by continued treatment. Those patients that do not continue the medical treatment often see regrowth of the Tuberculosis bacteria which ends their sons, daughters, fathers, or mother’s lives.

Green’s point is that human beings are dying from tuberculosis, a curable disease that kills; not because it is often fatal, but because of a human-systems’ failure.

TB deaths are a predictable outcome of poverty, undernutrition, overcrowding, political neglect, and global indifference. Green gets at the heart of the problem of societal indifference. The indifference is both political and economic. The political indifference comes from every government that is only concerned about their country’s health and welfare. The economic difference is similar but more pronounced in capitalist countries that focus on profit more than societal benefit. Political difference is in nation-state’ leadership whether countries are democratic or other.

IRAN’S COLLAPSE

One’s heart goes out to the citizens of Iran and wonders what hope there is for their future. Iran seems trapped between rock and a hard place, a choice between the bombs of war and religious fundamentalism.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

King of Kings (The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation)

Author: Scott Anderson

Narration by: Malcolm Hillgartner & 1 more

Scott Anderson is a novelist and veteran war correspondent. His previous novels include Moonlight Hotel and The Man Who Tried to Save the World.

“King of Kings” is an informative historical account of the collapse of Iran as a former monarchy and current theocracy. The hubris of the King and the Ayatollahs have no one to blame but themselves for their government’s failure. What Anderson shows is that what royal and theological leaders have in common. Both neglect the wellbeing of the Iranian people. The King squandered the wealth created by the oil industry to buy a false sense of security. The “King of Kings” made excessive investments in weapons and a spy service called SVAK rather than invest in Iran’s economy for the betterment of its citizens. The King’s SVAK turned into MOIS in the Ayatollah’ regimes. Neither regime invested in the people’s welfare. Both secret services were designed to spy on Iran’s citizens and reinforce the delusion of serving the people when in fact they were designed to preserve their governments’ power and control.

Iran’s leadership as a monarchy and theocracy have failed its people.

Anderson shows the “King of Kings” initially improves the general welfare of Iran’s citizens but because of inept leadership and the privileges of power, the Shah failed the Iranian people. The Shah’s incompetence as a manager of Iran’s great oil wealth is a wasted opportunity that could have provided a better life for its citizens. Rather than encouraging economic growth, the Shah chose to invest in weaponry and other countries products to sustain Iran’s economy.

The Iranian people were not farming or creating their own industries to sustain and grow their economy.

The King’s failure to invest oil revenues in the economy and Ayatollahs who cared little about economic investment, impoverished the Iranian people. When other countries like Saudi Arabia flooded the market with oil, the economy of Iran collapsed. That loss of oil income impoverished the people of Iran. Iran had become dependent on other countries produce rather than the work of their own farmers and industrialists to support their lives and families. That impoverishment drove many back to the ideal of a Muslim religion that believes hardships of life are only preparation for heaven.

The rule of the Ayatollahs seems as incompetent as the Shah’s.

The Ayatollahs fail to improve the economy and rely on a secret service that victimizes all who criticize their rule. It seems they believe the hardship of life is no concern because heaven awaits all those who believe in the Ayatollah’s governance. Anyone who fails to support the Shia Muslim autocracy is murdered or imprisoned based on the Ayatollahs’ belief in the hereafter. Iranians may believe in the Ayatollahs’ teaching and are willing to support their government, but a substantial portion of the Iranian people are discontented with their poverty and hunger.

Iranian oil fields supported the wealth of Iran before Saudi Arabia’s entry into the market.

Anderson explains how Iran became a troubled country. Neither rule as a monarchy or theocracy offered a solution to poverty and hunger. The answer may not be capitalism or democracy, but the present and past Iranian governments have not served the needs of its people. One’s heart goes out to the citizens of Iran and wonders what hope there is for their future. Iran seems trapped between rock and a hard place, a choice between the bombs of war and religious fundamentalism.

BOMBING IRAN

America’s self-interest is to see Iran as an independent State that does not murder Americans. Regime change may be a small step toward that goal or a step into quicksand that will only swallow more American lives.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

King of Kings (The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation)

Author: Scott Anderson

Narration by: Malcolm Hillgartner & 1 more

Scott Anderson (Author, novelist, non-fiction writer, war correspondent who has written for the New York Times Magazine, GQ, Esquire, and Vanity Fair. Was raised in Taiwan and Korea, received an M.F.A. in creative writing from University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop.)

This review is only a glimpse of Anderson’s book, but the bombing of Iran gives this reviewer a sense of urgency about President Trump’s decision to bomb and kill the current leader of Iran.

Anderson, having been raised in a non-American culture, has written an interesting history of Iran that offers some perspective on Iran’s Persian culture and its tumultuous transition from royal leadership to an Islamic Republic. Iran’s monarchy had survived for 2500 years. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini deposed the “King of Kings”, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, in 1979.

In 2024, President Trump directed America’s bombing of Iran that killed Iran’s second leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The purported reason for the bombing is to save the Iranian people from the tyranny of its current leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei had become Iran’s leader after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Anderson infers Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, though a Shia Muslim himself, was too detached from the Muslim religion practiced by a majority of Iranian society. The Shah pursued modernization without bringing Iran’s Shia Muslim believers into the “Sturm and Drang” of modernity. Despite improving the economic condition of Iran’s citizens, the Shah ignored the importance of a religion that reaches back to 651 CE with the Arab Muslim conquest of Persia. Even though the economic benefit of modernization is documentable, the gap between rich and poor, along with belief in a religion that emphasizes an afterlife, made too many citizens of Iran unhappy with the Shah.

Sunni and Shite Muslim Difference.

Muslimism began in the early 7th century and spread across the Arabian Peninsula. An estimated 68 million Iranians, approximately 89% of the country, are Shia Muslim believers. Anderson believes the Shah’s failure to understand the importance of his own religion led to the 1979 revolution that toppled the “King of Kings”. Anderson suggests too little effort was made to bring religion into the Shah’s management of the Iranian people. Putting aside that failure, one wonders could any leader bring his people to believe in life today when their religion emphasizes an afterlife is the only goal of existence. Whether any leader of Iran could have ameliorated citizen discontent in Iran is hard to argue. Because of America’s decision to kill Iran’s leader, that speculation is moot.

It is not a matter of being or not being Religious but a matter of having a pragmatic and compassionate understanding of humanity.

Now, America is faced with the Shah of Iran’s dilemma of bringing religion into the administration of Iran’s government. Americans have solved that problem with the separation of church and state. Is that possible in Iran? That separation is something Anderson suggests is the mistake made by the Shah. Is America more or less likely to solve that problem than an Iranian? President Trump believes he should have the power to approve the next leader of Iran. Problem solved???????

The Shah of Iran is fascinated by American military hardware. In that infatuation, the Shah fails to serve the domestic needs of Iran’s citizens.

SAVING THE BABY

Like in Solomon’s parable, the baby must be saved. That is the mind-set required for a negotiated peace between Israelites and Palestinians in Agha’s and Malley’s “Tomorrow is Yesterday”.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Tomorrow is Yesterday (Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine)

Author: Hussein Agha, Robert Malley

Narration by: Imani Jade Powers

Hussein Agha (on the left) is a senior associate of Oxford University and was part of the Palestinian team that negotiated the Oslo II agreement in 1994-95. Robert Malley (on the right) is an American lawyer, political scientist and specialist in conflict resolution.

Imani Jade Powers (Actor, writer, and singer based in New York City and London.)

It is interesting that a female actor is asked to narrate “Tomorrow is Yesterday”. There is a harshness in Agha’s and Malley’s assessment of negotiations for peace between Jews and Palestinians in what seems an unresolvable conflict. It is the conflict between two peoples’ desire to live in a land that has historically been occupied by two different ethnicities. Presumably, a female narrator takes some (but not much) of the edge off the strong opinions expressed by the authors about the intransigence of Israeli/Palestinian leaders in coming to an agreement on their territorial rights in the Middle east. There is an irony in the choice of a woman narrator for the two men who wrote the book. One might presume a woman is chosen because of a woman’s longer association with nurturing rather than roiling humanity.

King Solomon ruled for 40 years in the Kingdom of Israel and built the First Temple in Jerusalem.

One may ask themselves of these two men’s history of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict–where is the wisdom of Solomon that challenged two women who claimed the same baby? Solomon orders the baby be cut in half, giving each woman one half. One woman agrees and the other begs the king to spare the child and give him to her rival. This seems the essence of the conflict between the State of Israel and the stateless Palestinians. What Agha and Malley imply is the leadership of the Israelites and Palestinians refuse to agree on sharing their land and choose to kill each other instead. There are no leaders that seem to have the compassion to save their progeny by either sharing or dividing the disputed territory upon which they live.

The Oslo Accord with Clinton, Rabin and Arafat in its first iteration.

The authors suggest the only negotiation that had any success was in the Oslo accords in which one of the negotiators is Hussein Agha (the co-author of this book). His experience with both sides of the negotiation offers some surprising and interesting profiles of the participants. Yasser Arafat is the symbolic father of the Palestinians, but he is shown as an ambiguous negotiator who is charismatic but contradictory which makes him both indispensable and obstructive. It is his identity as a leader of the Palestinians, rather than any negotiating skill, that makes him a player in the negotiations. In the second iteration of the Oslo Accords, the pragmatic Palestinian is Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) but he did not have the legitimacy of Arafat in the authors’ opinions. On the Israeli side there is Barak, Olmert, and Netanyahu. The first two seem to be rationalist pragmatists but Netanyahu, not surprisingly, is characterized as a skeptic who believed the Oslo Accords were a threat to Israel. On the American side is Clinton who focused on closing a deal which fails to confront the historical and emotional roots of the conflict.

In the end, at best, the authors argue Oslo creates a process for negotiating but not peace.

The process allows both sides to avoid confronting the deeper issues of their conflict. The Oslo Accords gave the illusion of progress without any real movement on either side. October 7th is clear evidence of the truth of that observation.

World superpowers of the future.

None of the world’s most powerful leaders, including America, China, Russia, the UK, Germany, South Korea, France, Japan, Saudi Arabia, or Israel show the wisdom of a Soloman. All the leaders on both sides of the negotiation appear to have their heads in the sand with agendas that fail to understand or address the fundamental concerns of the opposing sides. The results have been to allow events to unfold where Israeli’ and Palestinian’ families are torn apart, kidnapped, imprisoned, raped or murdered.

“Tomorrow is Yesterday” is a painful recitation of the failure of the world to understand and resolve the conflict between the Israelites and the Palestinian people. These two authors have an opinion about how “Tomorrow…” can be different than “…Yesterday”. They argue steps toward peace can only occur with a better understanding of what drives their conflict. The writers note there needs to be a mutual understanding of the trauma and injustice of their conflicts. Their respective suffering, and a sense of injustice needs to be accountably recognized by both Israeli and Palestinian leaders for a chance of a negotiated peace.

The authors do not show a plan, roadmap, or political structure that will settle disagreement between Israelis and Palestinians.

What they explain is why previous plans have failed. They diagnose the disease which is revealed in the history of failed plans for reconciliation. There seem to be only two options. One is a two-state solution, and the other is one state with equal representation, along the lines of the relative peace between Irish Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. Like in Solomon’s parable, the baby must be saved. That is the mind-set required for a negotiated peace between Israelites and Palestinians in Agha’s and Malley’s “Tomorrow is Yesterday”.

PEACE IN ISRAEL

Like America’s Civil War and the issues of slavery and independence, peace will only come to Israel with a political and territorial agreement based on human equality.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

BEING JEWISH AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF GAZA (A Reckoning)

Author: Peter Beinart

Narration by: Malcolm Gladwell

Peter Beinart (Author, journalist, political commentator, professor, former editor of the New Republic, born in Cambridge, Mass. to Jewish immigrants from S. Africa.)

This is a surprising Jewish author’s analysis of Israel’s response to the horror of Hamas’ murders/rapes of 1200 people and the taking of 251 Jewish hostages on October 7, 2023. Peter Beinart appears to be a devout Jew and journalist who criticizes Israel’s response to Hamas’s brutal attack and hostage taking. He believes, as current news reports confirm, Hamas will return to control and influence Gaza and West Bank Palestinians after Israel’s brutal response to the Hamas’ atrocity.

NYT’s Picture of Grief over the Hamas attack on October 7th, 2023.

Without reservation, Beinart condemns Hamas for their war crime on October 7th. However, his book equally condemns Netanyahu’s response. Beinart points to the Israeli government’s destruction, murder, and starvation of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children who had nothing to do with the planning or execution of the Hamas horror of October 7th. The author argues Israel must focus on a political, non-military solution to Palestinian human rights. He believes Netanyahu’s actions only perpetuate a cycle of violence in Israel which will not achieve security for either the Israeli or Palestinian people.

One wonders how unpopular Beinart’s opinion may be among Israel’s Jewish population. As a blogger who received written comments from a devout Jewish person who supports Trump and Netanyahu’s actions in Israel, it is surprising to hear Beinart’s analysis of the Gaza war and his criticism of Israel’s actions. As the reviewer of this book who admittedly has little respect for religion and its history of atrocities, it is encouraging to hear from one who believes in their religion and condemns those who have no empathy for other religions. God is a universal concept with religions that worship His existence in different ways. Beinart makes one wonder why there is so little room for a “let it be” attitude toward different religious beliefs.

Empathy.

Beinart argues for Jewish empathy toward Palestinians while condemning Hamas’ actions in Israel. He believes long-term peace requires political compromise and a recognition of Palestinian rights. Military actions only guarantee rather than deter future violence and injustice. Beinart’s plan is to end Israeli’ occupation of Gaza and expand the rights of Palestinians to control Gaza and the West Bank. He argues it can be either a one-state or two-state solution. Beinart argues ground invasion by Israel in Gaza must stop. He recommends forthrightly engaging the humanitarian crises in Gaza by providing aid and rebuilding what has been destroyed.

Pursuit of peace is not easy.

None of this is easy because of the enmity that remains. The complications of political opposition, and security are ongoing concerns for Israelites and Palestinians, but Beinart believes the risks of a negotiated political, religious, and territorial settlement is worth it. Human equality is a work in progress for all nations in the world. Beinart persuasively argues a political and territorial agreement between Palestinians and Israelites is the only possible path to peace. Like America’s Civil War and the issues of slavery and independence, peace will only come to Israel with a political and territorial agreement based on human equality. Of course, the drive for equality remains a work in progress for America. That will be true in Israel for generations to come, but peace can be restored with pursuit of equality for Palestinians and Jews.

PREJUDICE

Unless or until our prejudices are eradicated, man’s inhumanity to man will continue. The truth is that “The World After Gaza” will be the same as “the world before Gaza” but with a different order of prejudice.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The World After Gaza (A History)

Author: Pakaj Mishra

Narrated By: Mikhail Sen

Pakaj Mishra (Author, Indian essayist. He wrote “Age of Anger” reviewed in this blog.)

As pointed out in a previous review of Mishra’s book “Age of Anger”, “…unless or until human beings see themselves as part of the same society, the world will end in the Armageddon of biblical imagination.”

Leadership prejudice.

Mishra is born in a prosperous Brahmin family that becomes poor after India’s land distribution in 1947 which was meant to reform feudal landholding practices in India. Undoubtedly, the harshness of that reform has some influence on Mishra’s expressed views in “The World After Gaza”. Mishra’s father has a Brahmin Hindu background which suggests his son is raised in an upper caste in Hindu society that falls into hard times.

“The World After Gaza” is categorized by Mishra as a history.

Mishra recalls the horrendous past of Germany’s holocaust where 6,000,000 Jews were murdered by Hitler’s followers. He infers that horrendous event is reminiscent of what Israel is doing to Palestinians in Gaza. His point is not to vilify Israel but to suggest societies are inherently prejudiced and inclined to discriminate against those who are not a part of their belief system. In essence, Mishra offers a view of history that corroborates Mark Twain’s belief that “History never repeats itself, but it does rhyme”.

Whether one agrees with Mishra’s view of Israel’s actions in Gaza or not, prejudice is an undeniable truth of human societies.

There are many Jews who are undoubtedly appalled by what is happening in Gaza but there are Israeli’ leaders who believe what they are doing is in the best interest of their country. One may associate Israel’s, America’s, or any country’s leadership as either right or wrong from a personal perspective, but the nature of humanity is what it is. Prejudice is an equal opportunity exploiter of human’ equality. Unless or until our prejudices are eradicated, man’s inhumanity to man will continue. The truth is that “The World After Gaza” will be the same as “the world before Gaza” but with a different order of prejudice.

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