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"Spirituality vs. Cynicism"
The Politics of Meaning: Restoring Hope and Possibility in an Age of Cynicism
Michael Lerner
Library of Congress 1997
By Rubin Dario Munoz Jimenez
What has the Bible said about politics? What does "progressive politics of meaning" refer to? In what fields do politics influence our lives? These are only a few questions you might ask in order to try to understand the relationship between the complex political world and our lives. Rabbi Michael Lerner examines the roots and meaning of political concepts. He involves the study of philosophical and Biblical thoughts in regard to the "spiritual crisis" that the United States of America and its various political parties now are undergoing. I was very interested in The Politics of Meaning: Restoring Hope and Possibility in an Age of Cynicism as the word politics was very important in my life when I was a teenager. I have always thought that my country, Colombia, would be in a better condition if our authorities understood the true meaning of politics. From reading Rabbi Lerner's The Politics of Meaning, I have now a better idea about politics. The Politics of Meaning is an instructive and educational book for United States citizens that tries to explain how politics affects the very fabric of the United States society.
Throughout The Politics of Meaning, Lerner explains that by using the term "the politics of meaning" he is referring to "our public life together" and how every United States citizen has to understand that in every daily action they are doing something politic. You can discover what happens when individuals are faced with a political situation or a spiritual crisis; Lerner illustrates how most United States citizens are hungry for meaning and purpose in their lives, and how this country is in a deep crisis; a crisis which is a result of how the society has approached reality in the past. Lerner describes what for him is the principal root of the contemporary crisis in the States: he mentions that in the United States society a large majority of people do not feel the need for spiritual ideas or non-material human needs. Therefore, cynicism is rampant.
The Politics of Meaning is a guide to enacting a spiritual and political transformation in the society at one level and in the family at another level. This transformation will impact every level of society: in the lives of senior citizens, in economic issues, in the education system, and in the heath care system.
Lerner is a well-known Jewish Rabbi who has published numerous articles and books, including Jews and Blacks: Let the Healing Begin: A Path to Healing and Transformation. Currently Lerner is the Rabbi of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue in California. His ideas of ethical and spiritual sensitivity are becoming inspirations for new political movements all over this country. Lerner, who is also an editor of Tikkun Magazine, suggests in some detail that Biblical ideals such as forgiveness, social responsibility, and spirituality can begin to form the basis for what he has discerned needs to be renovated in the economic, political, and social areas of our society.
Finally, The Politics of Meaning finishes with a call for transcending the cynicism and present despair people feel about political public life. Lerner suggests that the world of politics is complex and cannot be reorganized by simple views without undertaking a major conscious evaluation of our attitudes.
Rabbi Lerner is calling on us to build a society based on ethical and spiritual sensitivity: let us not disappoint him! Read The Politics or Meaning: Restoring Hope and Possibility in an Age of Cynicism and see what you can do to bring about a new, golden age of hope in the political sphere of the United States.
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