Fatwas or their equivalents have exploded in various parts of the world. Governments worried about the expression of political or religious desires have tried to clamp down on opposition voices because dictatorships need total control. Originally the word referred to a ruling point on Islamic law given by an authority in response to a question. It now has come to mean censorship of the highest order.
Censorship takes many forms. In Palestine, it means the shutting down of five human rights organizations on a spurious claim that they have ties to a terrorist group. In Hong Kong it means the imprisonment of dissidents, journalists, and ordinary people based on a fear of opposition to government rules from Beijing. In Russia it means arresting any opposed to its brutal invasion of Ukraine. The list is endless.
Here in America, we don’t think that censorship is an issue, but it is. In many parts of the country, certain issues cannot be discussed for fear that people might ask questions that have no easy answers. And we in New Jersey and other parts of the East should not be so smug, thinking the thought controllers don’t affect us. They do. The fear of new thinking is insidious and can overtake us just as well.
Prayer for the Day
Creating us in your image, O God, you gave us minds to think,
May we be as open to the universe as you are;
Imparting to us the ability to question, you gave us your Spirit,
May we be unafraid of where the questions take us.
Imbue us with your wisdom, Holy One, in our search for knowledge,
Expanding our minds and hearts through understanding.
In the name of the One who asked questions of all,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The paper burns, but the words fly away
- Ben Joseph Akiba, Jewish Palestinian leader (50-135)
It is the creative potential itself in human beings that is the image of God.
- Mary Daly, feminist theologian (1928-2010)
In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to the mountains,
For look, the wicked bend the bow, they have fitted their arrow to the string,
To shoot in the ark at the upright in heart.
If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?
Psalm 11: 1-3