Quotes

Walter Brueggemann quotes:

"Prophetic speech… is not an act of criticism. It is rather an act of relentless hope that refuses to despair and that refuses to believe that the world is closed off in patterns of exploitation and oppression." (p81)

"For a long time, establishment Christianity has thought that the claims of the gospel really fit hand-in-glove with the values of U.S. society- that this is a Christian nation. What’s happening to us is that we’re becoming increasingly aware that the claims of the gospel - that relationships are based on mutuality - are on a collision course with the dominant values of U.S. culture, which are premised on relationships of exploitation and based on consumerism."  (p 210)

"Christian churches today… have so much to defend in terms of social position and privilege that their speech is largely domesticated." (p206)

"It seems to me that it is right to say that the prophet’s mission is to insist that there is another purpose surging through the historical process, and occasionally you can see that purpose if you pay attention - and that is exactly what Jesus’ parables do." (p206)

From Walter Brueggemann’s book on Jeremiah, Like Fire in the Bones, 2006. 

Lloyd Geering: “Today it is also necessary to learn about other religions and develop respect for their place in our world. Not uncritically, though. Every religion has its intolerant, even fanatical fringe.”

Robert C. Koehler: “Memorial Day (is) a day of notorious short-sightedness about whom and what we’re supposed to remember. The convention of remembering “the sacrifice of our troops” requires us to maintain remembrance, as well, of a perpetually lurking enemy from whom we were protected. Subbing for enemies of the past, who are now (perhaps) our allies, are the enemies of the future.”

Peace: “These days absence of war is regarded as peace.  But peace really connotes absence of fear. There would be peace only when no part of the world is afraid of or exploited by any other part… If here be peace in our (personal) life, it will affect the whole world.” Vinoba Bhave

 Kahlil Gibran:  “The light of stars that were extinguished ages ago still reaches us.  So it is with great men (and women) who died centuries ago, but still reach us with the radiations of their personalities.”

A Sufi Master was asked: “What is best, courage or generosity?” The Master replied: “Those who are generous do not need courage.”

 The Quest for Peace and Justice:

"...But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones. Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding: it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.” Martin Luther King, Jr. Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1964