As we mourn the loss of former New York State Governor Maria Cuomo, we are reminded of his touching words at the World Trade Center memorial in September 2003: “I would like to see some depiction of all the religions - list them all: atheism, Ethical Humanism, Catholicism, etc. etc. - all of them. And you notice that each of those religions, these value systems, have two principles they share in common: tzedakah and tikkun olam, and the two principles started with monotheism and the Jews. Tzedakah means generally that we must treat each other as brother and sister. We should show one another respect and dignity because we are like things; we are human beings in a world that has nothing else like us, and we ought to treat each other with love, charity, use your own words. And the second principle is, Well, what do you do with this relationship? Well, we dont know exactly how we got here and why we are here, etc. etc.; thats for minds larger than our own. But we do know that we are like kinds, and we should work together to make this as good an experience as possible: tikkun olam -let us repair the universe. Now, Islam believes that, and Buddhism that has no god believes it. Every Ethical Humanist I ever met believes it. Those two principles: Were supposed to love one another and were supposed to work together to make the experience better. Thats all the religion you need, really, to make a success of this planet, and Id like to see that in 9/11 somewhere. Id like to see that captured somewhere.”
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 20:04:49 +0000