Description
The year 2001 began as the United Nations Year of Dialogue between Civilizations. By its end, the phrase that came most readily to mind was 'the clash of civilizations.' The tragedy of September 11 intensified the danger caused by religious differences around the world. As the politics of identity begin to replace the politics of ideology, can religion become a force for peace?
The Dignity of Difference is Rabbi Jonathan Sacks's radical proposal for reconciling hatreds. The first major statement by a Jewish leader on the ethics of globalization, it also marks a paradigm shift in the approach to religious coexistence. Sacks argues that we must do more than search for values common to all faiths; we must also reframe the way we see our differences.
Table of Contents
1. Prologue
2. Globalization and its Discontents
3. The Dignity of Difference
4. Control: The Imperative of Responsibility
5. Contribution: The Moral Case for the Market Economy
6. Compassion: The Idea of Tzedakah
7. Creativity: The Imperative of Education
8. Co-operation: Civil Society and its Institutions
9. Conservation: Environmental Sustainability
10. Conciliation: The Power of a Word to Change the World
11. A Covenant of Hope
Author(s)
Jonathan Sacks,
Sir Jonathan Sacks is Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Britain and the Commonwealth. He is the author of numerous books, including Celebrating Life, From Optimism to Hope, The Persistence of Faith and The Dignity of Difference, for which he won a Grawemeyer Award in Religion.
Reviews
"It is odd that a leading orthodox Rabbi should be at the forefront of a campaign to use religious difference as the catalyst for world peace … in a brave polemic which is bolstered by feverish intelligence." -The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald (Glasgow),
"wonderful book...bold and controversial" -Commonweal
Commonweal, January 2007,
"Unlike most other religious leaders, Mr Sacks has a wonderfully unbigoted attitude; he thinks and writes with great eloquence supported by an amazingly broad range of sources and reading." - Journey
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