{"id":67833,"date":"2019-12-29T11:23:04","date_gmt":"2019-12-29T09:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=67833"},"modified":"2023-07-23T12:40:29","modified_gmt":"2023-07-23T09:40:29","slug":"we-only-praise-critics-when-they-are-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/we-only-praise-critics-when-they-are-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"We Only Praise Critics When They Are Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[622,390,327],"acf":{"old_id":"67833","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33992,"related_cahpter":"382","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"How to honor the prophetic example, and support our own critics today?\u00a0","content":"

One of the traits that makes the Prophets of Israel unique in the annals of human culture is that they regularly offered stinging criticisms of their own people. Addressing themselves to monarchs, priests, the wealthy and the powerful, they hurled insult and venom at those who oppressed the people, violated the rights of the poor and marginalized. Indeed, they were extraordinary in chastising those whose false theology posited that God would shield them even when they betrayed the moral bedrock on which the Covenant was founded.<\/span><\/p>\n

We admire them for those very traits: their uncompromising commitment to moral rigor, their objective application of assessments of right and wrong, even when it meant condemning the behavior of their own people, their own religion, their own rulers.\u00a0 Isaiah doesn\u2019t mince words when he says, <\/span><\/p>\n

I know that you are difficult and that your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead is brazen \u2026 For I knew that you would deal very treacherously, and you have been called a rebel from your birth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Contemporary Jews and Christians hold these Prophets of Israel up as exemplary figures of what real religion means: righteousness applied impartially, justice as the North Star, compassion and mercy as the roadmap.<\/span><\/p>\n

Or, at least, we hold up these values once their advocates are safely dead. Once their message is relegated to the past.<\/span><\/p>\n

But do we honor those who critique our own group today? Do we praise those who are critical of some of our nation\u2019s most oppressive policies, those who protest against abuses aimed at those under our military authority? What about groups that witness against our own acts of coercion or who seek to apply one standard law both to the rich and to the poor, to hold accountable those in high office no less than those who are destitute and despised?<\/span><\/p>\n

It turns out that we only like prophets when their message is dusty and safe to read without pricking our own conscience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Isaiah\u2019s God has something to say about that too: \u201c\u2019There is no peace for the wicked,\u2019 says the Lord.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":67834,"id":67834,"title":"is48-truth","filename":"is48-truth.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-truth.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/we-only-praise-critics-when-they-are-dead\/is48-truth\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is48-truth","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":67833,"date":"2019-12-29 09:22:51","modified":"2021-01-10 15:00:11","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":564,"height":540,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-truth-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-truth-300x287.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":287,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-truth.jpg","medium_large-width":564,"medium_large-height":540,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-truth.jpg","large-width":564,"large-height":540,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-truth.jpg","1536x1536-width":564,"1536x1536-height":540,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-truth.jpg","2048x2048-width":564,"2048x2048-height":540,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-truth.jpg","post_full_size-width":564,"post_full_size-height":540,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-truth-439x420.jpg","home_baner-width":439,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"We Only Praise Critics When They Are Dead","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"How to honor the prophetic example, and support our own critics today?\u00a0","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":67834,"id":67834,"title":"is48-truth","filename":"is48-truth.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-truth.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/we-only-praise-critics-when-they-are-dead\/is48-truth\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is48-truth","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":67833,"date":"2019-12-29 09:22:51","modified":"2021-01-10 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