How we can face the future without fear, together | Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

"These are the times,"

湯瑪斯·潘恩曾說：

「眼下是考驗人們靈魂的時刻。」

said Thomas Paine,

"that try men's souls."

And they're trying ours now.

而現在正是考驗我們靈魂的時刻。

This is a fateful moment in the history of the West.

這是西方史上決定命運的時刻，

We've seen divisive elections and divided societies.

我們見到了造成分裂的選舉 以及分化的社會。

We've seen a growth of extremism

我們目睹極端主義

in politics and religion,

在政治及宗教中壯大，

all of it fueled by anxiety, uncertainty and fear,

這背後的刺激動因是 焦慮、不確定性、及恐懼。

of a world that's changing almost faster than we can bear,

因為世界的改變太快， 快到讓我們幾乎無法承受。

and the sure knowledge that it's going to change faster still.

也因為我們很肯定地知道， 世界仍然會繼續快速改變下去。

I have a friend in Washington.

我有一個在華盛頓的朋友，

I asked him, what was it like being in America

我問他，在最近一次的 總統大選期間，

during the recent presidential election?

身在美國是什麼感覺？

He said to me, "Well,

他對我說：「嗯，

it was like the man

感覺就像一個人，

sitting on the deck of the Titanic

坐在鐵達尼號的甲板上，

with a glass of whiskey in his hand

手上拿著一杯威士忌，

and he's saying, 'I know I asked for ice --

說：『我知道我要求要加冰……

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

but this is ridiculous.'"

但這樣真的太誇張了！』」 （註：鐵達尼後來撞上冰山）

So is there something we can do,

所以，是不是有什麼是我們能做的，

each of us,

我們每個人都能做的，

to be able to face the future without fear?

能讓我們無懼地面對未來？

I think there is.

我認為有。

And one way into it is to see

其中一種方法是要了解到，

that perhaps the most simple way into a culture and into an age

也許進入一種文化和一個時代 最簡單的方式，

is to ask: What do people worship?

就是問：人們崇拜什麼？

People have worshipped so many different things --

人們曾經崇拜過許多不同的東西：

the sun, the stars, the storm.

如太陽、星星、暴風雨。

Some people worship many gods, some one, some none.

有些人崇拜多神， 有些人獨尊一神，有些人不信神。

In the 19th and 20th centuries,

在十九和二十世紀，

people worshipped the nation,

人們崇拜民族、

the Aryan race, the communist state.

亞利安種、共產國家。

What do we worship?

我們崇拜什麼？

I think future anthropologists

我認為未來的人類學家，

will take a look at the books we read

會看看我們在閱讀的那些

on self-help, self-realization,

關於自我協助、自我實現、

self-esteem.

自我尊嚴的書；

They'll look at the way we talk about morality

他們會看看我們如何談論道德，

as being true to oneself,

說它就是忠於自我；

the way we talk about politics

看看我們如何談論政治，

as a matter of individual rights,

說它就是個人的權利；

and they'll look at this wonderful new religious ritual we have created.

他們也會看看我們所創造的 這個美好的新宗教儀式，

You know the one?

你們知道這個嗎？

Called the "selfie."

它叫做「自拍」。

And I think they'll conclude that what we worship in our time

我想他們得到的結論會是： 在我們的這個時代，我們崇拜的

is the self, the me, the I.

是自我、是我。

And this is great.

這樣很棒，

It's liberating. It's empowering. It's wonderful.

這樣很解放， 這樣很有自主權，這樣很美好。

But don't forget that biologically, we're social animals.

但，別忘了，在生物學上， 我們是社會動物，

We've spent most of our evolutionary history

我們進化史的絕大部份

in small groups.

都是以小團體的形式發生。

We need those face-to-face interactions

我們需要面對面的互動，

where we learn the choreography of altruism

在這種互動中才能學到 利他主義的舞藝，

and where we create those spiritual goods

在這種互動中 才能創造出靈性的善良，

like friendship and trust and loyalty and love

像是友誼和信賴、忠誠和愛，

that redeem our solitude.

而這些才能夠解救我們的孤獨。

When we have too much of the "I" and too little of the "we,"

當我們有太多的「我」， 太少的「我們」，

we can find ourselves vulnerable,

我們就會發現自己很脆弱、

fearful and alone.

很恐懼、很孤單。

It was no accident that Sherry Turkle of MIT

並不意外，麻省理工的雪莉‧特克

called the book she wrote on the impact of social media

寫了一本關於社交媒體衝擊的書，

"Alone Together."

書名為：「在一起孤獨」。

So I think the simplest way of safeguarding the future "you"

我認為要保護未來的「你」，

is to strengthen the future "us"

最簡單的方法 是強化未來的「我們」。

in three dimensions:

這涉及了三個維度：

the us of relationship,

關係的我們、

the us of identity

身份的我們、

and the us of responsibility.

以及責任的我們。

So let me first take the us of relationship.

讓我先來談「關係的我們」。

And here, forgive me if I get personal.

我可能會講些 比較私人的事，請見諒。

Once upon a time,

很久

a very long time ago,

很久以前，

I was a 20-year-old undergraduate

我是個二十歲的大學生，

studying philosophy.

主修哲學，

I was into Nietzsche and Schopenhauer and Sartre and Camus.

我對尼采、叔本華、 沙特、卡繆很感興趣，

I was full of ontological uncertainty

我充滿本體論的不確定性、

and existential angst.

以及存在主義的不安。

It was terrific.

這感覺棒極了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I was self-obsessed and thoroughly unpleasant to know,

我陷入自我著迷， 認識我這個人是很不愉快的事。

until one day I saw

直到有一天，

across the courtyard

我看見在庭院的另一頭

a girl

有個女孩，

who was everything that I wasn't.

她和我截然不同，

She radiated sunshine.

她散發出陽光，

She emanated joy.

她發散出喜悅。

I found out her name was Elaine.

我得知她的名字叫伊蓮，

We met. We talked.

我們見面、談天，

We married.

我們結了婚。

And 47 years, three children and eight grandchildren later,

過了 47 年，有了三個孩子 和八個孫子孫女之後，

I can safely say

我可以很有把握的說，

it was the best decision I ever took in my life,

這是我人生中做過最好的決定，

because it's the people not like us

因為正是那些和我們不相像的人，

that make us grow.

讓我們成長。

And that is why I think

那就是為什麼我認為

we have to do just that.

我們需要那樣做。

The trouble with Google filters,

問題是 Google 濾過的搜尋、

Facebook friends

臉書挑過的朋友，

and reading the news by narrowcasting rather than broadcasting

以及「狹播」而非「廣播」的新聞，

means that we're surrounded almost entirely by people like us

會讓我們處在跟自己很像的人當中，

whose views, whose opinions, whose prejudices, even,

他們的觀點、意見、甚至偏見

are just like ours.

都和我們很像。

And Cass Sunstein of Harvard has shown

哈佛的凱斯·桑斯坦指出，

that if we surround ourselves with people with the same views as us,

如果我們都處在 和我們有相同觀點的人群當中，

we get more extreme.

我們會變得更極端。

I think we need to renew those face-to-face encounters

我認為我們得要去重建 面對面的接觸，

with the people not like us.

和與我們不相像的人接觸。

I think we need to do that

我認為我們需要那樣做，

in order to realize that we can disagree strongly

才能了解儘管我們的意見大不相同，

and yet still stay friends.

但仍然能維持友誼。

It's in those face-to-face encounters

在那些面對面的接觸中，

that we discover that the people not like us

我們才能發現那些不像我們的人

are just people, like us.

其實也只是人，就像我們一樣。

And actually, every time

其實，

每當我們對不像我們的人，

we hold out the hand of friendship

階級、信條或膚色與我們不同的人，

to somebody not like us,

whose class or creed or color are different from ours,

伸出友誼之手時，

we heal

我們能治癒

one of the fractures

受創世界的

of our wounded world.

一條裂痕。

That is the us of relationship.

那就是「關係的我們」。

Second is the us of identity.

接著來談談「身份的我們」。

Let me give you a thought experiment.

我們先來做個思想實驗，

Have you been to Washington? Have you seen the memorials?

你們曾去過華盛頓嗎？ 你們曾看過紀念碑嗎？

Absolutely fascinating.

實在是棒透了。

There's the Lincoln Memorial:

那兒有林肯紀念碑，

Gettysburg Address on one side, Second Inaugural on the other.

一面是蓋茲堡演講詞， 一面是連任演講詞。

You go to the Jefferson Memorial,

如果你去看傑佛遜的紀念碑，

screeds of text.

是冗長的文字。

Martin Luther King Memorial,

馬丁路德金恩的紀念碑

more than a dozen quotes from his speeches.

有超過十段截自他演說的語錄。

I didn't realize, in America you read memorials.

我之前不知道，原來在美國 紀念碑是要閱讀的。

Now go to the equivalent in London in Parliament Square

若去倫敦的國會廣場看類似的東西，

and you will see that the monument to David Lloyd George

會看到大衛·勞合·喬治的紀念碑，

contains three words:

上面只有三個字：

David Lloyd George.

大衛·勞合·喬治。 （註：英文原文是三個字）

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Nelson Mandela gets two.

納爾遜·曼德拉則有兩個字， （註：他的英文名字是兩個字）

Churchill gets just one:

邱吉爾只有一個字： （註：只用英文的姓）

Churchill.

就是邱吉爾。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Why the difference? I'll tell you why the difference.

為什麼會有這種差別？ 我來告訴你們為什麼：

Because America was from the outset a nation of wave after wave of immigrants,

因為美國一開始是個 一波又一波移民形成的國家，

so it had to create an identity

它需要創造自己的身份，

which it did by telling a story

而它創造身份的方式就是說故事。

which you learned at school, you read on memorials

你會在學校學到這故事， 你會在紀念碑上讀到這故事，

and you heard repeated in presidential inaugural addresses.

你會在總統就職演說 重覆聽到這故事。

Britain until recently wasn't a nation of immigrants,

近代之前，英國並不是個移民國家，

so it could take identity for granted.

它可以把身份視為理所當然。

The trouble is now

問題是現在發生了

that two things have happened which shouldn't have happened together.

兩件原本不該一起發生的事。

The first thing is in the West we've stopped telling this story

第一件事是西方不再說

of who we are and why,

關於我們是誰以及為什麼的故事，

even in America.

甚至在美國本土都不說了。

And at the same time,

同時，

immigration is higher than it's ever been before.

移民的數量卻是史上最高。

So when you tell a story and your identity is strong,

當你會說故事， 且你的身份很強而有力時，

you can welcome the stranger,

你可以歡迎陌生人；

but when you stop telling the story,

但當你不再說故事，

your identity gets weak

你的身份變弱了，

and you feel threatened by the stranger.

就會感覺到來自陌生人的威脅。

And that's bad.

那很糟。

I tell you, Jews have been scattered and dispersed and exiled for 2,000 years.

我告訴各位，猶太人 分散於各地且被放逐了兩千年，

We never lost our identity.

我們從來沒有失去我們的身份。

Why? Because at least once a year,

為什麼？因為每年至少一次，

on the festival of Passover,

在踰越節時，

we told our story and we taught it to our children

我們會說我們的故事， 將這個故事教給我們的孩子，

and we ate the unleavened bread of affliction

我們會吃未發酵的苦餅，

and tasted the bitter herbs of slavery.

品嚐當年奴隸的苦難，

So we never lost our identity.

所以我們從來沒有失去我們的身份。

I think collectively

我想我們

we've got to get back to telling our story,

得要一起回去說我們的故事，

who we are, where we came from,

關於我們是誰、我們來自何方、

what ideals by which we live.

我們生活的理想是什麼的故事。

And if that happens,

如果這能夠實現，

we will become strong enough

我們就會夠堅強，

to welcome the stranger and say,

就能歡迎陌生人，並說：

"Come and share our lives,

「來，分享我們的生命，

share our stories,

分享我們的故事，

share our aspirations and dreams."

分享我們的熱望和夢想。」

That is the us of identity.

那就是「身份的我們」。

And finally, the us of responsibility.

最後，來談談「責任的我們」。

Do you know something?

你們知道嗎？

My favorite phrase in all of politics,

在所有政治範疇中，我最喜歡的片語

very American phrase,

是句非常美國式的片語：

is: "We the people."

「我們人民」。

Why "we the people?"

為什麼是「我們人民」？

Because it says that we all share collective responsibility

因為它意味著對於我們集體的未來，

for our collective future.

我們有著集體的責任。

And that's how things really are and should be.

事實就是這樣的，也應該是這樣的。

Have you noticed how magical thinking

你們是否留意到，我們的政治

has taken over our politics?

已經被奇幻思維給主導了？

So we say, all you've got to do is elect this strong leader

以致我們說，必須要選出 這位強而有力的領導者，

and he or she will solve all our problems for us.

他或她就會為我們解決所有問題。

Believe me, that is magical thinking.

相信我，那就是奇幻思維。

接下來，我們就走向極端：

And then we get the extremes:

the far right, the far left,

極左、極右、

the extreme religious and the extreme anti-religious,

極度虔誠，以及極端反對宗教。

the far right dreaming of a golden age that never was,

極右派夢想著 不曾擁有過的黃金年代；

the far left dreaming of a utopia that never will be

極左派夢想著 根本不可能會發生的烏托邦。

and the religious and anti-religious equally convinced

教徒和反宗教者都相信，

that all it takes is God or the absence of God

要將我們從自己手中解救出來，

to save us from ourselves.

需要的就是神或是無神。

That, too, is magical thinking,

那也是奇幻思維。

because the only people who will save us from ourselves

因為能將我們 從自己手中解救出來的，

is we the people,

只有「我們人民」，

all of us together.

所有人一起。

And when we do that,

若我們能這麼做，

and when we move from the politics of me

若能從「我」的政治

to the politics of all of us together,

轉向「我們一起」的政治，

we rediscover those beautiful, counterintuitive truths:

我們就能重新發現 那些美好而反直覺的真相：

that a nation is strong

當一個國家能關懷弱者，

when it cares for the weak,

它就會很強大；

當一個國家能關懷貧者，

that it becomes rich

when it cares for the poor,

它就會變富有；

it becomes invulnerable when it cares about the vulnerable.

當它能關懷脆弱的人， 它就會變得無堅不摧。

That is what makes great nations.

偉大的國家是這麼形成的。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

So here is my simple suggestion.

所以我的建議很簡單，

It might just change your life,

它可能會改變你的生命，

and it might just help to begin to change the world.

或許有助於讓世界開始改變：

Do a search and replace operation

針對你腦海中的文字，

on the text of your mind,

執行「搜尋及取代」功能，

and wherever you encounter the word "self,"

每當你遇到「自己」這個詞時，

substitute the word "other."

把它取代成「他人」。

So instead of self-help, other-help;

所以自我協助就變成他人協助，

instead of self-esteem, other-esteem.

自我尊嚴就變成他人尊嚴。

And if you do that,

如果你這麼做，

you will begin to feel the power

你就會開始感受到，

of what for me is one of the most moving sentences

對我而言是在所有宗教文獻中

in all of religious literature.

最動人的句子之一的力量：

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

「我雖然走過死蔭的幽谷，

I will fear no evil,

也不怕遭害，

for you are with me."

因為你與我同在。」

We can face any future without fear

我們能無懼地面對任何未來，

so long as we know

只要我們知道，

we will not face it alone.

我們不用獨自去面對它。

So for the sake of the future "you,"

所以為了未來的「你」，

together let us strengthen

讓我們一起強化

the future "us."

未來的「我們」。

Thank you.

謝謝大家。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）