It's time to reclaim religion | Sharon Brous

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz

譯者: 易帆 余 審譯者: SF Huang

I was a new mother

在 2004 年的春天，

我成為一位新手媽媽，

and a young rabbi

in the spring of 2004

也成為一位年輕的拉比，

and the world was in shambles.

而當時全球正處於動盪不安的局勢。

Maybe you remember.

各位可能還記得，

Every day, we heard devastating reports from the war in Iraq.

我們每天都會聽到 伊拉克戰爭的災難報導，

There were waves of terror rolling across the globe.

以及全球一波又一波的恐怖攻擊。

It seemed like humanity was spinning out of control.

似乎人性已經失去了控制。

我仍記得那天晚上

I remember the night that I read

about the series of coordinated bombings

當我讀到在馬德里的地鐵系統

in the subway system in Madrid,

發生的連環爆炸案時，

and I got up and I walked over to the crib

我起床走向

where my six-month-old baby girl

六個月大寶貝女兒的嬰兒床邊，

lay sleeping sweetly,

當時她睡的很香甜，

and I heard the rhythm of her breath,

聽著她呼吸的節奏……

and I felt this sense of urgency coursing through my body.

身上感受到的卻是一股急迫感。

我們當時生活在 意識形態的結構轉變期，

We were living through a time of tectonic shifts in ideologies,

in politics, in religion, in populations.

無論是在政治、宗教還是人口方面。

Everything felt so precarious.

每件事感覺都那麼的不穩定。

And I remember thinking,

我記得當時在想，

"My God, what kind of world did we bring this child into?

「我的天啊！我們把這孩子 帶到什麼樣的世界啊？」

And what was I as a mother and a religious leader

「而身為一位母親與宗教領袖的我，

願意貢獻出些什麼呢？」

willing to do about it?

Of course, I knew it was clear

當然，我知道，

that religion would be a principle battlefield

宗教是這個快速變化的

國際情勢裡的主戰場，

in this rapidly changing landscape,

大家都明白，

and it was already clear

that religion was a significant part of the problem.

宗教就是問題的重要部分。

而我的疑問是：

The question for me was,

could religion also be part of the solution?

宗教有沒有可能也是 解決問題的辦法之一？

Now, throughout history,

綜觀歷史，

人們以宗教之名

people have committed horrible crimes and atrocities

犯下了很多恐怖的暴力事蹟。

in the name of religion.

而當我們來到了 21 世紀，

And as we entered the 21st century,

it was very clear that religious extremism was once again on the rise.

宗教極端主義又開始盛行了。

Our studies now show

我們的研究顯示，

在過去的 15~20 年，

that over the course of the past 15, 20 years,

hostilities and religion-related violence

與敵對及信仰有關的暴力事件

have been on the increase all over the world.

在全球各地都有增加的趨勢。

But we don't even need the studies to prove it,

我們甚至不需要研究報告 就能證明這一切，

because I ask you, how many of us are surprised today

因為我來問一下就知道， 我們當中有多少人會感到驚訝，

when we hear the stories of a bombing or a shooting,

當我們聽到某起 炸彈攻擊或槍擊事件，

when we later find out that the last word that was uttered

那些惡徒在扣下板機 或引爆炸彈之前，

before the trigger is pulled or the bomb is detonated

is the name of God?

呼喊上帝之名？

現今這樣的訊息 已經吸引不了人們的關注了：

It barely raises an eyebrow today

when we learn that yet another person

當我們聽到一個人

has decided to show his love of God

藉著殺害上帝子民的性命

by taking the lives of God's children.

來展現他對上帝的愛戴。

In America, religious extremism

在美國，宗教極端主義者

看起來像是一個反對墮胎的 白種極端基督教徒，

looks like a white, antiabortion Christian extremist

walking into Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs

走進科羅拉多州 溫泉市的計劃生育診所

and murdering three people.

謀殺了三個人。

It also looks like a couple

也像是一對夫妻

受了伊斯蘭國的鼓動

inspired by the Islamic State

walking into an office party in San Bernardino and killing 14.

走進聖貝納迪諾的 辦公部門派對中殺掉 14 個人。

And even when religion-related extremism does not lead to violence,

即使與信仰有關的極端主義 沒有導致暴力事件，

it is still used as a political wedge issue,

但也經常成為政治操弄的議題工具，

cynically leading people to justify the subordination of women,

憤世嫉俗地誘導民眾去合理化 女性的從屬地位、

the stigmatization of LGBT people,

汙名化同性戀、雙性戀與跨性別者，

鼓吹種族歧視、伊斯蘭恐懼症、 反猶太主義。

racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

This ought to concern deeply

這些議題值得我們這些關心宗教、

those of us who care about the future of religion

關心信仰未來發展的人

and the future of faith.

做深度地探討。

We need to call this what it is:

我們可以稱這些現象為：

信仰上的大失敗。

a great failure of religion.

問題是，這並不是目前宗教 所面臨的唯一挑戰。

But the thing is, this isn't even the only challenge that religion faces today.

與此同時，

At the very same time

that we need religion to be a strong force against extremism,

我們更需要宗教能成為一股 對抗極端主義的堅強力量，

it is suffering from a second pernicious trend,

雖然它目前正遭受著 第二波毀滅的趨勢，

what I call religious routine-ism.

我稱之為「宗教例行化」。

This is when our institutions and our leaders

這也是我們的機構和領導人

are stuck in a paradigm that is rote and perfunctory,

被困在一個很草率、制式化、

devoid of life, devoid of vision

缺乏生命力、沒有願景、

and devoid of soul.

沒有靈魂的典型框架中。

Let me explain what I mean like this.

讓我來解釋一下我為什麽這樣說。

One of the great blessings of being a rabbi

身為一位拉比，最開心的事就是，

is standing under the chuppah, under the wedding canopy, with a couple,

站在結婚禮棚下，為一對新婚夫妻

and helping them proclaim publicly

做結婚的公證，

and make holy the love that they found for one another.

聖潔他們彼此之間的愛。

I want to ask you now, though,

但我現在想請各位

to think maybe from your own experience

就你個人經驗

or maybe just imagine it

或者就想像一下，

about the difference between the intensity of the experience

下列兩組在感情的強列程度上 有多大的差距，

under the wedding canopy,

一組是站在結婚禮棚下剛結婚的，

and maybe the experience of the sixth or seventh anniversary.

另一組是結婚 6、7 周年的。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And if you're lucky enough to make it 16 or 17 years,

如果你夠幸運， 可以慶祝第 16、17 年的紀念日，

if you're like most people, you probably wake up in the morning

如果你跟大多數人一樣，

早上醒來，發現自己 忘記預定了最愛的餐廳，

realizing that you forgot to make a reservation at your favorite restaurant

忘記了祝福的卡片，

and you forgot so much as a card,

and then you just hope and pray that your partner also forgot.

然後你只希望或祈禱 你的另一半也忘了這件事。

Well, religious ritual and rites

傳統宗教的儀式與慣例

were essentially designed to serve the function of the anniversary,

基本上是為了 迎合周年紀念日而設計、

為了成為一個器皿， 能使我們堅守住

to be a container in which we would hold on to the remnants

of that sacred, revelatory encounter

那神聖、具天啟、

創造了宗教的遺風習俗而設計。

that birthed the religion in the first place.

The problem is that after a few centuries,

問題是，經過了幾世紀後，

the date remains on the calendar,

日曆上仍有紀念日，

but the love affair is long dead.

但愛慕之情已然消逝。

That's when we find ourselves in endless, mindless repetitions

這時我們才發現自己 陷入在一種永無止境、

of words that don't mean anything to us,

毫無意義的惡性循環中，

起立和坐下， 僅是因為有人要我們這麼做，

rising and being seated because someone has asked us to,

holding onto jealously guarded doctrine

小心地固守著那

完全與當今現實環境 脫節了的謹慎教條，

that's completely and wildly out of step with our contemporary reality,

engaging in perfunctory practice

深陷在敷衍、老舊的儀式中，

simply because that's the way things have always been done.

只因為長久以來，大家都這麼做。

在美國，宗教正逐漸式微。

Religion is waning in the United States.

Across the board, churches and synagogues and mosques

世界各地的教會、猶太教會、清真寺

are all complaining

都在抱怨，

about how hard it is to maintain relevance

要維持新世代年輕人

對宗教的興趣有多麼困難，

for a generation of young people who seem completely uninterested,

因為這些年輕人不僅對代表 傳統核心價值的宗教團體不感興趣，

not only in the institutions that stand at the heart of our traditions

but even in religion itself.

也對宗教本身不感興趣。

And what they need to understand

但這些教會裡的人需要明白的是，

is that there is today a generation of people

當今這世代有一群人，

他們厭惡宗教極端主義的殘暴，

who are as disgusted by the violence of religious extremism

as they are turned off

就如同他們排斥

by the lifelessness of religious routine-ism.

一成不變的宗教例行儀式一樣。

Of course there is a bright spot to this story.

當然這些事仍有轉機。

Given the crisis of these two concurrent trends in religious life,

鑒於這兩種同時出現在 宗教史上的災難趨勢，

about 12 or 13 years ago, I set out to try to determine

大約 12~13 年前，我決定開始

尋找方法重新恢復

if there was any way

that I could reclaim the heart of my own Jewish tradition,

我所屬的猶太教的傳統核心，

to help make it meaningful and purposeful again

協助它在這個動蕩的世界上

in a world on fire.

重新找回意義。

I started to wonder,

我開始在想，

what if we could harness some of the great minds of our generation

要是我們可以利用 我們這一代偉大的思想，

並以一個大膽、健全、 具豐富想像力的角度

and think in a bold and robust and imaginative way again

去思考世代更迭過的 宗教生活會是怎樣的模式？

about what the next iteration of religious life would look like?

Now, we had no money, no space, no game plan,

我們沒有錢、沒有地方、沒有計劃，

but we did have email.

但是我們有電子郵件。

So my friend Melissa and I sat down and we wrote an email

於是我的朋友瑪莉薩和我

開始發一些電郵 給我們的朋友和同事。

which we sent out to a few friends and colleagues.

It basically said this:

基本內容就是：

"Before you bail on religion,

「在你要放棄你的信仰之前，

why don't we come together this Friday night

何不讓我們在禮拜五晚上 小聚一下呢，

and see what we might make of our own Jewish inheritance?"

看看我們還能為猶太的 文化遺產做些什麽？」

We hoped maybe 20 people would show up.

我們原本以為頂多 20 個人會出席，

It turned out 135 people came.

結果來了 135 個人。

有憤世嫉俗的人、 有尋找生命意義的人，

They were cynics and seekers,

atheists and rabbis.

還有無神論者及拉比們。

Many people said that night that it was the first time

很多人都說，那晚是他們有生以來，

that they had a meaningful religious experience in their entire lives.

第一次度過這麼有意義的宗教體驗。

And so I set out to do the only rational thing

所以我去做了一般人在這情況下

that someone would do in such a circumstance:

都會做的合理事情：

I quit my job and tried to build this audacious dream,

我辭掉了工作， 嘗試去建立這個大膽、

a reinvented, rethought religious life

重新改造過、重新思考過的 宗教生活夢想，

which we called "IKAR,"

我們稱這個計劃為《IKAR》

which means "the essence" or "the heart of the matter."

它是「本質精華或 事物之核心」的意思。

Now, IKAR is not alone

《IKAR》在當今宗教局勢中

並不孤單。

out there in the religious landscape today.

There are Jewish and Christian and Muslim and Catholic religious leaders,

有很多的猶太教、基督教、 穆斯林教和天主教領袖，

many of them women, by the way,

順道一提， 他們之中有很多都是女性，

who have set out to reclaim the heart of our traditions,

都開始重新定義傳統宗教的 核心價值意義了，

who firmly believe that now is the time for religion to be part of the solution.

他們相信是時候讓宗教 成為問題的解決方案之一了。

We are going back into our sacred traditions

我們要回到神聖的傳統，

並認知所有我們的傳統

and recognizing that all of our traditions

contain the raw material to justify violence and extremism,

有包含合理化 暴力和極端主義的素材、

也有包含發揚憐憫、

and also contain the raw material to justify compassion,

共存、仁慈的素材——

coexistence and kindness --

that when others choose to read our texts as directives for hate and vengeance,

所以當他人從我們的文章中 讀出憎恨與復仇時，

we can choose to read those same texts

我們可以選擇從同樣的文章中讀出

as directives for love and for forgiveness.

愛和寬容的指導方針。

我發現

I have found now

in communities as varied as Jewish indie start-ups on the coasts

多元化的宗教團體， 如東西兩岸的猶太教獨立小教會，

to a woman's mosque,

比如女性的清真寺、

to black churches in New York and in North Carolina,

比如紐約和北卡羅來納的黑人教會、

to a holy bus loaded with nuns

比如滿載著修女的神聖巴士，

that traverses this country with a message of justice and peace,

她們在這個國家傳遞著 正義與和平的訊息，

都有著同樣的宗教價值觀，

that there is a shared religious ethos

that is now emerging in the form of revitalized religion in this country.

在國內正以宗教復興的態勢崛起。

And while the theologies and the practices vary very much

雖然這些獨立機構彼此之間的

between these independent communities,

宗教理論與慣例相當不同，

what we can see are some common, consistent threads between them.

我們還是可以 看到其中的一些共同點。

I'm going to share with you four of those commitments now.

接著我就跟大家分享這四個共同點。

The first is wakefulness.

第一個是覺醒。

我們生活在一個年代，

We live in a time today

in which we have unprecedented access

一個可以透過史無前例的方式

to information about every global tragedy

獲知發生在世界各個角落的

that happens on every corner of this Earth.

悲劇的年代。

Within 12 hours, 20 million people

有二千萬人，在 12 小時內得知

saw that image of Aylan Kurdi's little body

艾蘭·庫迪小朋友的身軀

washed up on the Turkish shore.

在土耳其的海岸邊 被海浪無情的沖刷。

We all saw this picture.

我們也都看到了這張相片，

We saw this picture of a five-year-old child

一位五歲男童，

pulled out of the rubble of his building in Aleppo.

在阿勒坡被人從 已成廢墟的家中救出來。

而每當我們看到類似的景象，

And once we see these images,

we are called to a certain kind of action.

我們都會有所行動。

My tradition tells a story of a traveler who is walking down a road

在我的傳統裡有這麼一個 旅人走在路上的故事，

when he sees a beautiful house on fire,

有一天他看到了一間 漂亮的房子失火了，

and he says, "How can it be that something so beautiful would burn,

他說：「為什麼 這麼漂亮的房子失火，

卻都沒有人看到或甚至關心？」

and nobody seems to even care?"

So too we learn that our world is on fire,

同樣的，我們的世界也正在失火，

and it is our job to keep our hearts and our eyes open,

我們應當敞開心扉，擦亮眼睛，

and to recognize that it's our responsibility

並認知這其實這是我們的責任，

我們要協助滅火，

to help put out the flames.

This is extremely difficult to do.

這件事的確很困難，

Psychologists tell us that the more we learn about what's broken in our world,

因為心理學家告訴我們，人們越是 了解造成這世界支離破碎的原因，

the less likely we are to do anything.

就越會漠不關心。

It's called psychic numbing.

這就是所謂的心理麻木現象。

We just shut down at a certain point.

我們在某個時點，關閉了心門。

Well, somewhere along the way, our religious leaders forgot

然而，各宗教的領袖們似乎忘記了，

that it's our job to make people uncomfortable.

帶領人們離開舒適圈、

It's our job to wake people up,

讓人們覺醒是我們的責任，

把他們從冷默的深淵裡拉出來，

to pull them out of their apathy

去感受改變的痛苦，

and into the anguish,

and to insist that we do what we don't want to do

去堅決要求我們 做原本不想做的事情，

去看我們選擇忽視的人事物。

and see what we do not want to see.

Because we know that social change only happens --

因為我們知道社會的改變 永遠只發生在——

(Applause)

（掌聲）

when we are awake enough to see that the house is on fire.

我們清醒地意識到需要改變的時候。

The second principle is hope,

第二個原則是希望，

and I want to say this about hope.

我想說一下「希望」這件事，

Hope is not naive,

希望不是天真，

and hope is not an opiate.

也不是什麽麻醉劑。

Hope may be the single greatest act of defiance

「希望」可能是對抗悲觀的政治和

against a politics of pessimism

絕望的文化

and against a culture of despair.

唯一的最佳武器。

Because what hope does for us

因為希望能帶我們

is it lifts us out of the container

走出那個

把我們與外在世界隔絕的 「容器」牢籠。

that holds us and constrains us from the outside,

and says, "You can dream and think expansively again.

並且希望告訴了我們， 「你可以再次豁達地夢想與思考，

That they cannot control in you."

它們是控制不了你的。」

I saw hope made manifest in an African-American church

今年夏天，在芝加哥南部

in the South Side of Chicago this summer,

我看到希望已經在 美國非裔的教堂裡顯現，

where I brought my little girl,

我帶著

13 歲的女兒，

who is now 13

and a few inches taller than me,

現在比我要高一點點，

去聽我朋友 歐提斯‧傌司牧師講道。

to hear my friend Rev. Otis Moss preach.

That summer, there had already been 3,000 people shot

今年夏天，從一月到七月

在芝加哥大約 已經有 3000 人被槍殺。

between January and July in Chicago.

我們去教堂聽傌司牧師講道，

We went into that church and heard Rev. Moss preach,

結束後，

and after he did,

100 個優雅堅強的合唱團女成員

this choir of gorgeous women, 100 women strong,

stood up and began to sing.

站起來開始合唱。

"I need you. You need me.

「我需要你，你需要我，

I love you. I need you to survive."

我愛你，我要你好好活著。」

And I realized in that moment

在那一瞬間我恍然大悟，

that this is what religion is supposed to be about.

這就是宗教活動應有的樣子。

它應當給予人們生存的目的、

It's supposed to be about giving people back a sense of purpose,

a sense of hope,

希望的感覺、

a sense that they and their dreams fundamentally matter in this world

一種世上每個人和他的夢想 都至關重要的感覺，

that tells them that they don't matter at all.

縱使這個世界讓人們 覺得自己微不足道。

The third principle is the principle of mightiness.

第三個是強大原則。

There's a rabbinic tradition that we are to walk around

我們猶太教有一項傳統， 我們在走路時

with two slips of paper in our pockets.

會放兩張紙條在口袋裡。

One says, "I am but dust and ashes."

一張上面寫著，「我渺小如灰塵。」

世界並非繞著你在轉。

It's not all about me.

I can't control everything, and I cannot do this on my own.

我無法掌控每件事， 憑我一己之力做不到。

The other slip of paper says, "For my sake the world was created."

而另一張紙上寫著， 「世界因我而創造。」

意思是，雖然我不能做每件事，

Which is to say it's true that I can't do everything,

但我確定我有能力可以去做些事。

but I can surely do something.

我可以寬恕、

I can forgive.

I can love.

我可以愛、

I can show up.

我可以站出來、

我可以抗議、

I can protest.

I can be a part of this conversation.

我可以成為這場談話裡的一分子。

We even now have a religious ritual,

我們現在甚至有一個宗教儀式、

a posture,

一種姿勢，

象徵著無能為力 與無所不能之間的弔詭平衡。

that holds the paradox between powerlessness and power.

In the Jewish community,

在猶太社群裡，

我們一年中唯一一次

the only time of year that we prostrate fully to the ground

完全俯身拜倒在地上的日子， 是在聖潔日裡，

is during the high holy days.

It's a sign of total submission.

這是一種完全順從的表現。

Now in our community, when we get up off the ground,

如今，在我們的社群， 當我們從地上站起來後，

we stand with our hands raised to the heavens,

我們會向天堂高舉雙手，

and we say, "I am strong, I am mighty, and I am worthy.

然後說，「我很堅強、 我很強大、我很有價值，

我雖然不能每件事都做， 但我可以做些事情。」

I can't do everything, but I can do something."

In a world that conspires to make us believe that we are invisible

在這個努力想要讓我們 認為自己渺小如塵、

and that we are impotent,

無能為力的世界，

religious communities and religious ritual

宗教團體和宗教儀式能提醒我們

can remind us that for whatever amount of time we have here on this Earth,

不管我們能在這個世上活多久，

whatever gifts and blessings we were given,

不管我們得到多少天賦與祝福，

不管我們有什麼資源，

whatever resources we have,

we can and we must use them

我們都可以，也必須利用它們

to try to make the world a little bit more just

來試著讓這個世界變得更公正、

and a little bit more loving.

更有愛些。

The fourth and final is interconnectedness.

第四也是最後一點：緊密關係。

A few years ago, there was a man walking on the beach in Alaska,

幾年前，有一位男子， 在阿拉斯加的海灘上散步，

當時他撿到了一顆足球，

when he came across a soccer ball

上面寫了一些日文。

that had some Japanese letters written on it.

He took a picture of it and posted it up on social media,

他把足球拍了張照片 並且把它放到社群媒體上，

一位日本的少年聯繫上他。

and a Japanese teenager contacted him.

He had lost everything in the tsunami that devastated his country,

他說他在重創日本的 海嘯中失去了一切，

but he was able to retrieve that soccer ball

但他有幸能找到他的足球，

after it had floated all the way across the Pacific.

在它漂流橫越整個太平洋後。

How small our world has become.

我們的世界變得如此之小。

生為人類的我們，

It's so hard for us to remember how interconnected we all are

我們很難記得 我們是多麼的緊密相連。

as human beings.

And yet, we know

然而，我們都知道

that it is systems of oppression

是這種壓迫系統

that benefit the most from the lie of radical individualism.

受惠了會說謊的激進個人主義者。

Let me tell you how this works.

我來告訴各位它是如何運作的。

I'm not supposed to care

我本不該關心

when black youth are harassed by police,

黑人青年被警察騷擾的事件，

because my white-looking Jewish kids

因為我白皮膚的猶太小孩

也許永遠都不會因為同樣的事 而被警察攔下來。

probably won't ever get pulled over for the crime of driving while black.

但並非如此， 因為這也是我的問題。

Well, not so, because this is also my problem.

各位知道嗎？ 變性歧視、伊斯蘭教歧視、

And guess what? Transphobia and Islamophobia

and racism of all forms, those are also all of our problems.

各種形式的種族歧視， 這些都是我們的問題。

And so too is anti-Semitism all of our problems.

反猶太問題也是。

Because Emma Lazarus was right.

因為美國女詩人 艾瑪‧拉撒路說的對。

（掌聲）

(Applause)

Emma Lazarus was right when she said until all of us are free,

她說，除非我們全部都獲得自由，

we are none of us free.

否則沒有任何一個人是自由的。

We are all in this together.

我們在這些議題上是同船共濟的。

And now somewhere at the intersection of these four trends,

現在，在這四個趨勢──

of wakefulness and hope and mightiness and interconnectedness,

覺醒、希望、強大、 緊密關係的交會處，

國內迅速發展出跨信仰的正義活動，

there is a burgeoning, multifaith justice movement in this country

that is staking a claim on a countertrend,

它正漸漸成為重申信仰的 反潮流砥柱，

saying that religion can and must be a force for good in the world.

這告訴了我們，宗教應當也必須成為 世界的一股正能量。

失敗的宗教極端主義 傷了我們的心，

Our hearts hurt from the failed religion of extremism,

我們值得擁有生氣盎然、 激勵人心的信仰。

and we deserve more than the failed religion of routine-ism.

It is time for religious leaders and religious communities

是時候讓宗教領袖和信仰團體

在精神與文化改變方面 做出領頭作用了，

to take the lead in the spiritual and cultural shift

that this country and the world so desperately needs --

因為我們的國家和全世界 都極渴望這樣的改變——

a shift toward love,

轉向愛、

toward justice, toward equality and toward dignity for all.

轉向正義、平等與尊嚴的改變。

I believe that our children deserve no less than that.

我相信我們的下一代 值得擁有這樣美好的世界。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）