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UID:Indybay-18767881
SEQUENCE:18886951
CREATED:20150131T161700Z
DESCRIPTION:Join a reading/study group plumbing the justice details of Leviticus, part 
 of the book most influential in Martin Luther King's career, and the book 
 which shaped the voices of Amos and Hosea, the men inspiring Cornell West's 
 Black Prophetic Fire. This is not a religious studies group, it's an 
 intellectual bootcamp exploring the nitty-gritty economic and social 
 mandates of the Hebrew Bible. \n\nAn intellectually honest approach to 
 appreciating MLK and the great sweep of Black Liberation history in the US 
 would have to include a (re)reading of the book which inspired so many of 
 the 19th century spirituals and so much of 20th century Black Church and 
 civil rights liberation rhetoric, and yet which so few otherwise earnest, 
 liberal, progressive do-gooders have taken account. \n\nThe world's first 
 documented constitutional society was in ancient Israel. The collection of 
 history, stories and homilies known as the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament 
 depicts a community which strove to adhere to a constitution that could 
 well inspire and point the legislative direction for today's social justice 
 advocates. \n\nperiodic (7 year) debt abolition \nmandatory (!) vacation 
 time \nuniversal land enfranchisement \nmandatory social security \nno tax 
 on work \n\nTaken together, these five laws in ancient Israel resulted in a 
 staggeringly huge middle class, almost no bureaucracy, universal literacy 
 (on par with Cuba), and an astonishing absence of hierarchical governance 
 and society. \n\n"Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt land. \nTell old 
 Pharaoh, Let my people go." \nSpiritual, first published c. 1862 \n\n"Like 
 anybody, I would like to live - a long life; longevity has its place. But 
 I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's 
 allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen 
 the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know 
 tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy, 
 tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes 
 have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." MLK, 1968 \n\nThese are 
 words that touched hearts, launched action, and which only hint at the 
 depths of specific freedom legislation which the Hebrew Law in the Bible 
 book of Leviticus enunciated. \n\nYou are invited to join The Commons SF in 
 a non-denominational secular reading of several texts treating the 
 sociology of the Bible without dependence upon supernatural forces, reading 
 for profound lessons to be learned by justice advocates today. Louis 
 Wallis' "Sociological Study of the Bible" and John Kelly's "The Other Law 
 of Moses" will be supplied. \n\nFor more info: info [at] TheCommonsSF.org 
 \n https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/01/31/18767881.php
SUMMARY:"The deep roots of MLK's and Cornell West's inspiration" reading group
LOCATION:Notable House\n189 Ellsworth St.\nSan Francisco, CA  94110
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/01/31/18767881.php
DTSTART:20150203T030000Z
DTEND:20150203T043000Z
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