SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Circa 29 AD, illustration of the new Testament story when Jesus purged the temple of the money changers. Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
That Ye Love One Another
A nod to the real meaning of the holiday, the birth of a Jesus who was not divine but "supremely human" - a radical, homeless, Jewish, brown-skinned, community-organizing revolutionary who kept company with crooks and hookers, never mentioned abortion or gay marriage, never called the poor lazy, never fought for tax cuts for rich Nazarenes and never asked a leper for copay. Eugene Debs called him "as real and persuasive a historic character as John Brown (or) Karl Marx" whose "pith and core" was his commandment to "love one another, be brethren, make common cause."
Dec 25, 2021
A nod to the real meaning of the holiday, the birth of a Jesus who was not divine but "supremely human" - a "radical non-violent revolutionary who hung around with lepers, hookers and crooks... was anti-wealth, anti-death penalty, anti-public prayer; but was never anti-gay, never mentioned abortion or birth control, never called the poor lazy, never justified torture, never fought for tax cuts for the wealthiest Nazarenes, never asked a leper for copay, and was a long-haired, brown-skinned, homeless, community-organizing anti- slut-shaming Middle Eastern Jew." In a 1914 essay, Eugene Debs called Jesus "as real and persuasive a historic character as John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, or Karl Marx...brought forth for no other purpose than (to) set up the common people as the sole and rightful inheritors of the earth: 'Happy are the lowly for they shall inherit the earth.'" Debs celebrates "the martyred Christ of the working class, the inspired evangel of the downtrodden masses" and calls on the commandment that was "the pith and core of all his pleading, all his preaching, and all his teaching" - love one another, be brethren, make common cause, stand together." A lifetime's work. Wishing you all peaceful healthy holidays, and many indictments.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Abby Zimet
Abby Zimet has written CD's Further column since 2008. A longtime, award-winning journalist, she moved to the Maine woods in the early 70s, where she spent a dozen years building a house, hauling water and writing before moving to Portland. Having come of political age during the Vietnam War, she has long been involved in women's, labor, anti-war, social justice and refugee rights issues. Email: azimet18@gmail.com
A nod to the real meaning of the holiday, the birth of a Jesus who was not divine but "supremely human" - a "radical non-violent revolutionary who hung around with lepers, hookers and crooks... was anti-wealth, anti-death penalty, anti-public prayer; but was never anti-gay, never mentioned abortion or birth control, never called the poor lazy, never justified torture, never fought for tax cuts for the wealthiest Nazarenes, never asked a leper for copay, and was a long-haired, brown-skinned, homeless, community-organizing anti- slut-shaming Middle Eastern Jew." In a 1914 essay, Eugene Debs called Jesus "as real and persuasive a historic character as John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, or Karl Marx...brought forth for no other purpose than (to) set up the common people as the sole and rightful inheritors of the earth: 'Happy are the lowly for they shall inherit the earth.'" Debs celebrates "the martyred Christ of the working class, the inspired evangel of the downtrodden masses" and calls on the commandment that was "the pith and core of all his pleading, all his preaching, and all his teaching" - love one another, be brethren, make common cause, stand together." A lifetime's work. Wishing you all peaceful healthy holidays, and many indictments.
Abby Zimet
Abby Zimet has written CD's Further column since 2008. A longtime, award-winning journalist, she moved to the Maine woods in the early 70s, where she spent a dozen years building a house, hauling water and writing before moving to Portland. Having come of political age during the Vietnam War, she has long been involved in women's, labor, anti-war, social justice and refugee rights issues. Email: azimet18@gmail.com
A nod to the real meaning of the holiday, the birth of a Jesus who was not divine but "supremely human" - a "radical non-violent revolutionary who hung around with lepers, hookers and crooks... was anti-wealth, anti-death penalty, anti-public prayer; but was never anti-gay, never mentioned abortion or birth control, never called the poor lazy, never justified torture, never fought for tax cuts for the wealthiest Nazarenes, never asked a leper for copay, and was a long-haired, brown-skinned, homeless, community-organizing anti- slut-shaming Middle Eastern Jew." In a 1914 essay, Eugene Debs called Jesus "as real and persuasive a historic character as John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, or Karl Marx...brought forth for no other purpose than (to) set up the common people as the sole and rightful inheritors of the earth: 'Happy are the lowly for they shall inherit the earth.'" Debs celebrates "the martyred Christ of the working class, the inspired evangel of the downtrodden masses" and calls on the commandment that was "the pith and core of all his pleading, all his preaching, and all his teaching" - love one another, be brethren, make common cause, stand together." A lifetime's work. Wishing you all peaceful healthy holidays, and many indictments.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.