Pick Up Morality: Restoring The Common Good In Divided Times Imagined By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Displayed As Leaflet

bought this book hardcover copy a couple of weeks ago, and have since read it rapidly right through a couple of times.
I thoroughly enjoyed the frequent quotations of statistical analyses of how leaders, and the common mass, viewed and now differently view the world they live in, society, neighbourliness, politics, the business world, etc.
, and how there has been that massive change from a centuries long commmon belief in a religion based 'morality' to the present very common view that 'every individual is entitled to make up his own morality'.
This leads me to say immediately that the book desperately needs a detailed Glossary and a detailed Index.
Over and over again the same or similar ideas and authors crop up also, repeatedly Sacks spells out two, or three, or , elements in a given belief or practice, often with very significant differing effects.
These generally need clear cut definition than Sacks gives, His 'Notes' to his text, and recommended 'Furher Reading', do not supply the ready to hand powerful summary that a glossary and index would provide.
Also I consider as a very serious weakness in Sacks's book that he does not seriously define the word 'morality'.
He tosses in the word all the time, and of course it is the title of his book, but several times he makes a suggestion that human beings finally 'evolved' from being mere hunter gatherers to being substantially numerous tribes, communities, states or nations or whatever, and Sacks keeps hInting that 'religion' as we know it generally today, with its rituals and priesthoods and assemblies, was really CREATED by the growing human communities.
GOD is mentioned, but his involvement is not seriously developed, Sacks is well read in his Nietzsche and Sartre and Camus and so on, but there is only I think one brief reference each, to Hawking and to Dawkins, and I believe that the views of these two, and the multitude of their misguided followers, that the universes self created out of nothing according to the non existent laws of non existent nature, is the most calamitous disaster in the whole realm of rational human thinking.
Sacks does not explicitly attack, or indeed deal with, the view that we human beings evolved by blind chance from the slime of the earth and that we are no than one element of a meaningless universe of brute matter.
But on pageSacks says: ''The birth of religion in this sense was the birth of civilisation''.
Sacks does not sufficiently define what is human nature, and what is religion, On pagehe says: ''Religion creates communities, and communities create moral people'', But Sacks does not tell us '''who creates religion'', Sacks admirably analyses how modern society works, But he fails to develop an effective explanation for the role of 'religion' in this process.
He says explicitly that religion SUPPORTS the proper way of life, But in reality this isan inadequate view, Religion CREATES the proper way of life, There is a basic failure on Sacks's part to discuss human nature, and the human Person.
As I keep saying in all my reviews of books on this topic, both when I attack the views of Hawking/Dawkins, and when I praise books which source my pro religion, pro Christian views, an analysis of the human condition is essential.
Sacks's emphasis in his book is that human beings need a ''WE'', a community and family approach to life, and not the ''I'' approach favoured by the politics and business is all that matters philosophy of life.
But Sacks does not develop the essential point, that the person living the 'WE'' approach is always a rational, human ''I''.
As I put it, in my reviews, the central feature of any study of the 'Grand Design' according to which mankind must act, must be this: ''To explain the self conscious, rational, scientific, mathematical, cosmological, psychological, biological, logical, philosophising, theologising, artistic, musical, poetic, literary, remembering, planning, loving, hating, altruistic, selfish, sexual, racial, moral, immoral, believing, hoping, value and purpose seeking, family centred, God fearing peak of creation human being.
I am sorry to be so critical of Sacks's views, He can sympathise with the modern acceptance of views not his own, with freedom of belief and practice, and so on, and he powerfully identifies the harm to proper, ordinary thinking, which is caused by the overwhelming effect of universal electronic communications, where the views of the ill informed or malicious have as much effect as the views of the seriously philosophical and theological and scientific on these topics Sacks is excellent.
But Sacks almost always practically identifies 'morality' simply with having a sympathetic, tolerant attitude towards one's neighbours who hold different views from one's own.
And he does not give sufficient emphasis to considering that a belief in some form of morality can/must be true, and that some form/s of morality must be rejected, albeit with love towards and respect for the individual/s holding the 'wrong' views.
I like to quote the case of the attitude attributed to Voltaire, who tells one of his adversaries: ''I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it''.
I tend now, when I quote this humane attitude of Voltaire's, to put into Voltaire's mouth the further key statement: ''And in return you must defend to the death my right to say and to attempt to prove that what you say is logically, rationally false, if that is my conviction''.
I must stop for now, One facility that used to appear in book reviews was the option to ''see all the reviews published by this reviewer''.
I have said a good deal on this topic in my reviews of Hawking and Dawkins, for example, which would be relevant here.
When I was younger, my only knowledge of Jonathan Sacks as through his contributions to Radio's 'Thought for the Day' and I have to admit that I found him a bit stuffy and earnest.
Aboutyears ago this changed: I don't know if he changed or I did or we both did but I started realising that he was a man of wisdom, humanity and insight whose words were well worth litening to or reading.
The reason I mention this is that the general idea of Morality is as something a bit stuffy and earnest.
Jonathan Sacks here shows that it if understood and applied correctly it is no such thing: It is life enhancing, not life denying.
That understanding alone is worth many time the cover price, Read it! Struggling to make sense of the modern world This is the book for you but be prepared for a wide ranging and intense read.
Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth was widely regarded as an intellectual and moral giant and this book, published just months before his recent death confirms him as a man of great clarity of thought and above all, optimism.
We were amazed by the breadth of the book, Sacks goes well beyond his Jewish rabbinic roots to reflect upon aspects of Christianity, History, Philosophy and Ethics ultimately linking strands from these very different sources into a simple but profound message we have lost sight of the “We” in pursuit of the “I” and in so doing we have placed humanity in very real danger.
The book is equally about hope, Sacks demonstrates a depth of understanding of the contemporary world and a sensitivity to the younger generation that allows us to share his faith and optimism in the future.
Ultimately however, Sacks reminds society of the timeless importance of human dignity, meaning and discipline: principles that have traditionally brought to it by ReligionWhat a book for Sacks to go out on! The message is positive and the clarity of thinking enlightening.
We awarded it/concerns about Sacks lack of breadth in presenting political issues around Judaism e.
g. , Zionism being our only reservation, A thought provoking and timely book, It is beautifully written and insightful, I found myself in agreement with much of what I read, Despite the overall picture of a divided and dysfunctional society the book offers plenty of ideas and examples of how and why this could and should be different.
Ultimately this was an uplifting read which has the potential to make a positive difference to the status quo.
Excellent summary of the key points of the pastyears of Western thinking as it works out in Culture.
He is even handed, seeing great value in all religions, His analysis of modern movements such as populism and no platforming is particularly clear headed, In my view he undervalues the achievements resulting from challenging the Authority of Religion in a We based society and over emphasises the problems of alienation in an I based society.
He clearly feels that our morality would be improved if we encouraged religion again, but his wide ranging scholarly examples demonstrate that the moral impulse is part of being human not solely religious.
His conclusion is that the current emphasis on the individual has gone too far, and that future benefit will come from our 'covenanting' with each other.
Packed with the fruits of wide ranging scholarship this book was thought provoking and enjoyable, Si me gusto We are living through a period of cultural climate change We have outsourced morality to the markets on the one hand and the state on the other The markets have brought wealth to many and the state has done much to contain the worst excesses of ineuality but neither is capable of bearing the moral weight of showing us how to live This has had a profound impact on society and the way in which we interact with each other Traditional values no longer hold yet recent political swings show that modern ideals of tolerance have left many feeling rudderless and adrift In this environment we see things fall apart in unexpected ways toxic public discourse makes true societal progress almost unattainable adivisive society is fuelled by identity politics and extremism and the rise of a victimhood mentality calls for safe spaces but stifles debate The influence of social media seems all pervading and the breakdown of the family is only one result of the loss of social capital Many fear what the future may holdDelivering a devastatingly insightful critiue of our modern condition and assessing its roots and causes from the ancient Greeks through the Reformation and Enlightenment to the present day Sacks argues that there is no liberty without morality and no freedom without responsibilityIf we care about the future of western civilisation all of us must play our part in rebuilding our common moral foundation Then we will discover afresh the life transforming and counterintuitive truths that a nation is strong when it cares for the weak and rich when it cares for the poorHere is an inspiring vision of a world in which we can all find our place and face the future without fearWe are living through a period of cultural climate change.
We have outsourced morality to the markets on the one hand, and the state on the other.
The markets have brought wealth to many, and the state has done much to contain the worst excesses of inequality, but neither is capable of bearing the moral weight of showing us how to live.


This has had a profound impact on society and the way in which we interact with each other.
Traditional values no longer hold, yet recent political swings show that modern ideals of tolerance have left many feeling rudderless and adrift.
In this environment we see things fall apart in unexpected ways toxic public discourse makes true societal progress almost unattainable, a more divisive society is fuelled by identity politics and extremism, and the rise of a victimhood mentality calls for apossafe spacesapos but stifles debate.
The influence of social media seems allpervading and the breakdown of the family is only one result of the loss of social capital.
Many fear what the future may hold,

Delivering a devastatingly insightful critique of our modern condition, and assessing its roots and causes from the ancient Greeks through the Reformation and Enlightenment to the present day, Sacks argues that there is no liberty without morality, and no freedom without responsibility.


If we care about the future of western civilisation, all of us must play our part in rebuilding our common moral foundation.
Then we will discover afresh the lifetransforming and counterintuitive truths that a nation is strong when it cares for the weak, and rich when it cares for the poor.


Here is an inspiring vision of a world in which

we can all find our place, and face the future without fear.
We are living through a period of cultural climate change, We have outsourced morality to the markets on the one hand, and the state on the other.
The markets have brought wealth to many, and the state has done much to contain the worst excesses of inequality, but neither is capable of bearing the moral weight of showing us how to live.


This has had a profound impact on society and the way in which we interact with each other.
Traditional values no longer hold, yet recent political swings show that modern ideals of tolerance have left many feeling rudderless and adrift.
In this environment we see things fall apart in unexpected ways toxic public discourse makes true societal progress almost unattainable, a more divisive society is fuelled by identity politics and extremism, and the rise of a victimhood mentality calls for apossafe spacesapos but stifles debate.
The influence of social media seems allpervading and the breakdown of the family is only one result of the loss of social capital.
Many fear what the future may hold,

Delivering a devastatingly insightful critique of our modern condition, and assessing its roots and causes from the ancient Greeks through the Reformation and Enlightenment to the present day, Sacks argues that there is no liberty without morality, and no freedom without responsibility.


If we care about the future of western civilisation, all of us must play our part in rebuilding our common moral foundation.
Then we will discover afresh the lifetransforming and counterintuitive truths that a nation is strong when it cares for the weak, and rich when it cares for the poor.


Here is an inspiring vision of a world in which we can all find our place, and face the future without fear.
.