No Other Gods

F rom its inception in 1986, Tikkun has worked to articulate a “big idea”—a vision grounded in religious traditions and spiritual sensibilities; one that evokes a transformed world based in joy, generosity, and compassion; one that gives meaning to our lives and a common purpose to our work. Such a vision has been the missing ingredient in the movements of the political Left, which have largely seen themselves as secular in their foundation and tactical in their approach. A broader, longterm vision with the power to galvanize diverse movements must be both universal and particular. It must embrace a sweeping hope for a world based in love and, at the same time, it must say something specific about what such a world will look like and what it will take to get there. In my book, No Other Gods: The Politics of the Ten Commandments, I offer the ancient text—and context—of the Ten Commandments as a powerful example of such a universalparticular vision. Rooted in a description of God (YHVH, or Being itself) as the force that liberates the oppressed and the poor, the commandments form the armature of a new society. In the biblical story, the commandments are conceived/received by a people newly freed from slavery as a set of specific practices to ensure that they will not recreate the world of their oppressors. Never again will they be enslaved and neither will they enslave others. Instead, they will strive, through these practices, to build a world of love and mutual accountability. We can read the Ten Commandments as a practical vision for our world today. They are written in the second-person singular, addressed to each individual and to the community as a whole. To keep the commandments means not only to follow them as a matter of personal ethics but also to build a society that keeps them collectively and structurally. It means to create a culture that does not kill or steal, that builds in weekly time for contemplation and awe, and that honors our Source in all its forms, human and ecological. The excerpt below is taken from the chapter on the Third Commandment— the prohibition on misusing the name of God/YHVH. Through the wisdom of this commandment, we are taught how much is at stake politically and spiritually in how we speak about God and how we represent “reality.” To find out more and order No Other Gods, visit www.analevylyons.com. The Countercultural Vision of the Third Commandment