Rabbi Jonathan Sacks presents a proposal for reframing the terms of this important debate. The first major statement by a Jewish leader on the ethics of globalization, it introduces a new paradigm into the search for co-existence. Sacks argues that we must do more than search for common human values. We must also learn to make space for difference, even and especially at the heart of the monotheistic imagination. The global future will call for something stronger than earlier doctrines of toleration or pluralism. It needs a new understanding that the unity of the Creator is expressed in the diversity of creation.;Sacks argues that this new thinking also sheds fresh light on the global challenges of an age of unprecedented change: economic inequality, environmental destruction, the connection between information technology and human dignity, and the structures of civil society.
Jonathan Sacks is the author of a number of books including The Politics of Hope and Radical Then, Radical Now.
Title: The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations
Author: Jonathan Sacks
ISBN: 9780826468505
Binding:
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publication Date: 2003-02-20
Number of Pages: 224
Weight: 0.2269 kg
Unlike most other religious leaders, Mr Sacks has a wonderfully unbigoted attitude; he thinks and writes with great eloquence supported by an amazingly broad range of sources and reading. - Journey
It is odd that a leading orthodox Rabbi should be at the forefront of a campaign to use religious difference as the catalyst for world peace ... in a brave polemic which is bolstered by feverish intelligence. -The Herald (Glasgow) -- The Herald (Glasgow)
Once in a rare while a book comes along that is so powerful and so earth-shattering that we want to get atop the highest mountain and shout out its praises...WE MUST ALL READ THIS BOOK....the most profound and deeply moving argument in favor of religious humanism I can think of. --David Shasha, Center for Sephardic Heritage
Sacks does not offer much help in determining how religious people are to grapple with such theological questions. His brilliant service is in showing us that we must. --Paul F. Knitter, International Bulletin of Missionary Research, July 2003
It is a profoud meditation on human diversity and religious differences....It is a timely book for both believers and non-believers alike that has a profound sense of history running through it. --Limited Edition, April 2003
A brave plea for universal values. -David Goldberg, The Guardian The Dignity of Difference stands far above the many other books about globalisation, both for what is has to say and for the grace with which it says it. In this most prophetic work, Rabbi Sacks has written a guide for the perplexed of our time. -Daniel Johnson, Daily Telegraph The Dignity of Difference is a profound book that forces believers to think. -Ziauddin Sardar, The Independent It is a splendid book. In the light of September 11, it is timely, sensible, well-written and thoughtful. -Dan Cohn-Sherbok, The London Times
Aims to define nothing less than a basis for religiously sensitive civilisation. -Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, The Jewish Chronicle
Americans will be taken with his incisive and clear writing style...he provides some much-needed spiritual uplift in this post-9/11 world, and his work is accessible to informed lay readers. --Library Journal
This book is far more interesting for its discussion of faith and philosophy than for its determination of concrete politics. Perhaps this is the task of rabbis, to explain and guide rather than to rule and legislate. Jonathan Sacks writes well; every sentence counts, but the space behind the grandiloquence always leaves room for interpretation. It is this ambiguity which wins him as may admirers as detractors. --The Jerusalem Post, 6/9/02.
'The Dignity of Difference has a central and compelling vision: the magnificence and inspiring human diversity of our world ... The Chief Rabbi has made a convincing case for respecting people of different faiths and creeds.' --Jewish Chronicle
'The book has a bold and important thesis said Lord Habgood, especially in how it addresses relations between different faiths' --Church Times
wonderful book...bold and controversial -Commonweal -- Commonweal, January 2007 * Commonweal *
The Dignity of Difference is an important contribution to our understanding of the impact of globalization on the world in the aftermath of September 11...the book should be required reading for those concerned with the present struggle between Islam and the West and the promises, but also the potential threat, that market globalization represent. -- Jewish Book World, Spring 2005 * Jewish Book World Quarterly Review *
Mentioned in The Observer -- Oliver Marre * Observer *
