Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Oath of Disloyalty

By Irwin Keller
I am a disloyal Jew. 
I am not loyal to a political party. 
Nor will I be loyal to dictators and mad kings. 
I am not loyal to walls or cages. 
I am not loyal to taunts or tweets. 
I am not loyal to hatred, to Jew-baiting, to the gloating connivings of white supremacy. 
I am a disloyal Jew. 
I am not loyal to any foreign power.
Nor to abuse of power at home.
I am not loyal to a legacy of conquest, erasure and exploitation.
I am not loyal to stories that tell me who I should hate. 
I am a loyal Jew. 
I am loyal to the inconveniences of kindness. 
I am loyal to the dream of justice.
I am loyal to this suffering Earth 
And to all life.
I am not loyal to any founding fathers. 
But I am loyal to the children who will come 
And to the quality of world we leave them. 
I am not loyal to what America has become. 
But I am loyal to what America could be. 
I am loyal to Emma Lazarus. To huddled masses.
To freedom and welcome, 
Holiness, hope and love.

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