Changing Paths challenge day 7: Change

Most people do not cope well with change, especially if it involves loss or destruction of their former way of life. It is hard for people with privilege to imagine losing more than one person in your family or friends group at a time: imagine losing all of them at once, and your home as well, your entire way of life, and the destruction of your environment. That’s what is happening in G a z a, but also to Sudan and the Congo, the eastern part of Ukraine, uncontacted tribes in the Amazon, Indigenous African communities displaced by greenwashing conservation (see @survivalinternational), and more.

So we can have the courage to leave oppressive situations and to speak up on behalf of the oppressed. If you’re worried about being accused of antisemitism, share posts from the many Jewish organizations who are campaigning against the g e n o c i d e.

Change is hard, but we must break up with capitalism and colonialism. They’re the biggest source of oppression everywhere.

Creating temporary autonomous zones away from the pressure to conform and consume is a helpful strategy and a way of showing what life could be like without capitalism, colonialism, and w h i t e supremacy. Hence the student encampments, but this is also true of other times when we step outside the norms for a breather, like Pride events (despite capitalism trying to co-opt them).

If you are leaving a religion, creating temporary autonomous zones or times for yourself, where you can recover your sense of self, would also be helpful.

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My award-winning book, Changing Paths, is about changing your spiritual direction in response to oppressive practices in your current religion. How do you figure out if it’s a permanent break with your current religion or just a blip? The book helps you navigate leaving one religion and joining another (or not). Available from all online bookstores.