Next Still Processing and F#ck Fascism Friday

Gathering details: “Mark Braverman on Israel, Palestine, and the United States,” Thursday, November 6, 6pm happy hour and 7pm interview, Port 393, Holland, MI

Our next gathering is in just under two weeks. Our guest will be Mark Braverman, the Jewish-American peace activist and author of Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews, and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land.

How does Braverman view the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) now, after the deaths of about 70,000 Palestinians and about 2,000 Israelis? How can these religions be good for us when they have led us to this result in Israel/Palestine, and have also led to the current madness in the United States (and around the globe)?

Trump was credited with orchestrating the ceasefire that is in place now. Why did it happen now and not months ago? Can Trump focus on this for long enough to make any difference?

How does Braverman view Israel now? What about Hamas? Is Hamas simply a terrorist group that should be marginalized?

Do International Law and Human Rights have any power anymore? Is the United Nations still a useful international alliance?

F#ck Fascism Friday

This first clip is from Tim Miller of the Bulwark, a media company of former Republicans who oppose MAGA. The CEO of Salesforce, Marc Benioff, has become a Trump supporter, so much so that he has been considering how Salesforce could help ICE with its terrorism. Here’s the gist of it from exclusive New York Times reporting.

Screenshots of internal documents and communications obtained by The New York Times show that Salesforce has pitched Immigration and Customs Enforcement on using the company’s artificial intelligence capabilities to help ICE staff up as Mr. Trump expands immigration raids and deportations around the country.

Miller demonstrates the level of contempt we should have for people like Benioff. It’s a long rant. Enjoy as much of it as you like.

The next clip I want to share for FFF is in tension with Miller’s rant. I don’t know how to resolve this tension in my own life so I’m choosing to simply acknowledge it.

I don’t want to spend the bulk of my time feeling the disgust that Miller exhibits above. But I can’t ignore my rage and disgust either. Rather, I try to balance these feelings with the wisdom offered in this next clip.

Ram Dass is featured in the next clip. He was born Richard Alpert, and was a clinical psychologist teaching at Harvard in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Alpert was a part of the early study of therapeutic uses for psychedelics (something we will be discussing at Still Processing on March 5, 2026). Alpert traveled to India in the late 1960s and became a disciple of Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba, who gave him the name Ram Dass. Ram Dass was an influential spiritual teacher until his death in 2019.