The whole race of man has overgreedy ears.
Lucretius–De Natura Rerum, IV.598
Below I share some responses to current issues in the political
chaos of American society.
If what philosophers say of the
kinship of God and Man be true, what remains for men to do but as Socrates
did:—never, when asked one's country, to answer, "I am an Athenian or a Corinthian,"
but "I am a citizen of the world."
 |
Harrisonburg, VA 2020 |
“Blessed are those who mourn.” Am I willing to acknowledge and lament the ways I have participated in or benefitted from systems and structures of oppression? Does my vote help repair the damage caused by native genocide, slavery, structural racism and past international aggressions?
Capitalism [gone-a-muck]
‘To regard dollars as the be-all-and-in-all
of life.’ Ubiquitous commodification, a
fetishizing of commodities; ascribing magical powers to commodities as if
commodities can provide meaning for one’s life.
Political Economy regards the
proletarian . . . like a horse, he must receive enough to enable him to work.
It does not consider him, during the time when he is not working, as a human
being. It leaves this to criminal law, doctors, religion, statistical tables,
politics, and the beadle. - K. Marx, Wages
of Labour (1844)
Care of the Planet
and Concern for Climate Change
There is growing, clear and
substantial science that warns us that human activity has been and is a major antecedent
to climate change resulting in current and looming disasters. Reminded of Wendell Berry’s indictment of the
“the culpability of Christianity in the destruction of the natural world and
the uselessness of Christianity in any effort to correct that destruction”1 I offer a creaturely contemplation, of a descending dominion.
To “have dominion”2 (Genesis
1:26) derives from the same root as “to descend.” This meaning helps to orient
the human steward in its rightful place: a representative of God faithfully
upholding divine principles of law and justice, and promoting peace and
prosperity for the nature (ecology) put under their care.3 It may
well be that this command compares with the new testament model of
servant-leadership, which appears upside down in relation to the domineering or
“ascending” management behaviors we experience and find so often in history. We
could say that servant-leadership is to the church what proper stewardship is
to ecology, or to our “economics” as defined by Berry (connecting religion with
the way we live). Berry is right about the destruction of nature through our
lording over it. “It is flinging God’s gifts into His face, as if they were of
no worth beyond that assigned to them by our destruction of them.”4
To “descend” is to affirm our place in
Creation, rising above the Platonic dichotomy that pulls us apart and in
competition with the material gifts and blessings of God’s abundant creation
while seeing ourselves as “members of the holy community of creation.”5
On one hand, I am made in the image of God; on the other hand, like the animal,
plants, and environment, “I face something that is like myself.”6
Moreover, to “descend” is to respond
appropriately in deep-awe “rising from the immeasurable gap that separates
Creator and creature.” Thus, our sense of “creatureliness” lays any conceived
crown of dominion before the One who sits on the throne depicted in Revelation
4, as a rightful response to the “all embracing rule of God.”7
Instead of acting as independent agents on a crusade to master a turbulent
world, we find ourselves radically dependent on God, who “is one who contains
all things, works richly in them, gives them their individual places within the
whole, and thus bestows harmony on all things. The human creature likewise is
at home in the creation, not a stranger and pilgrim in an alien world.”8
Sources:
1 Wendell Berry, “Christianity and the
Survival of Creation” in Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community (New York:
Pantheon Books, 1992), 93-94.
2
The Hebrew word is a strong word, and Ellen Davis renders it “exercise skilled
mastery amongst the creatures”, because notion of skilled mastery suggests
something like a craft, an art, of being human without taking away the fact
that humans do, from the perspective of almost all the biblical writers — not
every single one but almost all—humans occupy a very special place of power and
privilege and responsibility in the world. But the condition for our exercise
of skilled mastery is set by the prior blessing of the creatures of sea and sky
that they are to be fruitful and multiply. So whatever it means for us to
exercise skilled mastery, it cannot undo that prior blessing. This is pretty convicting for us in the sixth
great age of species extinction. [Ellen Davis, author of Scripture,
Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible, in an interview with
Krista Tippett, On Being, June 2010. https://onbeing.org/programs/wendell-berry-ellen-davis-the-art-of-being-creatures/
]
3 Gordon J. Wenham, Word Biblical
Commentary: Volume I, Genesis 1-15
(Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987), 33
4 Berry, 98
5 Ibid, 106.
6 Francis Schaeffer, Pollution and the
Death of Man: The Christian View of Ecology (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1970), 51.
7 James Wm. McClendon, “Creation and
Suffering” in Systematic Theology: Doctrine, Vol II (Nashville: Abingdon Press,
1994) 148.
8 Ibid. 158; quoting Paul Santmire, The
Travail of Nature: The Ambiguous Ecological Promise of Christian Theology.
Cult
A system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward
a particular figure or object; e.g., ‘the cult of St. Olaf’
A misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person
or thing; e.g., ‘a cult of personality surrounding the leaders’
Defunding the Police:
Transforming government
This era of government needs a
reality adjustment (can't wait for Trump shadow to recede from the scene) to a
more we-the-people-friendly, engagement style, diversity in the ranks, and a
redistribution or 'defunding' that empowers more civil, less violent--aggressive
(primitive) responses/reactions to more liberal, compassionate, rational,
emotionally intellectual, trauma-informed services/supports that will transform
the face of the US to one where we are more bonded together and compassionate around
people and the land and not simply the thin, shallow idea of a nation-state [nationalism]
as some kind of absolute.
Fake News and Information: How to Spot Misinformation
(from all sources: news, politicians and social and print media)
Exercise skepticism
Take in all new
information, whether it’s news, social media or a friend, with a measure of
doubt. Expect any source to prove their work and show how they came to their
conclusion. Try to compare information from other different sources, even if you
have a favorite.
Understand the
misinformation landscape
While misinformation
as a concept isn't new, recognize that social media platforms engaging with it
are constantly changing and growing in their influence in the media world. And
they have less financial obligation to ensure truth telling, for their business
models depend on user engagement. Perhaps reducing your dependence on social
media will be good for your news judgment, and your sleep and sanity.
Pay extra attention
when reading about emotionally-charged and divisive topics
Misinformation
is most influential with controversial, contestable issues, and for many, what’s
in the immediate, ‘breaking’ news. Ask, “Is this a complicated subject,
something that's hitting an emotional trigger?” Or “Is it a breaking news story
where the facts aren't yet able to be assembled?” If the answer is yes, then
you need to be ultra-skeptical. Apply pause and listen.
Investigate what you're reading or seeing
What does that
skepticism look like in practice? It means asking some questions of what you're
reading or seeing: Is the content paid for by a company, politician or another
potentially biased source? Is there good evidence? And if there are the numbers
(stats), are they presented in context?
Arguments based on this fallacy
typically take two forms:
As a straw
man argument, it involves quoting an opponent out of context in order
to misrepresent their position (typically to make it seem more simplistic or
extreme) in order to make it easier to refute. It is common in politics.
As an appeal
to authority, it involves quoting an authority on the subject out of
context, in order to misrepresent that authority as supporting some position.
Yelling probably won't
solve misinformation
It's important
to value the truth or truth telling, but correcting people is mostly precarious.
If someone in your life is spreading objective falsehoods and you want to help,
be gentle. Don't always assume bad intentions or stupidity, just meet the other
person where they are and be curious— think about opening with common ground
and a question. Try to have the conversation in person or at least in a private
online setting, like an email.
See divisive issues as having a wide-ranging context for curiosity and exploration. Black and white are two extremes in the matrix of 256 of shades of grey.
“Lying”
d have had him flogged for practicing the art of lying and deception. - Montaigne, “The Vanity of Words”
“It seems to me that the only
faults we should vigorously attack as soon as they arise and start to develop
are lying and, just behind that, obstinacy of opinion. Those faults grow with
the child; once let the tongue set off on this wrong track and it is
astonishing how impossible it is to call it back. That is why some otherwise
decent men are abject slaves to it. Montaigne, Essays (paraphrasing 4th Century
St. Jerome)
Military: an old paradigm
Voting
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
justice.” Do I agree with God’s holistic agenda of seeing heaven’s dream
established on earth? Does my vote support justice for the alien, the poor, the
widow, and the oppressed? Does my vote support providing care to “the least of
these:” the hungry, thirsty, sick, naked and imprisoned? [Jesus, The Beatitudes]
“Prayer is not enough . . . In
this time of great fear, it is important that we think of the long-term
challenges—and possibilities—of the entire globe. Photographs of our world from
space clearly show that there are no real boundaries on our blue planet.
Therefore, all of us must take care of it and work to prevent climate change
and other destructive forces. This pandemic serves as a warning that only by coming
together with a coordinated, global response will we meet the unprecedented
magnitude of the challenges we face.” – The Dalai Lama, Time, 4/14/2020
