The Problem with Politics

Religion and politics are two of the biggest things that divide our world today.

Unfortunately Dana and I also happen to think that both religion/spirituality and politics are pretty important. And because of this, we've very often ignored the perfectly good advice that these subjects should never be brought up so as not to offend anyone. To make matters even worse, not only have we gone around talking about politics and religion to people in real life but also here on this blog (as I'm sure anyone who's bothered to check out our favorite links or past posts have noticed). The problem with the blog is that because we're not talking to you in real life, then we can't see if you might have a problem with anything we have to say, or if we might need to clarify what we mean, or whatever (like we said in our post on Facial Expressions).

Of course, everyone who reads this blog will have some sort of position on religion and politics. And this is not bad. Both religion as man's reach for God, and politics which is necessary for an orderly and just society, are very good things. Yet there are so many problems too, and I was just struck by this problem - the fact that the lines between people especially on issues of politics and religion cause division and then that division can turn into fear and mistrust and misunderstanding.

The reason this is on my mind is because I can see how it works in me. Of course, as I said before, Dana and I have a bit of a passion for political issues. We see that these issues really make a difference on how we all live our lives and the way our societies function. We've seen the impact that corruption can have on a society and so we want to have a voice in these areas too. But of course not everyone agrees with our ideas. And here's where the problem is. We may believe passionately in something and then when someone disagrees there can be a tendency to make the issues so important that they overshadow the relationship. I've seen this in myself. And I've had to fight this, because I firmly believe that the person and the relationship is far more important than opinions or the things we believe. I've seen how making our opposing opinions too important can overshadow a relationship. I do not want this to happen, and that's why I'm writing this. I want to apologise for all the times that I've failed in this way, and express what I see as the answer - the answer I'm working towards.


So here's the problem - we all think that our ideas are the right ideas (or else we wouldn't believe them ourselves), and we're usually pretty convinced that if someone else disagrees with our ideas, well, then they must be wrong! Of course this attitude can be dangerous, because we all know that everyone (even me) has been wrong at some point.
We're all just limited human beings who can and do get things wrong.
At the same time this doesn't mean that we're necessarily wrong - just that we should consider the idea. But I want to be clear that we can have strong convictions about what we believe and still remain humble and open to other people - knowing that we don't and can't have all the answers. You can know what you believe and why, and still be open to hearing from and learning from people who have different beliefs because there very well may be aspects that you or I have no idea about at all, or perhaps we may not have really understood the other. That's really the point I want to make. The problem isn't with knowing what we believe and why, but learning to also try to understand people who we disagree with.

So the problem that I want to focus on comes in when we group ourselves into camps of 'Us' vs. 'Them'. We naturally tend to hang around people who agree with us, and the talk can easily turn to how right 'we' are and where exactly 'they' are wrong. And because we've stopped communicating with 'them', all kinds of misunderstandings arise. From that inability to understand 'them' and how 'they' could possibly believe what they do or do the things they do, we stop being able to identify with 'them' as fellow human beings and we begin to see 'them' as our enemies.
It can so easily turn into a huge downward spiral.


So now, here is a solution that I'm trying to work towards in my own life.

Humility, Empathy, and Respect are the keys.
First of all, we start by recognizing that we don't have all the answers - we begin with humility seeing that we are limited, and that although we have reasons behind our beliefs and actions, we don't have all the answers. Then I think it's important to try to put ourselves into the shoes of the people we disagree with. When we try to understand them and really try to empathize with them, when we assume that they're like us and that they must have reasons for why they believe and act the way they do, then we can begin to respectfully communicate and truly understand them.

The amazing thing that we've been learning by trying to put this into practice and communicate with people who we disagree with, in a spirit of humility, empathy, and respect, is that it has broken down the barriers which separate 'us' from 'them'. People who on the surface seemed so incomprehensibly different or who were hardened against us at the beginning, have - when we tried to communicate respectfully, showing that we honestly wanted to learn from them - they have opened up to what we've had to say. In the process not only have we learned so much about them but also about ourselves.
Of course, this doesn't mean that we agree with everyone or that they will eventually agree with us. But understanding has been reached and we've found that by working together with people, so much more is possible.

Of course it's not easy. It can be quite hard to try to understand people who are so different from us - especially when the things we disagree about are important to us. But it's worth it.

It may be that no matter how respectful and open you are, there might still be people who will never be willing to respond, to make peace and try to bridge the divide. This can be difficult. Divisions may be terribly hard to overcome, but that problem certainly can't be solved by never trying to build the bridges in the first place. Trying to understand our 'enemies' may be difficult but the other option is to continue to live with the divisions and hatred which causes so much conflict.

In the end, in religion as well as politics, we have a choice to try to work together or work against each other. We've all seen what working against each other has done for our world. It's brought division, hatred, pride, and oppression and so on.
The choice to try to understand others and put ourselves into their shoes can be difficult - especially when they are our enemies. It goes against our every natural urge. But of course, we know that many times the hard thing is also the right thing.

Think about it. Who are some of the people we don't understand and whom we are divided against? Who are our enemies? Terrorists, Republicans, Democrats, pro-life, pro-choice, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, 'hawks', 'doves', Atheists, fundamentalists, liberals, conservatives, soldiers, anti-war activists, patriots and nationalists, universalists, realists, idealists…?

Whatever the divisions are, aren't we all first human beings loved by God and worthy of respect regardless of our associations?

Today's Quotes: The meaning of goodness expressed in life

[W]hen it comes to goodness, nothing can take the place of practice. Goodness is like playing a violin. All the musical theory, inspiration and sensitivity to local musical tastes in the world cannot make you into a musician. You have to practice.

...George MacDonald and C.S. Lewis reveal again and again in their fiction how people are formed by thousands of small, 'insignificant' acts. ...We are all moving - one day at a time - toward light or darkness, toward good or evil."


"Learning goodness from praxis means taking small, concrete steps to act out our stated beliefs. By action we gradually transfer what we believe is desirable into what we actually desire...

...A common error in Western-influenced thinking is to separate theory from practice and preparation from life. Not only what is learned but also how it is learned forms a person... All of our life is preparation for something else. And all of our life is also the thing for which we prepare. Living the goal cannot begin after preparation. Nor can it wait for adequate understanding. ... Now we must live the goal to the utmost extent that we know it. In such praxis the meaning of our faith is revealed to ourselves and those around us."

-from 'Strange Virtues' by Bernard Adeney

‘My Life is My Message’

‘My Life is My Message’

Gandhi spoke this of himself, and ever since I read it, it has always been something which struck me as being exceptionally wise. So I just wanted to share a few thoughts I’ve had about this idea.

Recently, Madonna was quoted in an article where she said that she wanted to be like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr (but not be murdered). She went further to say that we should all be like Jesus in our time.

I know that Madonna has become very religious of late, and I agree with her that we should all be like Jesus in our time, but the problem is that to be like Jesus isn’t just about words, it’s about how we live, in the real world. And for me, just like for Madonna – the biggest question is: What's my life's message?

For a long time now, these people have been heroes to me, who changed their societies with their voices and with their lives. But again – I have always hesitated to apply Gandhi’s statement to myself, that ‘My life is my message’ because I was afraid of what that would tell people. But here is something I realized recently: Whether I like it or not, my life really is my message. It’s true for everyone.

This is a hard truth to accept, if I believe that selfishness is not a good thing but makes the world a worse place; if I accept that to live like Jesus (the way that Mother Teresa, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. all tried to) makes a person truly great; if I accept that lives like that which have shown love, truth and justice at great personal expense, have made the world a much better place; if I believe all this, and then I turn around and take a good look at my life, I realize that:

“I don’t believe very many noble things. My Life testifies that the first thing I believe is that I am the most important person in the world. My life testifies to this because I care more about my food and shelter and happiness than about anybody else.” (Donald Miller – Blue Like Jazz)

Of course I’m guilty of this. And normally, I don’t think anything of it. There is a disconnection between what I say (and even think) I believe and what I actually believe.

When self-centredness rules, the world becomes a lonely place. Cut away from true friendship and the beauty of a selfless love. This is the stuff of broken relationships for the sake of material possession, or the self-gratification of a secret affair and the pain which it causes when the former beloved finds that they were no more than a tool for pleasure. We are all like this in one way or another. This is the stuff which Allan Bloom spoke of when he said:

“The most visible sign of our increasing separateness and in its turn, the cause of ever greater separateness is divorce… There is a quest, but ever more hopeless, for arrangements and ways of putting the broken pieces back together. The task is equivalent to squaring the circle, because everyone loves himself most but wants others to love him more than they love themselves.” (The Closing of the American Mind)

But this isn’t the last word on things. Yes, the problem is that we all love ourselves more than anyone else. But there is true love too.

There is the love between really great friends, between a husband and wife who really love each other more than they love themselves. We all recognize the nobility of a friend, a husband, a father or mother, who sacrifice themselves to save their friend, their wife, or their son or daughter. This is the kind of love we all want and need.

I think we can't really even imagine how good the world would be if it was only filled with such people who love purely and truly. But we can get at least a glimpse of heaven in the love of a good father, a friendship which crosses all barriers and is true, the love of newlyweds, or in a mother for her new-born baby. We can get a glimpse of heaven, if only in part.

As Donald Miller wrote

“I am learning to believe better things. I am learning to believe that other people exist, that fashion is not truth... I am learning not to be passionate about empty things, but to cultivate passion for justice, grace, truth, and communicate the idea that Jesus likes people and even loves them.”

I’m also learning that I can change – but this has only come when I’ve realized that what I believe in my head and what say I believe - that other people matter - isn’t enough. I have to live it. It’s come when I begin to realize how self-centred I really am. As Gandhi said, “It is our actions which count”. The struggle is to figure out in each new situation how I will respond and how I will change to become a better person.

How will I react to the realities of suffering and injustice around me? How will I respond to beggars, to street kids, to the person who stole my new shoes, or the person who offends me? How will I act when there is a choice between acting for my own comfort or going out of my way to help someone else. That’s the question.

What will our lives say about us? What message are we sending?

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
Leo Tolstoy

“I am the problem”
-An idea that Donald Miller talks about in his excellent book ‘Blue Like Jazz’

“Fathers and teachers, what is Hell? I think it is the suffering of one who can no longer love.”
-from ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ by Dostoevsky