In a conversation this morning with a couple people who are clearly in an uproar over the change the new administration is attempting to push through in this country and the world, it got me to thinking about the depth of the mess we find ourselves in. And I'm not talking about the Obama administration. And in saying that, that is not an endorsement of the Obama administration and what they are doing.
I don't know if I have announced this on this blog before now or not, but I haven't voted in the past 2 national election. I just can't do it in good conscience anymore. Politics are about power and domination and competing ideologies...a new improved or a new ideology all together is not what the human race is in need of. Humans need new hearts and minds and ideologies can't bring that needed change about. They only deepen the already existing problem.
The conversation this morning highlighted something that seems to be a fundamental problem we all face today. COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN.
Why in the hell do any of us believe what we are being told on TV? And how did we ever come to accept that any beneficial communication could ever happen outside of a dialog that we can participate in? TV is not a dialog. Most face to face conversations are not a dialog either these days in our polarized culture of self absorbed people.
I don't know if I have announced this on this blog before now or not, but I haven't voted in the past 2 national election. I just can't do it in good conscience anymore. Politics are about power and domination and competing ideologies...a new improved or a new ideology all together is not what the human race is in need of. Humans need new hearts and minds and ideologies can't bring that needed change about. They only deepen the already existing problem.
The conversation this morning highlighted something that seems to be a fundamental problem we all face today. COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN.
Why in the hell do any of us believe what we are being told on TV? And how did we ever come to accept that any beneficial communication could ever happen outside of a dialog that we can participate in? TV is not a dialog. Most face to face conversations are not a dialog either these days in our polarized culture of self absorbed people.
I have lived with my wife for 22 years and we talk face to face many times in a day...and we still misunderstand each other when it comes to what the other is attempting to communicate on a regular basis. But the cool thing about communication within the context of a respectful/loving relationship is that we keep going back and forth with one another because we have learned/are learning how important understanding each other really is in order for us to "live well" with each other. I don't know if anyone is paying attention, but politics haven't ever helped any of us live well with each other.
So, as for myself, I see not only no political solution...I see politics as a system that keeps us distracted from the kind of life that can bring real change because it is a life that can actually change hearts and minds.
If I had any examples in scripture of Jesus being caught up in the pursuit of change through politics I might be able to find justification and inspiration enough to continue such a pursuit in my life. But I don't have any such example. And even if that example existed I would still find myself conflicted and frustrated and at a loss as to how to go about it, having to count on all the information that is being feed to me through a medium that has no ability to ever put the information they are feeding me into context. Not to mention the messengers more than likely themselves are blind guides and just common purveyors of ridiculous mistaken notions.
4 comments:
Well, anything for a quiet life, huh? Even giving our own fundamental responsibilities to think and reason over to "professionals".
Oh, we do so loveth our experts, don't we.
Stop the world, I want to get off (again).
Stimulating thoughts, Kent! Thanks!
I'm just reading a biography of John Adams, our second president, and realizing that the realities of the political quagmire that we see today have always existed. Posturing, character assassination, populist rhetoric, disdain for alternate views and those who express them... nothing has really changed; it's just that now we experience it instantaneously, and thus assume that because we see actual video and hear the actual voices, that it is all accurately reflecting the events and ideas of the political scene. Nothing could be further from the truth! We are just as susceptible to the twisted and spun rhetoric as the politicians and media jockey with one another today, as was the case in the decades around the birth of the U.S.
Although I've continued voting, at times it feels like an exercise in futility... but it remains one means I have of expressing my opinion. And I do believe "that if anything matters, everything matters", so I'm going to continue to cast my ballot. But I'm not putting my faith in political processes nor in politicians nor in journalists and commentators. I just not going to get caught up in any "causes" or "movements". Rather I am going to make a difference, casting one starfish at a time back into the sea, by loving others as Jesus has loved me, one by one.
Bones, as for participating through voting you certainly have the freedom to do so. I take it an election at a time according to what my conscience leads me to do. I'm no longer governed by the controlling lie "to be a good citizen you must vote"
I would rather live by..."to be in the world as I am to be in the world I am learning to love"...if that leads me to vote I will if it doesn't I won't and either way I will live in peace. And either way, I am engaged and I am participating in the process.
I'm right with you there, Kent. I'm also done with controlling lies. Father is guiding me, and I want to follow His voice. He'll show us each how He wants us engaged, and what processes He would like us to participate in.
You've really helped me to step back and re-think various things as I've pondered your posts over the last year or two. Keep it up! "...everything matters..."
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