"The Spiritual Discipline of Politics" by Rev. Barbara Merritt

[Memos from Rev. Barbara Merritt and Rev. Tom Schade]

M I N I S T E R’ S   M E M O
“The Spiritual Discipline of Politics”

I have not been so passionate about a candidate or a presidential election
since 1968. Some news commentators have been saying that this is the most
dramatic contest in our lifetime. My husband and I know what the media is
saying because we are watching and listening to a great number of pundits.
We start most evenings at 5:00 p.m. for an hour on CNN with Chris Matthews.
Then at 6:00 p.m. we switch to PBS to hear what David Brooks and Mark
Shields have to say. Many of the political speeches have been riveting. Many
of the predictions and experts and polls have been wrong. This election has
high stakes. And the drama of it all is compelling.

But I have become increasingly uncomfortable with my own emotional
intensity. When it comes to my candidate, I have been feeling a bit
“evangelical.” I have become increasingly judgmental and dismissive of the
opposition. So while on a religious retreat last weekend, I asked the
speaker, “How can we be creatively involved in the political process?” His
answer surprised me. After stating how essential it is for the citizenry of
a democracy to be fully involved our electoral process, he cautioned, “Do
not use the campaign as an excuse to hate. Re-member that from your
opponents’ point-of-view and experiences, they are right and are following
what is true and important.”

Now, hate is something religious liberals don’t often admit they suffer
from. But being that we are human, we ought to be able to acknowledge that
sometimes hate is a very powerful and satisfying emotion. The
self-righteousness can feel quite delicious. The blaming, the self-pity of
the victim and the outrage can be outlets for frustration and anger. All I
have to do is convince myself that the people on the other side of the aisle
are a) evil, b) idiots or c) naïve and utterly unaware of how the world
works. That makes me, and people who agree with me, on the side of the
angels, exceptionally smart and perceptive, and the only realists capable of
bringing about a better society. As soon as the mind starts seeing our
democratic process as an occasion to condemn, to attack and to de-humanize,
take a deep breath. Pay attention. Hate has the power to harm and destroy.
When Jesus asked us to “love our enemies,” he was telling us that love is
the only reality that is ultimately trustworthy. It is essential for the
life of the spirit. It holds together our families and communities. It is
equally powerful in the political arena.

We need to cultivate the ability to identify with those who are “other,”
with those who hold different convictions, with those whose experience of
the world has taken them to a radically different conclusion about what
needs to be done, and why. How many people do you know who put forward their
agenda believing it to be mistaken, wrong or misguided? No, all of us
(especially those of us with strong political persuasions) are sincerely
convinced that our candidate stands heads and shoulders above the rest. We
tell ourselves that our party is the only one that can insure the long term
safety and stability of our country. Unitarian Universalists, who claim as
our heritage “the inherent worth and dignity of every human being,”
especially need to come to this civic discourse with respect and courtesy.
We need to nurture the capacity to not only eloquently defend our own
candidate, but also to seriously listen to those who are defending another
candidate.

What is good for one’s individual spiritual life, turns out to be essential
for the health of a diverse church, and a diverse community. When our
candidates treat one another with courtesy and clarity and respect, the
voters have a far greater chance to be able to make wise decisions on the
basis of policy, character and vision. And when voters start seeing all of
God’s children as their sisters and brothers, then the kingdom of heaven
will have arrived.





-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.firstunitarian.com/pipermail/firstumemo_firstunitarian.com/attachments/20080212/ff60222c/attachment.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 1662 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.firstunitarian.com/pipermail/firstumemo_firstunitarian.com/attachments/20080212/ff60222c/attachment.gif