Marianne Williamson: Our Job as Mature, Conscious Citizens

As we atone for the past, we grow wiser in the future. Had we atoned for our mistake in Vietnam, and really allowed ourselves to learn its lessons, then I don't think we would have so easily been misled in Iraq. We were hoodwinked both times, and by essentially the same forces.

This is not about judging individuals; it's about holding systems accountable and taking responsibility for our country. That is our job as mature, conscious citizens, and there is no spiritual justification for reneging on that responsibility.

******

This email (below, and a few others like it) was posted in response to my comments yesterday about the Iraq War:

"Sorry Marianne, but I must share this with you. I really enjoy the work that you do spiritually, but I find your interjections of your personal views regarding political issues very offensive. Stick to what you know and do best...teaching the human spirit how to grow."

My response to the post:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. 
I'd like to respond by saying that the governance of the United States was not placed in the hands of a monarch or an aristocracy; it was placed in the hands of the people. That is the whole point of democracy.

Nothing could be more detrimental to American democracy -- in fact, nothing HAS been more detrimental to American democracy -- than the idea that the "experts," the politicians and so forth "know," but we -- the average citizens of the United States -- do NOT know and therefore we should leave important issues to be settled by others. It has been said before that war is far too serious an issue to be left in the hands of politicians, and I agree with that.

You also say that I should stick to what I know..."teaching the human spirit how to grow." Perhaps that is the most important point. From a spiritual perspective, the only way to "teach" something is to "demonstrate" it, and I am trying my best. And the last thing that the growth of the human spirit entails is conveniently turning away from injustice, pain and suffering in the name of "spirituality," as though love does not care....love does not address human suffering...love does not inject itself into the pain of the world. 

Someone else wrote yesterday that my speaking my views about the Iraq War made her lose all respect for me. My problem, however, is that I would lose all respect for myself if I did not.
 

- Marianne Williamson

********

 Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. 
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. ~ Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. -- Paulo Freire

In our time, when high technology guided by values such as conquest, exploitation, and domination threaten our very survival, we need economics driven by an ethos of caring. We need a caring revolution. ~ Riane Eisler