Sunday, October 27, 2024

Stephen Hatch: A CHRISTIAN CONTEMPLATIVE PERSPECTIVE ON THE COMING ELECTION

Thank you to Stephen Hatch for this. His reflections here are greatly needed. This is indeed the most consequential election of my lifetime and, given the climate crisis in particular, likely of all times.

The extreme dangers of the one candidate are glaringly obvious. I am deeply horrified by the incredibly dangerous rise of fascism in our country and beyond.

I also acknowledge the deep concerns that millions have about the other candidate. There are many who won’t vote for her because of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and her stated support of Israel.

While I am horrified with the one obviously authoritarian and fascist candidate, I also cringe when I listen to the other speak of her support of Israel, of American exceptionalism, of being a capitalist, of supporting the military industrial complex, and how she has walked back her previous stands on fracking and healthcare for all.

I also witness how she must appear to be “strong” — and especially because she is a woman. And, given the power of the donor class, she must appear as a neoliberal capitalist to the moneyed backers who she is dependent upon to have any real chance in this election.

Tragically, I believe that Kamala Harris must say these things in order to get elected. And that, to me, highlights the hold over the wealthy and over millions of Americans of what bell hooks has referred to the imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy.

In the larger picture, we must recognize, address, heal, and transform this poisonous system that has permeated our individual and collective hearts and minds and bodies and souls. It is the only way forward that I see of healing humanity and our Earth Mother and coming to recognize the Sacred within all of life. 

That said, there is no doubt whatsoever that the candidate that Kamala Harris is running against must be defeated. He absolutely must be defeated. And then we must collectively act to push, and push hard, a President Harris and all those in positions of power to make long needed vital changes with regard to Israel and Gaza, to the climate crisis, to our predatory economic system, and to other issues such that together we are creating a new nation and a new world ― one which is grounded in the highest good for all.

Bless us all, no exceptions. ― Molly


A CHRISTIAN CONTEMPLATIVE PERSPECTIVE ON THE COMING ELECTION
In the spirit of unity, I've avoided posting anything about the current election. However, because this is the most important presidential election of our lifetime, with the potential to lose our democracy to an authoritarian demagogue, I believe I should do this one post.
We have a choice between an imperfect yet sincere candidate who attempts to continue the principles of our democracy, and one who wants the entire nation to bend to his own ego and party.
George Fox, founder of the Quakers, counseled his disciples to travel the land, "seeking to answer to that of God in everyone." With this statement, he articulated the Christian Contemplative perspective, and that of many other mystical traditions as well.
For me, the foundational questions are these:
Which candidate seeks to respect and value the sacredness of others, including immigrants and people of all races, genders and socio-economic classes? And especially the oppressed, including pregnant women who currently have to travel to another state when their lives are endangered?
Which candidate tries to refrain from using derogatory language in describing other people or groups of people, even when some of them unfortunately cannot be allowed to emigrate into this country, or when their true gender turns out to be different than what we would expect?
Which candidate manufactures a continual string of lies, as though out of nowhere? After all, from a mystical perspective, each of us is “God speaking to God.” Why would God want to lie to godself?
Which candidate believes in the search for truth rather than identifying it with his own over-inflated ego? Which is passionately curious about and seeks to learn from OTHER perspectives on the truth rather than just his own?
Which candidate values the sacredness of the Earth, including being concerned about accelerating climate change and the need to protect endangered species and landscapes?
Which candidate attempts to uphold our democracy, in which we listen respectfully to those with positions different from ours (who, like us, also have "that of God" dwelling within them), and who realizes that compromise is therefore an integral part of democracy?
Which candidate wants to be sure everyone has a chance to vote, even those who will vote for the other candidate? In other words, which candidate attempts to listen to the concerns of those of the "other party" rather than simply denigrate them as "un-American"?
As a contemplative, I try to practice "answering to that of God in everyone." And that includes political candidates. However, when a political candidate makes a habit of denigrating and oppressing and lying to whole groups of people in whom God dwells, and also seeks to dismantle our ever-evolving democracy in the service of his own ego, I believe it is most important to resist that candidate. Even though God is in some sense hidden - undetectable, perhaps - within that candidate as well.
Hence, this post.

― Stephen Hatch


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