Minister's
Inter-faith Blog Page 12
Deep
Democracy
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"Dusk is falling on Canadian democracy. Sometimes democracy is taken by stealth, and the changes are as imperceptible as those at twilight." Last summer I read through a book called Radical Democracry by Dr. C. Douglas Lummis. It was part of a larger study I am engaged in, on the spiritual origins of democracy. I was struck by the idea in Lummis that Democracy is rooted not in free votes or the parliamentary system, but in a deep spiritual sense of being part of a “beloved” community. I was immediately reminded of the powerful, reconciling voice of the Amish community that always asks when making a decision, “What will this mean for all of God’s community?” The dominant political philosophy of most of our political leaders and the economic elite seems to suggest that democracy is a matter of counting votes on election day and declaring a victor. However, if you see democracy as a particular spiritual practice, elected governments can be profoundly undemocratic when they promote a culture of fear, mistrust and self-interest. While the inequalities in our society grow, and unsustainable rates of consumption are encouraged, we are told that more economic growth, greater rates of consumption and higher levels of wealth accumulation by a few will solve our problems. Freedom is redefined as the right to choose which products to consume, and the “freedom” to exploit both others and creation without regard for the well being of the whole community, human and nonhuman. As someone who lives in a particular religious tradition, I had naively assumed that trust in and commitment to the well being of the whole community would be one of the spiritual values shared by all political parties that truly believed in democracy. The real disagreement might be on the means to the ends, but the ends would be agreed. Sadly, it appears that some political parties hold that the accumulation of wealth by some, the mistrust and marginalization of others, and limitless growth of consumption without regard for its impact on creation and future generations are both means and ends. The economic growth we have undergone has deeply divided our communities between rich and poor, bringing us to the brink of ecological destruction and leading to self-centred complacency. The spirituality of democracy in the writings of the Prophets of Israel, the teachings of Jesus of Galilee and Paul of Tarsus, to name but three, appears to run counter to political and economic norms. Sadly, it appears we are ready as a nation to sacrifice democracy of both the deep and the shallow sort for a culture of fear, economic gain and tax breaks. This is sign of a deep spiritual malaise, while deep democracy brings spiritual and community well being. Dr. Daniel .
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| The
critique of society as a whole is very apt, but it does also underscore
the issues raised in Blogs 6 and 11- what are we doing to reduce our
current wasteful use of resources in the church buildings of Squamish,
and are we addressing this problem with a sufficient sense of
urgency? Let us also not forget that as a congregation, we are
recipients of a number of major tax breaks! Roy S.
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| I can only agree with all you are
implying! As Brandon Scott said
in one of the interviews of our "Saving Jesus" series, "We
in the Pews are the modern day representatives of the powers of Empire
that Jesus
ridiculed and sought to subvert." Daniel.
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