At the present time, neither political party in the United States allows me to incarnate the values of love and justice into the political process. The Republican party appears to be indifferent to crucial social justice issues. For instance, out of the twenty-two industrialized nations, the U.S. is dead last in the amount of money from its federal budget that is allotted to help the world’s poor. To put in perspective, on a per capita basis, for every dollar the U.S. assigns to defeating global poverty, Norway assigns seventy.
If you go to an evangelical church, they will talk a lot about tithing: the idea that one-tenth of what we have should be designated to help others. Wouldn’t it be great if our country, which many Evangelicals say they want to be a Christian nation, would set aside 10 percent of its income to help the poor of the world? Until America does that, all this talk about being a Christian nation is empty. Please know that I am not suggesting that this become a Christian nation—I just want to seek greater consistency.
To President Bush’s credit, he seems to want to significantly increase money we give to Third World countries, largely under the influence of artist/activist Bono. But his own party has been trying to block his efforts. Instead, they are proposing further cutbacks on education and social welfare, and a tax bill that gives benefits to only a small percentage of our population—the very wealthy.
President Clinton responded to this in an interview with Michael Tamasky:
America has been good to me. And I think for somebody to give me a tax cut and then turn around and say, “We’ve gotta have $87 billion spent in Iraq, but we’re gonna kick 300,000 kids out of after-school programs, 84,000 kids out of student loans . . . 25,000 uniformed police off the street? We’re gonna kick a couple of thousand police off the street in New York City who put their lives on the line on September 11, and they’re gonna give me a tax cut?” That’s class warfare! And I think we ought to say that!
There seems to be a subtle implication of social Darwinism that seems to exist within the Republican philosophy, relating to the survival of the fittest. We’ve all heard statements like “the people at the bottom are there because of their inadequacies” or “if you take the resources of the rich and give to the poor, all you are doing is nurturing the unfit.” Perhaps I’m being too harsh, but we need to think about what is really being said when statements like this are made or implied. Especially as all of this comes under the name of “Compassionate Conservatism.”
The Democratic Party, on the other hand, leaves me aware of their spiritual bankruptcy too. The line “It’s the economy stupid” didn’t work in the last election and it won’t work in the upcoming one either because the American people are better than that—that’s what the Democratic party needs to understand.
The Democrats think that all they have to do is cater to our selfish interests and they will get elected. One of the items on the Democratic platform in the next election will likely be that our party will provide more giveaways to everybody, except the upper 5 percent—who wouldn’t vote for them anyway. Unfortunately, the Democrats don’t seem to see that the vision of Martin Luther King, Jr. still resonates with the American people. That’s why we are here at the conference—for a new or renewed vision of what America can be. As King said:
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy…Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. …The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.”
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied… No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.… "The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.”
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied… No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
This kind of vision revitalizes me and it certainly gets my vote! I want a political agenda that creates a sense of community in America in which people have care and compassion for one another; where the dignity of all human beings is enhanced; where the environment is treated as something of value that needs to be protected; where animals are not mistreated, and; where we have freedom…freedom from fear. My scriptures say that Perfect Love casts out fear, that there is no fear in love.
It is my intimate times with Jesus that fuel my desire to be more involved in social justice issues and those times are what now inform my political views.
I believe that if our spirituality does not transform us into people with more love and compassion for those beyond our own personal sphere, then it is narcissistic. And if it doesn’t carry us beyond our interpersonal sphere of love and compassion, then our spirituality is watered down and provincial.
True spirituality is very other focused; it reaches way beyond others we know and others we love, including all of God’s creation.
True spirituality makes us increasingly aware of the sacredness of others as created in the image of God. It transforms the ways in which we perceive the poor and oppressed, whether or not we agree on why they are poor or oppressed.
It changes the way in which we perceive those that our government says are our enemies and that’s a good change, since my Scriptures say to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
Because I’m a Christian, this sacredness that I see in others is Jesus, who said, “as much as you’ve done it to the least of these, you’ve done it to me.”
True spirituality causes us to want our nation to see itself as part of the worldwide community rather than as a self-interested entity. When Jesus calls me to see him in the least of these that means those orphaned by or dying of AIDS and it means those persecuted by religious fanatics throughout the world.
True spirituality energizes us to want to help to do the work that needs to be done to create the kind of world that acts out of love and justice for all, no matter who they are...or are not.
But without intentional spiritual renewal, those who work for justice will either burn out because the work is too hard or too slow, or turn into angry, self-righteous, militant people, because they have bought into a system of thought about justice without the spirit of justice.
It’s the absence of this kind of spirituality in politics today that has brought an end to civility in political discussion—and I’m talking about the absence of spirituality in those who claim to be religious too. I see this in my tradition and I think we can be the most dangerous people when we claim a personal relationship with God, but are anything but loving.
If we are not spiritual, those who oppose us will be viewed as people who ought to be destroyed instead of people who need to be lovingly convinced. Spirituality creates an empathy for the other, so that we can understand not only what the other person is saying, but the deep feelings that created his or her words. It keeps us from seeing the other as an evil entity. It helps us to see in the other Martin Buber’s “I-Thou.” It helps us to see the image of God in those who oppose us.
We all need this kind of spirituality for any lasting change in our political system and our world.
As it says in the Hebrew Bible (Isaiah 40:31), “…they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
That’s why so many of the idealists from the 1960’s are no longer with us. They had visions and dreams but they did not have the spiritual dynamism to stay the course.
Please note the progression here. We start off soaring like eagles; after awhile we are running instead; then there comes a time when we are just walking and we need renewal—regularly. It is my times alone with God in an examination of my daily attitudes and actions, in the holy reading and reflection on Scripture, and in my times of yielding to God in silence, allowing God’s Spirit to work deep in my spirit that revitalizes me daily.
When I don’t have these times, I can tell in my spirit, my attitude, and my ability to love.
There is a direct correlation between being involved in spiritual exercises and my ability to love more selflessly.
I don’t want to imply that no one in my tradition or yours is doing these things. They are. But we need more people to embrace the kind of spirituality that drives them to compassion; there’s so much to be done, and for many in my tradition, our work for love and justice in the world needs to be so much more than it is.
There are lots of people who have shown us the way in the past. In my Christian tradition we have many saints like St. Francis of Assisi, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Catherine of Siena, John Wesley, and Howard Thurman, to name just a few. Their spirituality fueled their social justice work. We need more people like them today, people committed to an authentic spirituality that informs, inspires, and empowers them to love and work toward justice.
Mary Albert Darling is currently co-authoring a book with Tony Campolo on the necessary connections between mystical spirituality, evangelism, and social activism. Darling completed a two-year program in spiritual direction (Ignatian spirituality) in 2002. She has an MA in Communication and teaches at the University level.