Monday 4 June 2018

Politics

I just found myself losing my cool on a Quaker group in Facebook! Not really very Quakerly, some might say, but then Jesus was often not quite so calm and collected as is, largely, expected within the Society! I made the point that all life is politics - and therefore religion is also politics, as both are beliefs put into action, and  that the economy is also politics,  so to say that such things as shopping, making electronic music etc are not politics is deluded. Apparently 'deluded' is an insult- I thought it was simply to misunderstand because one has been misled.

How quick we are to take offence when someone disagrees with us, despite the injunction in our Advices & Queries to seek that of God in others, and to listen for the truth someone else's views may have for us. This reflects a pattern becoming overwhelming in the wider world - believing that having THE TRUTH entitles one to violence, emotional, verbal or physical, towards those who disagree, to seek out insult and become outraged that our rules are not being followed by others.

Does no one know how to listen any more? To listen to comprehend, rather than to prepare one's, frequently combative, response? Can we no longer respect those who look at the world from a different perspective from ours? I am sad, tonight.