conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

is this really about politics?

Merely to resist evil with evil by hating those who hate us and seeking to destroy them, is actually no resistance at all. It is active and purposeful collaboration in evil that brings the Christian into direct and intimate contact with the same source of evil and hatred which inspires the acts of his enemy. It leads in practice to a denial of Christ and to the service of hatred rather than love.
--Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton was not a pacifist. That may surprise some. He was a little too orthodox for pacifism. Though, born on the heels of WWI and converted around the time of WWII, war was often on his mind. If I remember correctly, his brother fought in WWII. Someone correct me here if I'm mistaken. It's been a while since I read The Seven Story Mountain. Still, I find great wisdom in this quotation.

Yesterday I was listening to NPR. There was a commentator speaking about Iran. The link is for an audio recording. Some things were said that surprised me. The general gist was that though the government of Iraq is clearly anti-American, the majority of the populace is democratically inclined and ambivalent about America or even in admiration of our government (gross paraphrase). I'm surprised by this take. I don't know why. Have I become somehow, I dunno, blinded by our own propaganda?

Governments speak out against governments. I get that. The American government may wish to go to war with the Iranian government. I wonder now just how democratic either of these two governments are. Admittedly, the commentator may have been speaking anectodaly. But I dunno.

How successful can a government be in representing its people? Maybe there is only so far a government can go to uphold the varied interests of its people...protecting the minority from the majority while still managing to "protect the national interest." Perhaps that's simply a reality we are forced to live with. But when the potential failures bring us into military conflict with another nation, I become deeply sad and frustrated.

I'm going to learn what I can about what's going on in Iran...about the accusations that the west has laid upon the government of Iran and the complicity of its people if any. Thomas Jefferson said "Every generation needs a new revolution." Are the current governments of both countries the fruit of revolution or the stage for a new one? Perhaps, if the commentator on the radio is right in his assessment of Iran, there can be a bloodless coup d'etat. I don't know. But I think I may start praying for one.

Elections are upon us again in the U.S. I've been listening to the rhetoric on both sides. Primary elections always entrance me. As politicians in the same party try to delineate themselves from one another, we get to see just how many diverse opinions actually exist in this country. That Giulianni and Huckabee, for example, are in the same party is really quite remarkable. I look at the slate on both sides of the aisle and think to myself that we seem to choose between revolution and status quo every election.

I think I am looking for a little revolution this time around. I wonder if there is a candidate of any stripe that is interested in one.

Posted by tripp at November 15, 2007 05:36 AM