At this time in history, what people of faith need to do is not to go left or right, but to go, deeper. In essence life issue should not divide people of the same faith, and yet in reality it does. The presence of fear, prejudice and hate is so rooted in the making of partisan politics that it has split people of the same faith into left and right, social justice versus morality. The road to redemption, whether personal or political, is rooted in the restoration of human dignity. It demands moving to higher ground.
The time for monologues has ended and a process for self-criticism through dialogue needs to begin. For instance, Christians should be constructively criticizing themselves. The only person you can change is yourself. A person cannot experience spiritual growth when you focus on what’s wrong with others. A dialectical process of dialogue is unavoidable for a healthy personal and societal growth.
How can it be achieved when opinions are personalized, decisions are based on stereotypes and when power become righteous because of its perceived power. In essence the lack of democratic space and unwillingness to respect the other are conditions sufficient enough to stifle any well-intended initiative. For instance, any critical opinion on the conduct of an officer can be seen unbecoming. After all, in some cases officers and politicians are made bigger than life, not because of the reverence they have as individuals, but because they derived their power through a system of dependency. Thus any such criticism is perceived as an offence against those dependent upon his or her patronage.
What about the many youths, educated and yet with little or no options to seek a decent job that will provide a dignified life. With an oversized public sector, job vacancies are decreasing, and soon alternatives will have to be made, if not, forced upon. The acuteness of the crisis is not because of saturation point achieved, but largely due an overarching state-centered employment framework and a serious lack of creativity. The lack of a creative and dynamic approach to issues of employment is a social endemic with political implications and a consequence that will push more below poverty line.
Then of course there is the generational divide, the miscommunication between generations and the assumptions assumed by one generation on the other. The future is a result of the interplay between the past and the present, in other words, the synthesis derived from the thesis and anti-thesis. Unfortunately when the past because of its experiences becomes self-righteous, demeaning and patronizing in its relation to the present, the future will sadly be catastrophic. While the elders have much wisdom to pass on to the youths, they have much knowledge to learn from the youths as well. Somehow a respectful process has to be found where wisdom and knowledge intertwine to create a meaningful and dignified future.
All these symptoms are the cause effect of an insecure environment that is exclusive in mind-set, dogmatic in approach and monologist, giving no room for dialogue. This is probably one of the underlying reasons why the youth of today is tired, disturbed and disappointed with the prevailing social, economic and political norms. Is it also true to say that one hears many young people say I am spiritual, not religious? Seeds of dissent are beginning to question the ethics of institutionalized religion. The theological understanding of people being the church will have to be discovered.
Faith is personal but never private. It is shared and lived and this means the need to be a bridge and not a block. It requires you to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God. Faith needs to be the touchstone in the search to strengthen the powerless and to redefine what it means to do justice. It should not longer be comfortable to just simply say, we are all alike and we are all equal. Acknowledgement of differences is a key step in realizing that human dignity will never be realized until the differences are addressed in a just manner.
The challenge now is to actually do something, instead of continuing with the politics of complaint. It is to start addressing the issue with a politics of hope. Recognizing the interconnected web of life, there must be a commitment to extend oneself for the benefit of another. It sure means moving to higher ground. The higher ground is not just about a stronger level of commitment, but a higher degree of involvement in the issues that affect your life. A nation simply does not change by changing political leaders, but by change the wind; and the wind will change when there is realization and understanding that at the end of the day, it is about life, a dignified life. By going deeper in ones own faith and purpose of existence, one will understand that the reverence for life is the common ground, the higher ground.
Rather than cramping up, its time to make room for something better! Lets move to higher ground.
