Most readers find the anecdote amusing. Rest assured that we
all have unexamined beliefs that are irrational. We are simply blind to them
and continue to act as if they were useful. I raise my eyebrows when I hear a friend say I've never voted for a (Republican) (Democrat).
Part of growing old and wise is learning to manage trust, keeping it authentic, and keeping our beliefs useful and congruent with observed reality. We don't just do the same thing over and over.
Authentic Trust and Civil Discourse
On June 6th Donn Martin published an article decrying the hostile treatment of the Bergdahl family, and also the townspeople that had planned a celebration of their son's repatriation from captivity in Afghanistan. It was in the form of a vitriolic rant. He skillfully used colorful phrasing and characterizations like this sample:
The nadir of our post September 11, 2001 descent into the abyss of fear, loathing and moral bankruptcy is that the berserkers - as instigated by the neocons and their fully weaponized media machine have intimidated Sgt. Bergdahl's home Idaho hometown of Hailey to cancel the celebration of his release after threats of violence became too much of a danger to the citizenry "Now of course it is the usual anti-Muslim, anti-American hatemongers like the insipid shreiker Pamela Geller as well as the bottom-feeding scum at Front Page Magazine, the Stormfront for neocons that along with FOX News are leading the pack in working to incite pogroms in the US. Some Republicans who actually hailed the freeing of Sergeant Bergdahl until the Khmer Rouge enforcers of the Red Elephant Team forced them to purge any such sentiment or face exile or worse. Pol Pot Palin - who thrives on being the high priestess of cultural populist American dumb-assery has predictably crawled out from under her rock to feed the hate machine and the Canadian born Senator Ted Cruz is pounding the pulpit over new legislation barring any further transfers from the torture gulag at Guantanamo Bay.
You can read the entire essay here (click). I responded with the following comment:
Donn makes a passionate case for why the situation is hopeless. And some of the crowd is cheering his effective use of pejorative language to express his anger.
Take a step back and look at this. Anger is the end point of a process that starts with frustration. Frustration leads to cynicism and resentment which lead to anger and hatred - all rather bitter fruit. The angry verbal abuse only alienates further. The defenses harden, and communication ceases. Darkness of emotion obscures the light.
There is a path to inner peace and hope, even in the face of these very same circumstances Donn rants against. The fruits of authentic hope are love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, kindness, and self-control. A much more satisfying yield, if possible, wouldn't you agree?
In the Quaker tradition one is called to see 'that of God' in every person and to 'mind the light' which can mean many things but alludes to banishing the darkness with your personal candle. One doesn't need to believe in God to practice seeing the spark of human goodness in others. It is the essence of empathy to do so. By holding the most loathsome and despicable among us in empathy we embrace them in the ideal we aspire to ourselves and allow that faint spark in them to grow to a flame. We open the path out of darkness for them. If we are good enough, our personal light serves as a beacon.
Empathy may well be the key to a 21st Century Enlightenment.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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