An Election Like No Other
by Rabbi Nancy Kasten“How is this night different from all other nights?” This is the first of the four questions
They are calling it a blue wave, some say blue tsunami because it was a wipeout. I am hearing the prophet Amos calling out from the Eighth Century BCE: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream” (5:24).
The point of the swamping of Republicans by Democrats is not that Democrats swamped Republicans. It is that people have begun to reimagine faith in public life.
For the past decade, religion in the political sphere has been divisive rather than unifying. It has privileged a version of conservative Christianity that neglected the weightier matters of the law, as Jesus put it – justice, mercy and faithfulness (Matthew 23:23). It claimed a righteousness before God that justified a cruelty toward the poor, the weak, and the vulnerable. It celebrated toxic masculinity, violence toward immigrants, hatred of Muslims, discrimination against minorities, denial of the agency of women over their own bodies, scapegoating of transgender persons, privileging of the rich, covering up for sexual predators, harming the planet, and using the instruments of legal and government power to diminish human rights and dignity. The question in the hearts of everyone grieved by these actions was whether this movement would ultimately prevail. And now – at least for now – it seems the answer is no.
Pundits point to the prices of gas and groceries as the kind of kitchen table issues that turn elections like these. But those are only symptoms of a deeper spiritual sickness that beset our souls. Using religion as a cudgel against anyone who failed the test of political loyalty recalls Amos again. In his time, as in ours, the people had lost the link between worship and ethics. Just before the blue-wave verse about justice rolling down like waters, he says that the Lord hates, even despises their religious festivals and solemn assemblies, their burnt offerings and noisy songs. Instead, true faith seeks good and hates evil. True faith creates a society in which security is found in mutual flourishing and unbiased judgment, where no one needs to fear their neighbor because their neighbor wishes them well and not ill.
The philosopher Karl Jaspers called the period of 800-200 BCE “The Axial Age.” Not only in Israel, but also in China, India, Persia, and Greece a new consciousness dawned among humans. Justice was no longer just what the leader of the tribe or clan or nation said it was. Justice now included holding leaders accountable to the same standards as everyone else. The rights of the individual within the community had to be protected. And this gave civilizations new values to live up to. We have continued to fight for these rights up to our present time.
But the Catholic nun and evolutionary theologian Ilia Delio of Villanova University believes we are entering a Second Axial Age. This emerging era is driven by rapid developments in technology that have both increased global complexity and connectedness and are calling for a whole new way of thinking about how we organize our lives and politics. While retaining the insights of the First Axial Age, we now must think more holistically. We have to consider every decision we make in light of our common humanity and the good of the planet. [1]
The good news is that we have the resources in our faith traditions to guide the way. We can live into a vision that transcends the binaries of winners and losers – the zero-sum game of who benefits and who doesn’t. This is what we strive to practice in our congregations. This is where our religious rituals point. And this is where our prophetic witness must lead. We now have to call on our elected leaders to act in the interest of the whole. America First is destructive to global welfare. Trickle-down economics fails every test of shared prosperity. Loving those closest to us as our chief concern ensures that we will always leave strangers outside of our circle of care.
If we want to sustain the enthusiasm of this election, we have to press for structural change. We can’t keep falling back into the cycles of blue waves and crimson tides that promise a revolution but only put people with the same limited imagination back on top, regardless of party.
We might heed the wry wisdom of Robert Frost in his poem A Semi-revolution:
I advocate a semi-revolution.
The trouble with a total revolution
(ask any reputable Rosicrucian)
Is that it brings the same class up on top.
Executives of skillful execution
Will therefore plan to go halfway and stop.
Yes, revolutions are the only salves,
But they are the one thing that should be done in halves. [2]
Frost’s vision undermines revolutions of power that always end in dysfunctional hierarchies and yawning inequalities. A revolution of revolutionary love can instead lead to inclusive communities and a healthier planet. And that would make all the difference.
~ George Mason
More from Ilia Delio, this podcast with transcript on “Why AI Needs Religion?”
A piece from Reform Judaism that cites the text from Amos in the translation from the Tanakh that reads “Let justice well up like waters …” Welling up and rolling down give slightly different senses to the text but the application remains the same.
Pope Francis issued an encyclical titled Laudato Si’. Francis brings together environmental care, economic justice, community life, and the common good. This provides substantial grounding for your insistence that human flourishing and planetary health belong together. See especially sections 137-62.
Lawyer and Sikh activist Valarie Kaur introduces her concept of Revolutionary Love in this introductory piece that includes a 9-minute video.
by Rabbi Nancy Kasten“How is this night different from all other nights?” This is the first of the four questions
“We all live in assisted living.” These words of wisdom were shared with me years ago by my mentor, friend