MLK, Chenu & Aquinas on Non-Dualism and Body Politic

 

January 23, 2023 Daily Meditation by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox

 

 

A non-dualistic attitude toward matter and body results in a non-dualistic attitude toward the body politic.  Democracy or an effort at fairness and justice, a spirituality of “dancing Sara’s circle” vs. a spirituality of “climbing Jacob’s ladder,” results from a consciousness of incorporating matter, spirit and history in the body politic.

 

One example of that is Aquinas’ insistence that the common good is more divine (divinius est) than personal liberties.  So important was this insight to Martin Luther King Jr. that he cites Aquinas in his iconic Letter from Birmingham Jail.  Laws contrary to the common good need not be obeyed but should in fact be protested.

 

There are laws that supersede those made by men.  Laws like justice and fairness and compassion and treating one another with decency—laws that do not always make it into human-made law books, especially in the South during Jim Crow days.   Chenu emphasize how “some mystical traditions within and without Christianity consider multiplicity and diversity to be a radical weakness.”  History is considered something negative.  For Neoplatonists life on earth is an exile.  We merely ‘put in our time’ on earth much as a prisoner puts in his time.  We are ‘doing time’ one might say.  Time becomes a wound through which our life pours out.

Aquinas thinks the opposite—that history and multiplicity are “a work of wisdom.”  Diversity is a blessing and history is an invitation to co-create and it is    ...because God’s goodness cannot be represented effectively in one single creature that he created multiple and diverse things in such a way that whatever is lacking in one creature in representing the divine goodness may be made up for by another. (Aquinas)

 

Humanity is not the most excellent thing in the universe—the universe is.  “It is the entire universe which shares perfectly the goodness of God and represents it more than any one creature by itself.” (Aquinas) And “humanity is a partner of God in the continuing building up of the world....Humanity, the co-creator, is unthinkable apart from history and it is through humanity that the universe receives a historic dimension.” (Chenu)   Evolution is not a stumbling block but an invitation to construct a world of justice and peace.  “But to do this takes body (justice) and spirit (love) working in mutual harmony as body and soul do.” (Chenu)

Dr. Martin Luther King’s Vision Applied to the Wars and Militarism of 2023 By Jim Carpenter

  

On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we commemorate his vision and victory for civil rights but we often neglect his vision for economic justice and an end to war. On January 16, 2023, a broad coalition of groups in Milwaukee came together to commemorate his vision for ending war and militarism.

This is the story of that event starting with coverage by local TV.

https://www.cbs58.com/news/leaders-activists-gather-around-milwaukee-mlk-statue-to-remember-dr-king

And here is the speech I gave at the event.

Hello friends:

Thank you for tolerating the cold and rain in order to honor the great Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

My name is Jim Carpenter and I am a retired economics instructor and peace activist.  

Every time I hear the words of Dr. King I realize what a visionary and deeply spiritual person he was. I am very pleased that this coalition speaks about all of the visions of Dr. King, not only his vision for racial justice but also his vision for economic justice and an end to war.

I was asked to say a few words about the cost of military spending and war. Often people address this topic by focusing on our obscenely large military budget and then asking what would be a better use of this money. This is important because our military budget is so obscenely large and wasteful and our unmet human needs are so great.

To put this in perspective, I will quote a few sentences from the most profound Congressional Resolution on this issue that I have ever read, H. Res. 476, ‘Expressing the Sense of the House of Representatives regarding wasteful Pentagon spending and supporting cuts to the bloated defense budget”. This was introduced by Congresswoman Barbara Lee in 2021.  

I quote:  

The United States has spent and obligated an estimated $6.4 billion on military operations since September 11, 2001, and has been at war constantly since then; 

The United States could save an estimated $350 billion per year by cutting defense spending on our endless wars and by cutting unnecessary and wasteful defense spending and would still be spending more on the military than China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea combined;

Sadly, this resolution never came close to passing because the majority of both parties are pawns of the Military Industrial Complex that President Eisenhower warned of. 

To put $350 billion in perspective, I calculated that Milwaukee County's share of $350 billion based on the population of our county equals $1.1 billion. abpit 80% of the County budget.this money could go a long way towards providing affordable public housing for the unhoused, replacing our lead pipes and transitioning to a green economy.

However, we make a big mistake if we only focus on the waste in the military budget.

The real cost of war is not the military budget; it is the death and destruction that weapons are used for.  Dr. King's words spoke of this cost.

"It is no longer a choice, my friends, between violence and nonviolence.  It is either nonviolence or nonexistence."

I ask you, what price do you put on existence?  Obviously, it is priceless.  Yet, the current escalation of the Ukraine War is risking moving us onto what Dr. King called the "militaristic stairway into the hell of nuclear annihilation."  

We are being asked to make an insane bet.  We are being asked to give Ukraine enough weapons to achieve a total military victory over Russia, taking all the territory Russia has gained not only since last February but also all the territory gained since 2014, including Crimea.  We are asked to make the bet that Russia will not use all the weapons in its arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to prevent this total defeat.  We may win this bet.  But what if we don't? What if Russia does all it is capable of doing to prevent this total defeat?  Are we prepared to risk the destruction of humanity in a fight over Crimea?  That's insane.  

There is no sane military solution to this war.  I repeat, there is no sane military solution to this war.  Even if it does not go nuclear, a long, protracted war with hundreds of thousands more killed is insane.

The only sane solution is a mutual ceasefire and negotiations for a permanent peace.  

A ceasefire and negotiations do not mean appeasement.  Dr. King was very clear.  The struggle for justice can occur without the use of violence.  He won the battle for civil rights using nonviolence. Justice in Ukraine must be obtained without more war.  Dr. King said, "If we assume that mankind has a right to survive then we must find an alternative to war and destruction."

To learn more about this issue and how you can get involved go to: 

www.peaceinukraine.org, 

www.codepink.org, 

www.worldbeyondwar.org

Call your Representative and Senators at 202-224-3121.  Ask them to stop escalating the war with more weapons and instead push for a mutual ceasefire and negotiations for a permanent peace.

About the author:  Jim Carpenter is a lifelong peace activist and was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War.  He is currently Co-chair of the End Wars and Occupations (Foreign Policy) Issue Team at Progressive Democrats of America.  He is recently retired from Milwaukee Area Technical College where he taught Ecological Economics, a branch of economic that recognize the limits to economic growth on a finite planet.  He can be reached at jcmilwgr@yahoo.com.

RELIGION AND FAITH IN POLITICS

President Biden preaching at Martin Luther King’s church

in Atlanta seems hypocritical.  Reverend King was

opposed to war.  He suffered negative criticism for his

stance on the war in Vietnam.

 

Biden’s massive support for Ukraine ignores Rev. King’s

opposition to war.

 

What is the role of religion/faith in the politics of war and

liberalism?

The Working Catholic: Charity by Bill Droel

 

“To give away money is an easy matter… But to decide to whom to give and how much and when, and for what purpose and how, is neither in every [person’s] power nor an easy matter.” –Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC)

 The hard part of giving away wealth “is figuring out how to do it in a leveraged way. It is not easy. Building Amazon was not easy… And I am finding that philanthropy is very similar. It’s not easy.” –Jeff Bezos

My friend (who is not in Bezos’ wealth bracket) thinks about the effectiveness of his charity. His current policy is to daily put about $5 in his car’s cup holder. He dispenses it to the first beggar on his route; maybe splitting the donation if there are two beggars on the corner. Another friend refuses to give handouts on the street. He generously sends annual checks to agencies that assist the needy.Clarity about thoughtful giving avoids comparisons with the wealthy. This means giving up “certain myths” surrounding philanthropy, writes Anand Giridharadas in N.Y. Times (11/21/22). These myths are part of a template that distorts how we think about charity and how some non-profit organizations structure their fundraising and their service.

These celebrities are often a cause of the very problems their donations claim to ameliorate and they present a faulty model of charity which others imitate, Giridharadas charges. They made their money with “dehumanizing labor practices… tax avoidance [and] influence peddling.” In return for a donation they get “labor, tax, antitrust and regulatory policies” that benefit acquisition of more wealth. In addition they get their names on buildings, invitations to galas and favorable press coverage. Until that is, their house of cards falls down like a Sam Bankman-Fried crypto exchange.  

Keep in mind too that despite their press coverage the wealthy give the least relative to their wealth. The poor give the most. (See Luke 21:1-4)
For some celebrities the publicity around their charity is their only goal, writes Peggy Noonan in Wall St. Journal (12/4/22). They have a deep need for admiration or status; they need to be regarded as moral or altruistic. Donors of this type, despite their language, are oblivious to the outcomes of their charity.

Noonan points to the necessity of an informed conscience, without which one’s behavior, including charitable giving, is a fraud. “A conscience has to be formed and developed,” she explains. It is not given at birth. It is not one’s opinions or feelings.  

Aristotle says that a conscience is a product of virtue and that virtues are honed through reflection and noble behavior.
Reflection means attending plays, reading novels and studying biographies and then thinking about how one’s own life is like or unlike that of the characters. Is my character flaw similar to Richard Nixon’s? Why did Iago plant doubts about Desdemona? Is it really jealousy?
Noble behavior means repeatedly exercising courtesy, simple acts of beneficence and small steps for justice. In time reflection and habit inform a person’s conscience.

As for so-called effective charity, my two friends, people of virtue, need not get twisted over how to donate in a leveraged way. Avoid giving to organizations that are administrative-heavy. Avoid non-profits that use abstract words like “empower,” “entrepreneurial women,” “new paradigm” and the like. Look for non-profits that directly deal with problems and that pound away without headlines; non-profits like private high schools whose students come from struggling families, like small groups that assist young mothers, those that care for the intellectually disabled, or that welcome refugee families, or that distribute groceries to the needy every Wednesday morning, or that faithfully provide disaster relief. The range of good causes is wide. The legitimate agencies are many.

Whether Schedule A is part of one’s tax filing or not, these are appropriate days to review one’s charity. Is the total close to 20%? Is it more or less than in 2021? What is one’s goal for 2023? How much? To whom? When? In what form? To honestly deal with these questions and act on one’s answers is a process of grace.

Droel edits a newsletter on faith and work, INITIATIVES (PO Box 291102, Chicago, IL 60629).