Brian’s Reflection: Monday, February 16, 2009

I find capitalism repugnant. It is filthy, it is gross, it is alienating...
because it causes war, hypocrisy and competition.

- Fidel Castro, who became Premier of Cuba on this day, 1959


Now. There are countless words that one could substitute for the word “capitalism” in this quote. And then, with all of them, you could substitute the word “attractive” for “repugnant”. And for all of them, you could change “filthy, gross, and alienating” to something like “fresh, enlightening, and intriguing”. Last, but not least, you could change “war, hypocrisy, and competition” to, say, “peace, honesty, and cooperation”.

Right? Give it a try!

I am going to do it by substituting “capitalism” with “religion”. Oh, I admit that there are probably a lot of religious people doing what I would consider to be promoting peace, honesty, and cooperation - though I’m not sure what a “lot” would be in proportion to the number of “religious” people in the World. One example: we have a young woman “missionary” from our diocese working with the Sudanese people simply because out of her love for God and God’s people she is helping them with agricultural projects. However, I would bet that a great many people today see or experience “religion” promoting war, hypocrisy, and competition. Islam, Judaism/Jewish nationalism, and Christianity have certainly not been in the vanguard recently (especially amongst their hierarchies and the fanatical margins, which have been permitted to hijack their identities and message) in promoting peace, honesty and cooperation – at least in the “popular” mind.

The point is, whether it’s capitalism, religion, or whatever, anything can be used to promote either things that bless or things that curse Humankind. It all depends on what motivates our positions, politically, theologically, morally, philosophically. If Christians stuck to Christ’s New Commandment, “Love one another as I have loved you”, in the spirit in which Christ meant it, it wouldn’t matter what political system we followed. Love would define it. Not power, or any other abuse.

My own gut feeling is that in the World today, for a multitude of reasons, religions and political systems have lost their hearts. Fidel said he admired Jesus. Too bad he didn’t really know Jesus. And it is my view that many World leaders who profess to know Jesus don’t know Him at all, or certainly don’t act as if they do.

Change is possible. We need to believe in it and work for it.

Brian+