On "Winning"
Watching the president’s State of the Union speech from an ethical perspective must have been what it felt like for ancient prophets to watch their own beloved nations collapse for lack of any cohesive ethical principles.
“Our country is winning again,” the president said. “In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it. People are asking me, ‘Please, please, please, Mister President, we’re winning too much. We can’t take it anymore.”
But is “winning” really a noble goal in and of itself? What if winning comes at the expense of our human family? Is getting rich at other peoples’ expense really “great” in any ethical sense? Does might really make right?
The ancient biblical prophets warned that injustice is like a cancer in the lifeblood of any nation, no matter how rich or powerful it may seem. Julius Caesar seemed victorious when he replaced the safeguards of the Roman Republic with his own one person rule. In fact, Caesar was destroying the republic he claimed to love. He was also strutting inevitably toward his own Ides of March, for those who reject ethical limitations can have no true friends.
When a nation is held together by symbols like the flag, instead of principles like justice, it is a matter of time until until a demagogic leader uses the blusterous foam of patriotism to deconstruct the principles that hold the republic together.
Hating one’s enemies is never the same thing as loving one’s neighbors.
I often wonder how American sports culture has influenced our politics and religions. We don't do "ties" in any major sport that Americans watch in large numbers. We let our sports exhibit hyper capitalism and it goes all the way into our public school system. Blend that with consumerism and corporatism and we get what we have today. How this infected (or was parasitic onto) the American religious scene is another tragedy.
Solid thought for all to ponder: "Hating one’s enemies is never the same thing as loving one’s neighbors."
Thanks, Jim.