Society has many conflicting currents; division and acrimony seem to be everywhere. How can we make sense of the ideological swamp surrounding us? The driving force of many individuals and institutions is materialism and greed. For a large number of our sisters and brothers the primary goal is basically selfishness, seeking to enhance personal wellbeing at the expense of others. There are certainly bright places in this swamp, but they are too few. The goal of this posting is to develop a dialog involving those with whom we may not agree and who are mired in an unhealthy ideology; this dialog is aimed at increasing an overall awareness of brotherhood, sisterhood, and inclusion. Let us proceed.
Current Events
The term ideological swamp refers to the several conflicting ideologies interacting in our daily lives; among these are liberalism, conservatism, materialism, greed, white supremacy, loving service, lust for power, the true teachings of Jesus, conservative people of faith, deliberate evil, selfishness, and a desire to do the will of our Heavenly Father. There are undoubtedly many more contradicting value systems we could include.
This ideological swamp persists because most of us have no firm moral foundation upon which to build our lives and our potentially eternal future. We feel we are alone in the cosmos but this is not the case; God is within each of us. Knowing about His presence and having a strong desire to do His will we cannot fail to enter eternity and actually stand in the presence of our Heavenly Father at the center of all creation on Paradise. We cannot fail.
This ideological swamp persists because most of us are adrift in this swamp without any way to measure the value of anything. Rather than measure value based on the presence of God within each individual mortal, we measure value against our temporary perceptions, we measure it against our preconceived notions, against shifting sands. The only way to counteract this system, the only way to drain this ideological swamp is to fundamentally recognize our Heavenly Father as primal, as being the fundamental reality of all creation. God is the fundamental reality for each individual creature in all creation.
Christian Nationalism is one of the elements in this swamp; I have previously written about this portion of Christianity. Believers in Christian Nationalism are afraid of change; they want to keep anybody who is different in any way out of our country and out of our government. Like many other threads in our ideological swamp, Christian Nationalists are so fixated in their ideology they cannot accept any information that does not coincide with their belief system. Each component of our ideological swamp is convinced they have the ultimate answer to all our problems.
One of the most profound elements of our ideological swamp is the deep divide between opposing political beliefs. Each party in this political contest has their own set of core beliefs and goals; each has a unique vision for the future. The problem is not these differing political views, rather it is the acrimony of interacting discourse. Each side has an absolute viewpoint that will not allow anything else to enter in; therefore we have an ideological swamp and we are mired in a conflicting discourse.
It becomes particularly difficult when someone we love becomes trapped in one of these extreme ideologies. One person in such a situation position wrote: “With no overlap between our filters of reality, I was at a loss for any facts that would actually stick.”[1] Individuals in such ideologies view reality through a particular filter, what they see as “reality” may be radically different from our viewpoint.
If we cannot agree on what is reality, perhaps we can use probing questions to appraise ways of reaching some common ground; ways of finding a way to move toward a harmonious resolution. The objective is to find a common value system that can be agreed upon, then find ways to work toward these values. Properly formulated questions can make us think about what our goals are, what values we embrace in our efforts to work toward a better life for everyone. If the viewpoints of ideologues are not helpful to humanity, proper questions might disclose the problems and guide the discussion in a productive direction.
Golden Rule
We propose a series of questions as a way to communicate with an ideologue; this gives us a way to exchange ideas while minimizing conflicts based on varying opinions of reality. In these days of instantaneous social media misinformation, “truth” wears many different costumes. What is truth for one person might be insane to another; these firmly held beliefs cannot be easily reconciled without much rancor.
Instead of a heated debate on what the facts are, we propose probing questions. In this question based dialog we try to move away from objective discussions and toward a value based discourse. Our first question should be: Do you believe in the Golden Rule?
“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”[2] This is the Biblical statement of the Golden Rule; it is a starting place where we determine what their value system might be. If their basic value system is violence against individuals holding a different world view, there may be no way to connect with them; perhaps it would be best to wish them peace, love and joy; then leave it at that.
This Golden Rule does not condone violence, aggression, or hatred; if an individual claims extreme hate filled views they cannot also claim to believe in this rule of brotherhood and sisterhood.
This rule of decency is recognized by many religions. A chart has been developed depicting statements similar to the Golden Rule in 13 different religions from Baha’i Faith through Zoroastrianism.[3] One example is the statement from Jainism: “One should treat all creatures in the world as one would like to be treated.”[4]
“Today we are living in a global village. Accordingly, we are all global citizens in addition to belonging to particular groups, races, cultures, religions, and nations. Being a global citizen brings both privileges and responsibilities. The Golden Rule may be the best guide we have for bringing all people to live together in peace.”[5]
Believing in and practicing the Golden Rule would be a good way to increase harmony on our native sphere while lessening hatred against individuals deemed to be different.
Further Questions
Once the Golden Rule has been accepted and affirmed, other questions might be useful, such as:
Do you know each of us has the spirit of God within?[6] Our Heavenly Father is literally within each mortal, because of this we all have value and we each have a chance of attaining a close relationship with Him.
Do you know God respects everyone, that He is no respecter of persons?[7] We all stand equal before our Heavenly Father; no exceptions. When any person has been discriminated against or disenfranchised, a child of God has been mistreated; a member of the Heavenly Family has been excluded.
How did Jesus treat outsiders? He had a long conversation with a Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob.[8] In those days Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.[9] This would be the same as having a long conversation with a member of any minority group today. Jesus was all about inclusion.
A careful consideration of these questions brings out an increased awareness of the value of each mortal. The teachings of Jesus are an excellent model to follow in our lives, they do not allow ill feelings toward anyone, the teachings of Jesus proclaim love, brotherhood, and joy; they do not embrace fear.
Who would Jesus hate?
A large segment of our society does not attend church but many still ascribe to these values. If our lives have no values, no moral foundation, there is no meaning to our existence. Our lives gain value when we recognize a worthy goal, such as affirming our Heavenly Father, seeking to become more like Him, and trying to do His will at all times.
Current religion is sometimes nothing more than a meeting on Sunday morning having little relationship with daily events. Religion has become compartmentalized, isolated from daily activities and awareness; it should be the key motivator of our existence. Our faith must be our primary driving force, our reason for being, and the foundation of each decision we make in our daily lives.
Our Goal
The goal of these questions is to emphasize spiritual values so much so that falsehoods are crowded out; with some ideologues this might be difficult. As we permit spiritual values to grow within us, there is less awareness of unspiritual components. As we increasingly permit spiritual teachings to fill our awareness we let unspiritual emotions slip away.
Above all, it will help us in our interactions with difficult people to consider how Jesus would handle the situation.
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Albert Samaha, “My Mom Believes In QAnon. I’ve Been Trying To Get Her Out.” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/albertsamaha/qanon-parents-millennial-children Retrieved 3/14/21 ↑
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Bible: Matthew 7:12 ↑
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“The Golden Rule,” © 2000, by Paul McKenna, available from Canadian Multifaith Federation, 3570 Victoria Park Ave., Suite 207, North York, On, M2H 3S2, Canada, www.cmfsrc.ca ↑
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Ibid ↑
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Ibid ↑
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Bible, I Corinthians 3:16 ↑
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Bible: Acts 10:34 ↑
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Bible, John Chapter 4 ↑
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Bible, John 4:9 ↑