A few weeks ago, at lobby day, we had gone through all of the District 32 delegates, and I was surprised by 2 things...
First was the fact that every single delegate seemed to have made tremendous headway from the previous year in terms of where they stood on personally supporting us on our issues. Even Sophocleus, who every year previously would miraculously come up with a reason why he wasn't able to meet with us, seemed relatively supportive. It showed that we were making some sort of progress somewhere, and it made me far more hopeful for change in the future.
The second thing was the fact that every delegate also cited a lot of pressure coming from our opposition. And specifically, that all of the groups cited were religious institutions.
Having grown up Catholic, I've seen the tremendous gap between the positions that the Church as an institution and the run of the mill Catholic have been. This was made even more prominent in my religious studies education, having gone to a school where the premiere liberation theology professor was somebody who has specifically likened the structure of how oppression develops and functions in the world as something that exists between the lay and the clergy within the Church.
Finally, as somebody who came out in relative isolation, having utilized my activism as a means of feeling one with the community in a situation where I didn't have many friends or lovers to talk to or relate to, only history books and political sources, I admit that I developed a sense of (perhaps misplaced) nostalgia for the days of Act Up and Queer Nation.
It's with this background that I can't help but think that if the Catholic Conference and several specific parishes of varying denominations are the source of power for people to maintain their bastion of oppression against us, I believe that it may be time to begin the sort of take-it-to-the-streets direct action that has characterized much of the most trying times for our community that have existed.
Let's be real about a few things, here. First, the economic situation has struck our organizations hard. Budget cuts and layoffs are the reality of the day, and all of our organizations are struggling to keep their doors open at all, let alone striving to act out in ways that are going to be unpopular. In fact, in order to keep their doors open, most organizations can't help but do what there's money for, and nothing more.
In order to maintain an air of legitimacy, our organizations can't afford to be seen hitting the streets, marching and leafleting to oppose the efforts of our opponents to undermine our rights, continually dehumanize us, and make us less than what we are. We need to be able to hit the streets ourselves, independently of any organizations that we support.
Many in the community may see us getting in the faces of our opponents as inappropriate, misguided, or a failure of belief in "the process." There is room for pages and hours of dialogue arguing that point back and forth. All I can say for myself is that I'm more than used to being a scapegoat, and that my own positions have been labeled as irrelevant to the movement as it stands already. So I have nothing to lose in this. And everything to gain, because for the first time, I'll be able to act from my own training and development as an activist, utilizing the skills and action-planning abilities that I developed during my college years and after as a part of the Catholic Worker movement. I'll be acting from my own set of beliefs on where our movement needs to go, not by what a major donor or funding organization believes is the next pragmatic step.
I've determined that action is necessary, and I fully intend to move forward with some plans to implement it. My call is to everyone else who believes that our organizations are not able to take on the type of action that is necessary to be done right now. To everyone who has felt powerless in a political process that seems far too large for them to influence alone. To everyone who is angry at the fact that voters across the nation are making decisions about OUR lives and relationships. My call is to ask you to consider what you are willing to do in order to attain your goals, to seek justice, and to create the better world that is only possible when ordinary citizens stand up and say "no more."
I am in the process of formulating the first action. It will involve development of a flyer with information on the actions of several parishes and religious organizations, and I intend to rotate between those largest antagonistic entities, stand outside and pass out flyers, asking those individuals entering or exiting whether they know what their Church is doing. I intend to make these churches accountable to their membership. Amongst Catholics, there is significant talk about the Body of Christ. And the Body is not composed of clergy alone, but of every single lay person throughout the Church. And it's time that the Body woke up and started to realize what the Head is doing... not just amongst those Catholic institutions in Maryland that need to be our first targets, but for every parish. To make people who have been giving money to their churches every week for the last 20 years finally say "I had no idea that they were doing that." And make them stop supporting an institution that is tarnished by oppression and greed. Until their churches start re-prioritizing their missions and re-developing their budgets to support real human needs and interests, rather than continuing to scapegoat and attack people and communities that it deems to be less valuable.
If anyone is interested in taking part, let me know. If you have information about a specific religious institution or body in the local area that we can include in an informational flyer, please pass the information on. And, most of all, if you are willing to stand outside one day, disseminate information, and are willing to look your fellow human beings in the eye and ask "Do you know what your Church is doing?" then please, please join with me on this important struggle.
We are in another important political day. And we can't hide behind our organizations any longer. We need to act on our own. So thank you in advance for those who are willing to stand and act... I am greatly looking forward to struggling alongside you.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Intention and Justification
I was watching The Dark Knight again the other night, and I have to say that I really think that it's quite a brilliant film. I always look at the world as a place where there is tremendous moral struggle. Where there is always hope for a better world, struggling against what is easy and comfortable.
When I first saw the film, I admit identifying with the concept of Batman making himself into a scapegoat, while simultaneously being solely responsible for the welfare of the people who scapegoated him. I have to admit, though, that I have outgrown that self-deprecating vision of myself, and what I've been working on for so much of this time frame has been allowing myself to recognize my own value without having to destroy myself and raise everyone else up at the same time.
What strikes me about the moral struggles of the film, however, is the moral downward spiral that the Joker represents. Every crime that the Joker commits, is one in which he brings out the worst in humanity. The entire movie is centered around the concept of corruption and hitting on all of the key vulnerabilities of human frailty to compel them to make difficult choices.
This is exactly what the Joker stated to Batman as the "battle for Gotham's soul." Interestingly, I see this as the constant moral struggle within the world. And it inevitably highlights the primary difference for me on what makes the character of a person.
The difference, as I see it, deals with the contrast between identification and justification. As an understanding human being, I can see a lot of people do some pretty despicable things, and I can see why they do it, can understand their motivation, and recognize the justification behind it. For the vast majority of the world, the difference between creating good or doing evil all truly boils down to a point of position and context. Few people in the world actively make their own moral choices in a way that is thoughtful and intentional to the concept of what type of person they wish to be on any given day.
I believe that one of the underlying realities behind this is the concept of the godhead religious figure who dangles the realities of heaven and hell before us. The reward-punishment moral framework that simplifies everything down to a "yes-or-no" question does not allow for the complexity of real-world functions to permeate into people's actual decision-making processes. In the end, if you can justify your actions through the moral framework, then that should be enough. It doesn't matter whether you did the *best* thing, just so long as what you did was acceptable. This is the justification framework. Everything you do, has to be justified. But, so long as you have justification for what you do, then there is no compulsion or reason to ever be better.
By contrast, I always look at myself in the world as self-defining. I am very much in tune with the Existential concepts of responsibility and self-creation. I am who I make myself to be, and I make myself through the actions and choices that I make every day. So every day that I choose to help or support another person, I am making myself into the type of person who would help or support others. Every time that I reach out to somebody who is in pain, I am making myself into the type of person who reaches out to others.
Within this framework, justification can always still come up, but you still always only define your own moral limits by what you are able to justify to yourself. But there is always room for improvement, and always room for growth. Because I can do what is justifiable, but at that moment, I am only choosing to be the type of person who performs actions that are justifiable. If I instead act in a way that is intentional, where I weigh the benefits of what I do in the world against the type of person that I will be if I take different sorts of actions, then I will always continue to grow and expand my own moral self into something better, every day.
This is the point where I have found my one greatest gift in the world, and where I have found the keystone to finding my own value. I don't need to sacrifice myself for the benefit of the world in order to maintain my "best course of action" any more. In fact, as an individual, I now have to consider that looking out for myself and things that will help me, is helping yet one more person along their journey as well. I have known people who have been hurtful towards me, and yet I have determined that I can be the type of person who can forgive them, step forward, and still help to cultivate their humanity.
At the same time, I don't need to do it in a way that allows them to further humiliate, demean, or harm my own humanity, because I can stand firm in the fact that I have a tremendous amount of value. And I don't deserve mistreatment in the midst of my own desire to raise the world up. Because the world isn't in a zero-sum gain. I don't have to lose in order for others to win. And now, I can see that my own willingness and desire to help improve the world, is also my greatest asset to helping myself to win, as well. I have human needs, and today, I choose to be the type of person who can meet my own needs, so that I can continue to grow and become a better person than I was yesterday. And THAT is the key to my own intentionality.
When I first saw the film, I admit identifying with the concept of Batman making himself into a scapegoat, while simultaneously being solely responsible for the welfare of the people who scapegoated him. I have to admit, though, that I have outgrown that self-deprecating vision of myself, and what I've been working on for so much of this time frame has been allowing myself to recognize my own value without having to destroy myself and raise everyone else up at the same time.
What strikes me about the moral struggles of the film, however, is the moral downward spiral that the Joker represents. Every crime that the Joker commits, is one in which he brings out the worst in humanity. The entire movie is centered around the concept of corruption and hitting on all of the key vulnerabilities of human frailty to compel them to make difficult choices.
This is exactly what the Joker stated to Batman as the "battle for Gotham's soul." Interestingly, I see this as the constant moral struggle within the world. And it inevitably highlights the primary difference for me on what makes the character of a person.
The difference, as I see it, deals with the contrast between identification and justification. As an understanding human being, I can see a lot of people do some pretty despicable things, and I can see why they do it, can understand their motivation, and recognize the justification behind it. For the vast majority of the world, the difference between creating good or doing evil all truly boils down to a point of position and context. Few people in the world actively make their own moral choices in a way that is thoughtful and intentional to the concept of what type of person they wish to be on any given day.
I believe that one of the underlying realities behind this is the concept of the godhead religious figure who dangles the realities of heaven and hell before us. The reward-punishment moral framework that simplifies everything down to a "yes-or-no" question does not allow for the complexity of real-world functions to permeate into people's actual decision-making processes. In the end, if you can justify your actions through the moral framework, then that should be enough. It doesn't matter whether you did the *best* thing, just so long as what you did was acceptable. This is the justification framework. Everything you do, has to be justified. But, so long as you have justification for what you do, then there is no compulsion or reason to ever be better.
By contrast, I always look at myself in the world as self-defining. I am very much in tune with the Existential concepts of responsibility and self-creation. I am who I make myself to be, and I make myself through the actions and choices that I make every day. So every day that I choose to help or support another person, I am making myself into the type of person who would help or support others. Every time that I reach out to somebody who is in pain, I am making myself into the type of person who reaches out to others.
Within this framework, justification can always still come up, but you still always only define your own moral limits by what you are able to justify to yourself. But there is always room for improvement, and always room for growth. Because I can do what is justifiable, but at that moment, I am only choosing to be the type of person who performs actions that are justifiable. If I instead act in a way that is intentional, where I weigh the benefits of what I do in the world against the type of person that I will be if I take different sorts of actions, then I will always continue to grow and expand my own moral self into something better, every day.
This is the point where I have found my one greatest gift in the world, and where I have found the keystone to finding my own value. I don't need to sacrifice myself for the benefit of the world in order to maintain my "best course of action" any more. In fact, as an individual, I now have to consider that looking out for myself and things that will help me, is helping yet one more person along their journey as well. I have known people who have been hurtful towards me, and yet I have determined that I can be the type of person who can forgive them, step forward, and still help to cultivate their humanity.
At the same time, I don't need to do it in a way that allows them to further humiliate, demean, or harm my own humanity, because I can stand firm in the fact that I have a tremendous amount of value. And I don't deserve mistreatment in the midst of my own desire to raise the world up. Because the world isn't in a zero-sum gain. I don't have to lose in order for others to win. And now, I can see that my own willingness and desire to help improve the world, is also my greatest asset to helping myself to win, as well. I have human needs, and today, I choose to be the type of person who can meet my own needs, so that I can continue to grow and become a better person than I was yesterday. And THAT is the key to my own intentionality.
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