Lesson Two: Defend Institutions

I’ve done a lot of soul searching over the last week because I always consider the possibility that I’m wrong. 

So, I did a lot of listening - to the President, the Vice President and current members of the administration. I heard what they said and I watched what they did.

 Then, Stephen Miller, a key White House policy adviser, said something that put it into focus. He said that the world is, “governed by strength, is governed by force, is governed by power…these are the iron laws of the world.”

 I thought back through all the research I’ve done over the last few years and I realized something important.

 Stephen Miller is absolutely correct; the world is ruled by power and force. This is what the Bible teaches. The world is defined by hierarchies which are held in place through force, so that everyone knows their place. This is how we have order which brings peace. Power is the way of the world.

 I have seen that with my own eyes for my entire life, yet I denied what I saw and believed in a different story. 

 I was taught to believe that that world could operate differently, that “all [people] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among [people] , deriving their just powers from the constant of the governed…”

 I believed that I lived in a world where the government was created to protect the rights of the individual. 

 In addition, I was taught that these ideas align with the Gospel; that they were a political expression of the way of Jesus. 

 Maybe I’m delusional, but I will defend that story until my last day.

 Lesson Two: Defend Institutions

 Institutions cave under pressure and give into power. 

 I have chosen the Church* as the institution that I will defend, because I believe the way of Jesus offers the moral foundation for standing in opposition to Empire.

 Choose something that you believe in: education, the arts, the press, the electoral process, etc.

 Find a specific organization and do your research. Make sure they support democratic values as well as other values you believe in.

 Then defend it. 

 Give them money. Help them adapt and make the reforms needed to survive and thrive. Volunteer. They are on the front lines; send them affirmations, so they know they are not alone. Advocate. Show up.

*The Church in this context is the Church universal; all who seek the way of Jesus. I have a particular congregation to which I belong, and I am defending the way of Jesus through my writing. 

 If you want to support my work, you can send me affirmations, buy my books, share my posts, invite others to discuss in book clubs, etc. Thank you.

This is part 2 of a series inspired by my reading of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons Learned From the Twentieth Century, by Timothy Snyder as part of my effort to offer Christian insight to those wondering what to do in this moment.