OldSoul.blog

It’s time to talk politics!  Specifically, to talk about the intersection of politics and faith – and what politicians might be able to learn from the tenets of faith!

In Australia we’re still up to twelve months from a federal election, but politicians are definitely in quasi-campaign mode and the jostling for media profile and policy prominence is on.  The Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, made his attempt to grab the limelight with a dramatic policy announcement about the development of nuclear energy, and the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, countered with a press conference from a big new solar energy farm in Queensland.  Without doubt, energy policy will be a major election focus over the months ahead, but the rhetoric is also building around cost-of-living, housing, health, immigration, education, vaping, climate and more.  Words, words, words and more words – the airwaves, newspapers, TV and online platforms are overflowing with words as the major parties make a grab for publicity, and the minor parties and independents make their play for relevance.  Lots and lots of words! 

The tragedy of all this is that, often, using words simply to fill space seems to matter more than substance: the torrent of words might be meaningless or even false, but appearing to have lots to say carries more weight than using less words to say something worthwhile!  Nowhere is this more true than in the US Presidential campaign – some of the words that are spoken by Donald Trump in his campaign addresses make no sense at all, but his ability to fill the space with words appears to win the day with his MAGA supporters. Words, words, words – with or without meaning!

Politics is perhaps the quintessential environment where words, words, and more words are seen as a substitute for meaningful action!  Politicians (and others) who master the art of speaking with confidence, exuding an air of authority, seem to think they can get away with almost anything!  But they play that game at their own peril.  The electorate is not stupid, and ultimately, perhaps at the polling booth, perhaps via subscriber numbers, perhaps as invitations to speak dry up, those whose strident words are not matched by genuine action will learn that real authority, genuine credibility, comes not by what they say but by what they do.  Those whose actions do not match their rhetoric will be exposed as hollow, shallow-minded pretenders.

St Francis of Assisi (1181-1226 CE) is reputed to have said,

Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.

Historians tell us it is unlikely that Francis ever said this, although he may have said something like, It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.  But the force of the saying is valid: words without corresponding action are meaningless, empty, fake even.

In the Fourth Gospel, Jesus was challenged to declare by whose authority he spoke. He replied, the works that I do testify on my behalf.  [John 10:25]

Jesus points not to his words, not to any teachings or preachings or conversations, but to his actions!  Actions speak louder than words, says Jesus. It’s not what I say that draws people to me but what I do, how I act!  It’s not words but works.  

It’s significant, I think, that this story is featured in a gospel that begins with a long treatise about the logos, the Word: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. [John 1:1]  

Is this a contradiction?  Not if we understand how the writer uses the concept of logos or Word.  If we read a little further in the prologue we discover that All things came into being through him (the logos), and without him not one thing came into being. [John 1:3]  In the Fourth Gospel, the logos is the creative impulse of God.  The logos is not passive but generative and creative, it is not words but action.

It has been said of Christian theology that in Jesus the Word became flesh, and theologians have spent the last 2000 years trying to turn it back into words, words, words!

This presents quite a challenge to those of us who spend our lives fashioning words, proclaiming words, writing words, reading words.  Words have a place, of course, but without corresponding action they are empty, meaningless, wasted.

Incidentally, this affirmation is found in the teaching of all the major faith systems. Buddhist monk, Sumangalo, writes, Good words alone are not enough; you should also do good deeds and that’s how you come to be respected.  And Islamic theologian, Suhail bin Hasan Qadi, comments, If a person is truly religious, his behavior and actions will speak volumes about his religiosity. … … Actions speak louder than words.

Way back in 1975 there was another ‘preacher’ espousing this theory. It was half time in the 1975 Grand Final between North Melbourne and Hawthorn.  The Hawks were behind, and their legendary coach, John Kennedy, made an inspirational plea to his players: Do something! Do! Don’t think, do! Don’t hope, do! …. At least you can come off and say ‘I did something!’  Unfortunately, it was to no avail – the Hawks lost heavily to the ’Roos – but Kennedy’s passionate speech, reminiscent of Jesus’ words in the Fourth Gospel, has become part of footy folklore: it’s actions, not words, that matter most.

When you think about it, this is true of our personal experience isn’t it?  The people who have been or are most significant in our lives become so less for their words to us and more for their action toward us.  What we remember most and value most is not what they said (although some of that wisdom will be important), but what they did, how they cared, how they acted toward us and toward the world around them.

It is good for us to be reminded about this from time to time.  Especially in a noisy world where we are bombarded with words, words and more words.  How good would it be if we and our politicians could take on board the wisdom of Jesus, and of the Qur’an, and of Buddha, and of St Francis, and of John Kennedy, and worry less about filling the space with words and more about getting on with just action!  Words will be necessary, of course, but it will be in the action they drive that words will ultimately derive their value.

Perhaps we could pay less attention to the words we say and hear, and more attention to the actions we take and the behaviours we witness in those around us.

David Brooker

27^th June 2024