All in My Copious Spare Time
Honoring the Divine in (All) Others, Uniting Opposites,
Holding Fast to What Is Good, and Slaying Hobgoblins,
All in My Copious Spare Time
by J. Calvin Smith
A LIVEJOURNAL/FACEBOOK SPECIAL REPORT
I took a break from posting anything political to social media lately, with the exception of commenting on friends' posts about such subjects. It seemed clear to me what was clear to others: that liberal and progressive activism, with which I am morally and philosophically inclined to associate myself most closely, was not served as well by various online efforts as other forms of activism from more conservative or even extremist reactionary avenues have been.
Well, they say a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. Well, Ralph Waldo Emerson said that, and everyone quotes him, but anyway. I'm not entirely sure it's been foolish of me to be consistent in refraining from political posts on my own timeline. But I was also in quite a state of despair at the time I made that decision, a despair not eased by the realization in my own social media experience that minds not inclined like mine might be winning the day, to the destruction or delay of much I saw worth doing from a societal standpoint. Now it seems, to some extent, that cooler heads are prevailing. There's also a possibility that what has been sown is in fact being reaped. It has the feeling for me of that part of a story when the tension eases, the unexpectedly good happens, and I think, all right, this might turn out much better than I had dreaded.
There have been damaging trends in politics for a long time. In the name of civil discourse, we've sometimes paved over some of our differences as a people, using methods such as not talking about that sort of thing in polite company. But that has been the prerogative, I believe, of the privileged, and that is part of the destructive sowing, I also believe, that is now being reaped. We didn't talk about it, but we also didn't take action against it, and now it's biting us in the butt. A prime example is the societal wrong done disproportionately to Blacks and Latinos, but certainly to some extent to just about every non-White, non-Male, non-Christian, non-Hetero, ... by our dog-whistled, misguided "Law and Order" mentality. For a more specific instance of this in American Constitutional law and social history, I would guide you to "13th", the Netflix documentary by director and writer Ava DuVernay.
In short, there are wrongs we've been wrong not to fight harder against, for a very long time. But there are also opinions, not only on both sides of the mainstream political divide. Yes, I agree there are more, and arguably should be more, than two political sides, but to every issue of concern and every question of Will You Do Something About It or even Is It A Valid Concern At All, there will be a simple yes/no model to the most common social and political responses, and those responses characterize what is done and not done, quite well.
Now I see reports of some level-headed Republicans speaking out against Trump. Their reasons may or may not be mercenary, but it is heartening to see. What's harder to see is posts of friends of mine, Republican friends, defending him or asserting that his opponent's wrongs are still worse. I also have several undecided friends, both conservative and liberal/progressive, who don't want either mainstream candidate to win this election. I myself am sorrowful Bernie Sanders was not the Democratic nominee, but understand how that happened. I do see that there was party machinery in place that may have worked against him, but I am not sure there is criminal culpability or undeniable corruption there, other than the "normal everyday" corruption that is endemic, that we've gotten used to, that blah blah blah.
But I'm glad Trump's not got a solid backing of all the party-liners behind him. I agree pretty much across the board with all the outrage on the despicable things he's said and done and plans to do if he is elected. I see him as a danger.
An absolute cesspool, an abominable perversion of a human being, in whom there is no redeeming value. Or at least, someone who has no right to be the President of the United States, and whose attempt to do so has been nothing but destructive.
Right? Am I right?
You know I'm not, and you know I used such hyperbolic verbiage on purpose because I was planning to say "You know I'm not."
What you don't know, and what I'm working mentally and spiritually to figure out, is: Just what am I trying to say of worth here?
Both my Christian religious faith and my Zen-based spiritual practice come from traditions that teach that the spark of Divinity is in us all. Sometimes it is taught that that spark is in everything, both human and not, both living and not. A harder teaching, but one that I also find constructive worth in considering, comes from my more lighthearted spiritual exercise of Discordianism: All statements are true in some sense, false in some sense, and meaningless in some sense.
Just pause for a second, and consider that this is a statement as well, and all that its possibly being true might imply. Dizzying, eh?
Just when we think we've found somebody to whom we can apply a label, a categorization, a name or opinion, something that means we can dismiss them from consideration, our inner divinity urges us to sit across the table from that person and say "Namaste." Not only that, to spend the time and effort and enlighten ourselves enough to really mean it.
How do we honor the divine in the Donald Trumps of the world?
Perhaps the answer is not as simple as either voting for him or demonizing him. The consequences of the one choice might be catastrophic, but the consequences of the other choice might not still be optimal. If we have learned one thing from this election cycle, and the last few, it's that the best choices might not be either/or, and I agree, might not be amenable to that simple yes/no model I said earlier usually fits so well.
Unusual times call for unusual adjustments to our models of thought. And just like there is arguably no normal day, no normal person, there may also be no time that is not unusual.
Aleister Crowley, the Wickedest Man in the World (as opposed to Hillary Clinton, who some would argue is the Wickedest Woman), said in magickal terms that the Great Work is the Uniting of Opposites. I think, based on reading quite a bit of his work, he was getting at the kind of open-mindedness that still employed great thought, great effort, and great spiritual discipline to be able to work outside one's own models, and to thus be able to construct newer, better ones for dealing with new problems. After all, as soon as we build better mousetraps, creation builds better mice. Taking a concept in one's mind, even (or especially) a cherished one, and conceiving of its opposite, and figuring out some context, or model, in which BOTH HAVE WORTH, and even more, both can function harmoniously with each other ... well, that's a challenge for us all. It's a dangerous line of thought - like tobacco, to be avoided altogether. Or is it?
More meandering thoughts later...