Political Poem
By
The American NSA's website has a regular feature called, "Why Baha’i?" where they ask believers why they are Baha'is. I liked what the latest fellow they interviewed, Jason Ritchie of
This morning those of us who subscribe to Google Alerts using the keyword "Baha'i" were notified of a Toronto Star article called, "The Holy Land's low-profile religion; The Baha'i faith, based in Haifa, Israel, boasts 6 million adherents and an agenda to unite people." (http://www.thestar.com/article/269102) The article is interesting in that it comes up with a unique transliteration of "Baha'u'llah" that was unheard of even in the wild and wooly days before the Guardian regularized it to what we use today. What the reporter finds most interesting about the Faith is that we are not allowed to get involved in politics. "... in a part of the world where religion is intertwined with conflict, bloodshed and death, the Baha'i faith seems to be an exception." The reporter interviewed a Baha'i worker at the
"Some people think it's a cop-out for us not to be involved in politics," says Sally Weeks, originally of
But the fact is, that is what politics is supposed to do too. Really.
Which brings me to my latest audio book, Al Franken's "The Truth, with Jokes," a sequel to his, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them," which I missed. This text is read by the author. Franken is the sort of comedian who has such a comical face that I am rolling on the floor before he even opens his mouth. Forced into an audio format, he does not go over as well as I had expected. His seriousness smothers over his humor and the laughs are few and far between. Maybe it is his subject, which is clearly the passion of his life, the sordid, backbiting-filled world of American politics.
If you have any doubts about Baha'u'llah's laws on erasing personality, eliminating gossip, avoiding campaigning and conflicts, about the dire need to clean up the entire political thing, then read this book. I had known that there were shenanigans going on in the political arena, but I had no idea how bad the lying, toadyism, swindles, and disinformation campaigns were. Little wonder God chose the North American continent as the cradle of the Administration, for the political and administrative corruption here is rank to high hell. After listening to this I did not feel the relief one feels after having a good laugh, I feel soiled, as if I just talked with a person who insisted on gossiping and backbiting, and I guess I have.
I have been interspersing excerpts from the writings of my latest hero, Chinese philosopher Mo Tzu, into my daily ruminations. And now, now that I am spiritually mucked up by the "hard-hitting" political culture that is dragging us into imminent destruction, now is a perfect time to take a quick shower in Mo Tzu's clean words about the foundational role of love in politics.
Universal Love; A Political Poem, by Mo Tzu
When feudal lords do not love one another there will be war on the fields. When heads of houses do not love one another they will usurp one another's power. When individuals do not love one another they will injure one another. When ruler and ruled do not love one another they will not be gracious and loyal. When father and son do not love each other they will not be affectionate and filial. When elder and younger brothers do not love each other they will not be harmonious.
When nobody in the world loves any other, naturally the strong will overpower the weak, the many will oppress the few, the wealthy will mock the poor, those honored will disdain the humble, the cunning will deceive the simple. Therefore all the calamities, strife, complaints, and hatred in the world have arisen out of want of universal love. Therefore humanists disapprove of this want.
Now that there is disapproval, how can we have the condition altered?
Mo Tzu said it is to be altered by the way of universal love and mutual support. But what is the way of universal love and mutual support? Mo Tzu said:
It is to esteem other countries as much as one's own, the houses of others as much as one's own, the persons of others as much as one's self.
When feudal lords love one another there will be no more war; when heads of houses love one another there will be no more mutual usurpation; when individuals love one another there will be no more mutual injury. When ruler and ruled love each other they will be gracious and loyal; when father and son love each other they will be affectionate and filial; when elder and younger brothers love each other they will be harmonious. When all the people in the world love one another, then the strong will not overpower the weak, the many will not oppress the few, the wealthy will not mock the poor, the honored will not disdain the humble, and the cunning will not deceive the simple. And it is all due to universal love that calamities, strife, complaints, and hatred are prevented from arising.
Therefore the humanist praises it.
But worldly people would say: "So far so good. It is of course very excellent when love becomes universal. But it is only a difficult and distant ideal."
Mo Tzu said: This is simply because the worldly people do not recognize what is to the benefit of the world, or understand what is calamitous to it. Now, to besiege a city, to fight in the fields, or to achieve a name at the cost of death -- these are what men find difficult. Yet when the ruler encourages them, the multitude can do them.
In comparison, universal love and mutual aid is quite different from these. Whoever loves others is loved by others; whoever benefits others is benefited by others; whoever hates others is hated by others; whoever injures others is injured by others. Then, what difficulty is there with universal love? Only that the ruler fails to embody it in his government and the ordinary man in his conduct.
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