My interest in politics has recently been revived after a few encouraging conversations with an old friend and watching Gorgeous George on celebrity big brother (I know, big brother, yes, I'm a hypocrite). At the same time, a few of us from church have been studying Leslie Newbigin's brilliant 'Foolishness to the Greeks'. In commenting on the great left/right divide, Newbign argues that both positions arise from a similar starting point,
'In the one case (capitalism), freedom is pursued at the cost of equality; in the other (socialism), equality is pursued at the cost of freedom. Both derive from the Enlightenment vision of human beings as autonomous individuals with innate and equal rights to pursue self-chosen ends to the limit of their powers.'
He then goes on to outline how a the gospel provides a true alternative that critiques the very basis of contemporary politics,
'From its first page to its last, the Bible is informed by a vision of human nature for which neither freedom nor equality is fundamental; what is fundamental is relatedness. Human beings reach their true end in such relatedness, in bonds of mutual love and obedience that reflect the mutual relatedness in love that is the being of the Triune God himself. Neither freedom no equality are words that can take us to the heart of the matter.'
A truely challenging perspective.
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11 comments:
In our ever widening such for Utopian Life has someone formed a hybrid ideal of capatilism and socialism, sopatilism if you like? If not I shall propose a fine balance of existance where we are all equal but some are more equal than others (why am I thinking of a farm?!).
Seriously though whats the biblical model? The early church seemed much more socialist but how did they tackle the freedom issue.
In the words of William Wallace:
"It's all for nothing if you don't have freedom."
When are we starting the revolution Jon?
I dont think I understand what your getting at. isnt the giving up of freedom a bit too far along the predestination line?
plus the bibles view of humanity seems to change from book to book as wach persons view of God changes.
Jodes, give an example of how the Bibles view of humanity changes. For my money the Bible, while obviously being different books by different authors, is incredibly unified on key themes all the way through.
And I'm not sure we're talking about giving up freedom in a metaphysical sense, just in a day to day, living in society sense. For example, communism, (the extreme example of socialism) was very restrictive in what it allowed people to do, ie no religion, no opposition parties etc.
I really like Leslie Newbigin, but almost all his books seem to be out of print. I like his analysis of capitalism and socialism- its a good balanced view. And I see where he's coming from in regards to the relational thing, but how would that be put in to practice? Could we start up a political party that espoused the ideas of a truly relational society?
And Jon, I hate to say it, but you really are trading in double standards here. I don't know why Rob the slob is still top of your little bloggers world league table. I'm voting for him to be relegated!
Tim Oakes, what I like about Newbigin is that he proposes a completely different way of looking at things rather than attempting to place himself on the spectrum. Human responsibilty to God and neighbour as opposed to universal human rights. The revolution begins with the church! As the ones called out to embody the gospel we should reflect the glory through living as we were created to be.
Jodie, I think the bible does present a coherent story from creation to new creation, in this sense I agree with Tim Lovell.
Tim Lovell, my amigo's list is not a league table. There is not an order of importance just a list of people. The only ones who get relegated are those who don't post (so maybe Rob should go on that count, but I do have it on good authority that there is a devastating post in the mix).
Scrivner, good question. I suppose it would mean embodying the values in our communities. The problem with both left and right (according to Newbigin) is that they base their ideologies on the same Enlightenment assumption. Dealing with money must be central, someone wise once said, 'you can't serve both God and money'.
The Politics of Jesus (a great book!) seem to me to be sooo different from those of political parties that I struggle a lot with them. To quote an Ent (Treebread in fact): I am not wholly on any of their sides as none of them are wholly on mine... So I empathise a lot with what Newbigin is saying. Also that bit where he says that true freedom is in our allegience to Christ.
As for a practical side, what about trying to live that out in our community of believers than setting up yet another political party. I really want to look to my community and see this beautiful vision of the new life that God's word brings. I mean, isn't the promise of a new earth and heaven a far more exciting "political manifesto" than any of the current parties have...
Ben, by relatedness I suppose Newbigin is arguing that we were created for relationship both with God and neighbour. This flies in the face of post-Enlightenment thought which argues that humans are essentially 'autonomous individuals with innate and equal rights'. I don't think Newbigin is arguing that justice and freedom are not important, but just that neither of them can take us 'to the heart of the matter'.
Maria, Exactly! The revolution begins in the community of God as they seek to be his witness to the world. Being involved in politics shouldn't mean we have to set up our own parties.
The heart of the matter is 'what it is to be human'.
Benny boy, it is probably best that we continue this conversation in person. It sounds like we have confused each other considerably!
Jon, sorry to hijack your thread but I just came across this and instantly thought of you!
http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/olympics2006.html
It's a knitting challenge, starting today (I think). How is your knitting going, by the way?
My knitting is going nowhere. It appears my enthusiasm was only part of a passing fad! But then again, I do like challenge....
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