Religion
is all about promoting ethical action. Government is all about promoting
justice.
Or are
they?
Senior clerics in Iran criticized
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for consoling Hugo Chavez’s mother with a light
embrace at the state funeral for the deceased leader; physical contact between
unrelated men and women considered sinful according to current Islamic codes of
behavior.
Prominent Cardinals are now in
Vatican City participating in the conclave that will select a new Pope. Several
of these Cardinals have been implicated in covering up child abuse scandals, or
financial or other improprieties—yet they do not recuse themselves from
participation in the conclave that will select the new leader of the Roman
Catholic Church.
Westboro Baptist Church, of Topeka,
Kansas, has actively protested against homosexuality, abortion, Judaisim and
Islam, and Roman Catholicism, and hosts of other things. Protest is one thing; hate-filled
vitriol being poured out as free speech is another.
Here’s the thing: Religion is
intended to guide people toward ethical interaction. Government is supposed to
insure justice. What is all too apparent is that the humans who lead these institutions
are not always following the intent that has been laid out in the scriptures or
laws they are supposed to be stewarding.
This leads the average person to confront
a huge moral dilemma: Follow institutional interdiction just because someone at
the head office says so, or do what is right and just despite the interdiction.
The real-world results of this
dilemma create a huge psychological mess, not to mention a whole lot of civil
litigation. We are all riding two horses, at various times. It is a world-class
case of cognitive dissonance of crowds!
Hillel the Elder is quoted in the
Talmud as having said “What is hateful to you, do not do to another”, and
likewise, the second century Rabbi Akiva cites Leviticus 19:18 as the greatest commandment
in Jewish doctrine: "'Do not seek revenge or
bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as
yourself. I am the Lord.” The Christian Gospel message of Jesus is “Love thy Neighbor
as thyself.” The Quran clearly defines moral standards in Chapter 17:22-37, and
Islamic jurists of the Middle Ages introduced many modern seeming civil rights concepts
and freedoms, even for women, that have appeared in constitutional law during
the past two hundred years.
That rights and freedoms are
restricted, that “neighbors” are infringed upon and excluded, that civil rights
are not being upheld for all individuals, such are amoral and unethical actions,
and yet is so transparently visible among those who have been assigned moral authority.
When the institutions have been
hollowed out by immoral and unethical authoritarians, who act contrary to the
standards they are meant to uphold, what is the “believer” to do?
The case of the Pussy Riot punk rock
group and its public political protest against the cult of Vladimir Putin and his governmental
repression on Russia, particularly from the standpoint of women’s issues, from
within the sanctuary of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow is very interesting.
The Putin regime has been befriended and supported by the Russian Orthodox
Church. In support of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Putin regime has
suppressed and restricted Protestants, despite the fact that the post-Communist
Russian constitution allows freedom of religion. Protestant churches have been
closed, with charges of spying or money laundering or other impropriety;
Protestant denominations have been labeled “cults” and have been spoken against
by church leaders in media. Democracy is not being demonstrated in such
actions, and neither is Christian charity. Good old-fashioned authoritarianism
is apparently alive and well in Russia, but not only in Russia.
What is an ethical person to do when
the authorities are corrupt? Does corruption irreparably taint the institution?
What happens when good people follow bad leaders and false precepts?
I do not have an answer for you. If I
had an answer for you, I would not want you to follow it.
You must follow what your own heart
and mind tell you, what your connection to the Divine speaks in you or your
sense of what is right tells you.
I can tell you that I long ago
answered that question for myself, and the answer is illustrated by the
following story from the Buddhist tradition.
Once there were two monks traveling when they
arrived at a river. At the river they discovered a woman struggling to get
across. Without a second thought, the older of the two monks asked the woman if
she needed help, then swiftly picked her up and carried her across to the other
bank.
For Buddhist monks, especially in ancient times, any
contact with the opposite sex would be strongly frowned upon, if not forbidden.
The actions of the older monk greatly troubled the younger monk, who allowed
his feelings to fester for several miles, as they continued their journey.
Finally, the younger monk confronted the older monk,
"How could you have done such a thing? We are not even supposed to be in a
woman's presence, but you touched her, carried her even!"
The older monk calmly replied, "I put that
woman down miles ago, back at the river. But you are still carrying her."
The younger monk realized the older monk was indeed
correct and they continued on their journey.
