Politics Plus

Yesterday, I got to thinking about a red flag that hit me in the gut back in the seventis. When I retuend from overseas duty, the Catholic Charismaic Movement was in full swing, as was the evangelical trend in Christianity. Both trends appeared to be good. The Jesus evangelicals then worshipped was then the real one, and many Catholics, wittingly or not, were looking for the same kind of emotional commitment to spirituality that evangelicals appeared to have found a way to achieve (the Cursillo movement was also prominent and was a more intellectual approach but looking for the same kind of commitment.) But the charismatic movement also had its intellectual side, and there was authorized iterature under a heading of “Life in the Spirit.” However, by the end of the decade, “Life in the Spirit” had been officially changed to “You Will Receive Power.” Even though the material was then the same, the change in emphasis struck me as a huge red flag. The way I put it to myself was that the movement was going to attract all the “wrong kind of people” – which sounds bigited, but I didn;t mean any ethnic or gender or any other kind of superficial group, I just meant “people who want power.” And forty years later, here we are.

Of course like everyone else, I grew up with Lord Acton’s “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” It’s a good thing to keep in mind, but I think it’s flawed. I think there are two kinds of people – those who want power, and those who don’t (and the latter probably want autonomy – power over one’s own life but not those of others – but I haven’t thought that through so I’ll say no more at this point.) It’s easy to see how the first group would be attracted to public office and public influence, and harder to see how the second group would, but it does happen, thank God. And of course, it’s the second kind we need to be in office if we want to maintain a democracy. Because, not wanting power, they can resist the corruption that comes with power. [After reading and thinking a little more, I came back here to add that, though we need this second type in [ower, we also need them to learn when it is and is not legitimate to use the power they are entrusted with, and must not be afraid to use it appropriately.  Refraining from using it inappropriately is good, but failing to use it when it is needed is not.]  If you have the time and energy, think about that for a little while, and then go back to the hearing and this conversation: Pence: “I wouldn’t even want that kind of power.” Trump**: “Oh, come on, Mike, wouldn’t it be cool to have that kind of power?”

One last observation – people who are driven by wanting powe also respond to others who ae the same. Bullies follow bullies; even if they are not the top bully, they can respond to, and feel that they vicariously share, the bullying power of their leaders. Also, many – maybe most – of us will never learn which kind of person we are (or even what the two types are.) We all tend to think other people think and feel like us until proven otherwise. I apologize for the rant, but I needed to say it.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

HuffPost – The Anti-Abortion Movement Killed People. Now Victims’ Families Face A Post-Roe World.
Quote – From 1977 to 2020 in America, anti-abortion activists committed at least 11 murders, 26 attempted murders, 956 threats of harm or death, 624 stalking incidents and four kidnappings, according to data collected by the National Abortion Federation. They have bombed 42 abortion clinics, set 194 on fire, attempted to bomb or burn an additional 104 and made 667 bomb threats.
Click through for story (which is part of a series). It’s not as if we didn’t know that conservatives and terrorists have a major overlap. Liberals are more likely to attempt to use rational thinking to persuade.

The 19th – Medication abortion and clinics on federal land: Here are Democrats’ ideas to protect abortion access
Quote – To that end, the senators suggested a host of potential actions the administration could take via federal agencies. Among those: educating the public about and expanding access to medication abortion, the two-pill reigmen that can be administered from home to terminate pregnancies within the first trimester; providing vouchers for people who will have to travel out of state for abortions once Roe is overturned; assessing whether abortions can be provided on federal lands, even in states that have restricted access; and using existing laws and regulations to limit cell phone applications’ ability to sell data that might reveal whether someone got an abortion.
Click through for details. Meds are a great option if they’re an option – they aren’t always (and they’re not pain free). I love the thought of clinics on federal land in reactionary states. There aren’t many ways for us to give them the finger that they understand

Food For Thought