Categoria: English

Faith and Politics beyond fundamentalism

Leonardo Boff2 Comentários

We are in an election cycle. Many sectors of the different Churches, the Roman Catholic included, mobilize around projects for the country and candidates for several positions. This is the moment to clarify the relationship between faith and politics.

In the first place, we should distinguish between politics written with a capital P, and another with a small p, or between social politics (P) and party politics (p).

Social politics (P) is related to the common good of society; for example, the organization of health care, the school system, transportation, salaries, etc., are related to social politics. To struggle for a neighborhood health center, uniting to bring a bus line to the top of a mountain, is to engage in social politics.

That form of politics means the common search for the common good. All citizens and all Christians, Catholics or Evangelicals, can and must participate in that level of politics.

Party politics (p) represents the struggle for state power, to control the municipal, state and federal governments. The function of the political parties is to obtain power, to change it (the process of liberation), or to wield it as it is presently constituted (to govern the state as it exists). The party, as the very word implies, is a part, a piece of society, not all of society. Each party represents the interests of groups or classes that undertake projects for the whole society. If they achieve state power (govern) they will try to put into practice public policies according to their program and their party’s vision of the problems.

In terms of party politics, it is important to consider the following: to understand the party’s program; what place the people have in this program, whether it was discussed by the bases, whether it considers the historic demands of the people; whether it provides for popular participation, through its movements and organs, in its conception, implementation and control; who are the candidates that represent the program, what is their biography, whether they are on a blacklist, whether they have always maintained an organic link with the bases, whether they are truly allied with and representative of the causes of justice and necessary social change, or whether they want to keep social relations as they are, with all the contradictions and injustices that implies.

This mode of political power has been historically exercised by our elites for their own benefit, forgetting the subject of all power, that is the people.

How does faith enter into all of this?

Faith has to do directly with God and with God’s design for humanity, but it is within society and is a creator of opinion and decisions. It functions like a bicycle; it has two wheels through which it becomes effective in society: the wheel of religion and the wheel of politics.

The wheel of religion becomes concrete through prayer, celebrations, preaching and the reading of the Scriptures.

Through the wheel of politics, faith is expressed by practicing justice and solidarity, and denouncing corruption. As we can see, politics here is synonymous with ethics. We have to learn to maintain equilibrium over the two wheels to be able to act correctly.

The Bible considers the wheel of politics as ethics more important than the wheel of religion as cult. Without ethics, faith becomes empty and fruitless. Practices and not preaching are what have worth to God. Better than proclaiming, «Lord, Oh Lord» is to do the will of the Father, that is love, mercy and justice, things that are practical, and therefore ethical.

Concretely, faith and politics are together in people’s lives. Faith includes politics, that is, a Christian because of being a Christian, must strive for justice and social well being; s/he must also opt for programs and persons that are as close as possible to that which is understood as the project of Jesus and God in history. Pope Francis emphasized that when he was in Brazil.

But faith reaches beyond politics, because faith also refers to eternal life, to the resurrection of the flesh, to the transformation of the universe, something that no social politics, no political party or state can promise.

The passage from faith to party politics is not direct, that is, from the Bible is not directly deduced the support of a given political party, a person’s the duty to vote; or how much the minimum wage should be. The Bible does not offer solutions, but the inspiration to be able to make a good choice of party, and to create a dignified wage. For a Christian who follows the line on which Pope Francis keeps insisting, politics should be:

–liberating: it is not enough to transform the society that exists; what is important is a different model of society, one that is more inclusive, and through participation, facilitates social justice.

– liberating, starting with the poor and excluded majorities: it must begin from the very bottom, because that way no one is left out; if it started with the salaried worker or the bourgeoisie, it would omit, from the start, almost half of the excluded population.

– a politics that uses liberating methodologies, that is, one that facilitates participation by the people, from the bottom up and from the inside out; a politics that offers more than a representative/delegating democracy, but a participative democracy through which the people with their organizations help to discuss, decide and solve social questions. That was the great demand of the June 2013 demonstrations, which is firmly entrenched now.

– a socio-ecological democracy that respects the rights of Mother Earth, of the eco-systems, the animals and all beings of creation with which we maintain interdependent relations.

This kind of politics is one of the highest forms of social love.

Charisma and charismatic: what kind of energy is it?

Leonardo Boff1 comentário

Charisma, carma, Crishna, Cristo, crisma and caritas posses the same Sanskrit root, kri or kir. It refers to the cosmic energy that refines and vitalizes, penetrates and rejuvenates all. It is a force that attracts and fascinates the spirit. A person does not posses charisma: the person is possessed by charisma. It is as if the person, regardless of personal merit, is possessed by a force that irradiates to others, astonishing them: if they are talking, they become silent; if they are focused on something, their attention turns to the charismatic person. Charisma is something surprising. It is in humans, but it does not come from them. It comes from something higher and superior. Nietzsche says that when he was hiking in the Alps he would be possessed by a force that would make him write. It was something other that used him. Nietzsche would take his notebook and write down his best intuitions.

Anthropologists introduced the word mana, taken from the Melanesian culture. The mana-personality irradiates an extraordinary and irresistible power that, without violence, imposes itself on others. It attracts, enthuses, fascinates, commands. In our Western tradition, it is the equivalent of charisma.

Who are the charismatic? In fact, everyone is. No one is denied that cosmic force of presence and attraction. We all carry within something of the stars whence we come. The life of every person is called to shine, according to what a singer says, to be charismatic in one way or another. Jose Marti, the Cuban thinker, one of the best of Latin America, put it well: there are human beings who are like stars, they generate their own light, while others reflect the brightness they receive from them. Some are suns, others, moons. No one is outside the light, be it their own, or reflected. In the end, all of us are in the light to shine.

But there are charismatics and charismatics. In some, this force of irradiation implodes and explodes. They are like a light shining in the night. They attract the gaze of everyone. All the bishops and cardinals could have paraded before the gathered faithful; there could have been impressive figures from the intelligentsia, of administrative capacity and apostolic zeal, but when he was still with us, all eyes would have been fixed on Dom Helder Camara, an eminent carrier of charisma. His figure was insignificant. He looked like a suffering servant without beauty or adornment. But from him emanated a force of tenderness that, together with the vigor of his words, was softly imposed on all.

Many can speak, and there are good speakers who attract attention. But let the emeritus bishop of Sao Felix do Araguaia talk. His voice is hoarse and sometimes it almost disappears. But in that voice there is such strength and persuasion that people are left agape. It is charisma that makes a fragile and weak bishop appear to be a giant. Today almost unable to speak, due to advanced Parkinson’s disease, his writings and poetry have the strength of fire. He is a magnificent poet.

There are politicians who are capable and great administrators. The majority masterfully handle the spoken word. But let Lula rise to the lectern facing the multitudes. He begins to speak softly, assumes a narrative tone, and searches for the best way to communicate. Slowly he gains strength, surprising connections emerge, the line of argument acquires the correct framework, the volume of his voice rises, his eyes become incandescent, his movements modulate his speech, and at a given moment his whole body is in communication, argumentation, and communion with the multitude, that goes from boisterous to silent and from silent to petrified, then, in the culminating moment, erupts in shouts of applause and enthusiasm. It is emanating charisma. It matters little the opinion we may have of his eight years of governance. In Lula the presence of charisma cannot be denied.

Not for nothing Max Weber, scholar of the charismatic power, calls it «the nascent state». Each time it emerges, the charisma seems to call forth the creation of the world within the charismatic person or mana-personality. The function of the charismatics is to be midwife to the latent charisma within others. Their mission is not to dominate them with their splendor, nor seduce them so that the people follow them blindly, but to awaken them from their every day lethargy. And, when they awaken, that they discover that every day life has within it secrets, novelties, and hidden energies that can always be awakened and can give new meaning of brilliance to life, to our short passage through this universe.

Let everyone discover the star that left its light and its imprint within. And if they are faithful to the light, they will shine, and others will perceive it enthusiastically.

Free translation from the Spanish sent by
Melina Alfaro, alfaro_melina@yahoo.com.ar,
done at REFUGIO DEL RIO GRANDE, Texas, EE.UU.

The Feminine Side of God

Leonardo Boff1 comentário

Early one sleepless morning, I returned to my usual work on the computer. Suddenly, it seemed that I heard something. I do not know if it came from the celestial world or from my mind in an altered state, but a voice, like a whisper, told me: “Son, I will reveal to you a truth that has always been there, in my Gospel writer Luke, but that the eyes of men, blinded by centuries of patriarchy, could not see. It is about the intimate and ineffable relationship between Mary and the Holy Ghost”.

And the voice continued whispering: “The one who is third in the order of the Trinity, the Holy Ghost, is the first in the order of creation. He came first to the world; then came the Son of God. It was the Holy Ghost who soared over the primitive chaos, and took from there all the orders of creation. As is said by my Gospel writer Luke recounts, that Spirit creator told Mary: He will come to you, Mary, and will set up his tent over you. This is why the engendered Saint will be called Son of God. To set up the tent, as you know, means to dwell, to inhabit definitively. If Mary, perplexed, had not said her fiat, let it be done according to Your word, the Son would not have been incarnated and the Holy Ghost would have not been feminized.

Listen, son, to what I am telling you: The Spirit came to dwell definitively over this woman, Mary. He identified with her, united Himself with her in such a radical and mysterious form that within her began to take shape the holy humanity of Jesus. The Spirit of life produced the new life, the new man, Jesus. To you and to all the faithful it is clear that the masculine was made divine through the man, Jesus of Nazareth. Now go to the Gospel of Saint Luke, and you will see that through Mary of Nazareth, the feminine was made divine as well, by the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost set up His tent, this is, He came to definitively dwell in her. Note that John, the Gospel writer, says the same about the Son: He set His tent in Jesus. Is it not the Spirit, the same voice whispers, that takes the prophet on a predetermined mission, and, when that mission is fulfilled, His presence within him ends? With Mary, it is different. He comes, dwells, and never leaves. She is elevated to the loftiness of the Divine Holy Spirit. Hence, logically, the engendered Saint will be called Son of God. Such is the case of Mary. Not without reason is she blessed among women.

Son, this is the truth you must proclaim: though Mary, God was revealed as both God-the-Father and God-the-Mother, also with the characteristics of the feminine: love, tenderness, caring, compassion and mercy. These virtues also are present in men, but they find a more visible expression in women.

Son, when you say God-the-Mother you will discover the feminine side of God, with all the feminine virtues. Never forget that no woman ever betrayed Jesus. They were faithful to Him even at the foot of the cross. While His disciples, the men, fled – Judas betrayed and Peter denied Him – but the women expressed a faithful love to the extreme. The women, well before the apostles, were the first to give testimony of the resurrection of Jesus, the greatest event in the history of salvation.

Maternity does not exhaust the feminine side of God, which is also revealed wherever there is intimacy, lovingness, gentleness and sensibility, which are perceptible in the feminine. Never let anyone, for any reason, discriminate against a woman for being a woman. Offer all the reasons that she must be respected and loved, because she reveals something of God that only she, together with man, can create, in My image and likeness. Support her struggles, gather her contributions to society, to the Churches, to the equilibrium between men and women. Women are a sacrament of God-the-Mother of all, the path leading us to the tenderness of God. Let’s hope that women embrace their divine side, found in one of their compañeras, Mary of Nazareth. The day will come when the blinders that cover your eyes will fall and then men and women will feel that they are made divine by the Son and by the Holy Spirit.”

When I came to, I knew with a clear mind just how much truth had been communicated to me. And, moved, I was filled with praise and thanksgiving.

Free translation from the Spanish sent by
Melina Alfaro, alfaro_melina@yahoo.com.ar,

We hold all the memories of the universe

Leonardo Boff3 Comentários

The human being is the last important being we know about to enter the evolutionary process. In addition to matter and energy, information also exists, which is stored in all beings as memory, and in us throughout the phases of the cosmogenic process.

In our memory lie the last traces of the big bang that gave birth to our cosmos. The archives of our memory hold the vibrations of the energy from the unimaginable explosions of the great red stars, whence arose the supernovas and conglomerates of galaxies, each with its thousands of millions of stars, planets and asteroids. There is also the resonance of the heat generated as the galaxies devoured one another, from the original fire of the stars and the planets that surround them, from the incandescence of the Earth, from the boiling of the liquids that fell on our planet for the 100 million years until it cooled (Hadean Era), from the exuberance of the ancestral jungles, reminiscent of the voracity of the dinosaurs that reigned for 135 million years, from the aggressiveness of our ancestors in their urge to survive, from their enthusiasm for the fire that illuminates and cooks, from the joy created by the first symbol and the first spoken word, remembrances of the softness of the light breezes, the diaphanous mornings, the precipice of the snow covered mountains, and, finally, from memories of the interdependence linking all beings, creating the community of the living, from the encounters with the other, the capacity for tenderness, surrender and love and, finally, from the ecstasy of the discovery of the mystery of the world that is called by a thousand different names, and that we call God. All that is buried in the corners of our psyche and in the genetic code of each cell of our body, because we are as old as the universe.

We do not live in the universe or our Earth as erratic beings. We come from the common uterus whence come all things, from the Background Energy or Nourishing Abyss of all beings, from the primordial hadron, from the top-quark, one of the more ancient tiny bricks of the cosmic building, up to modern computers. And we are sons and daughters of the Earth. More still, we are that part of the Earth who walks and dances, that trembles with emotion, and thinks, that likes and loves, that becomes ecstatic and venerates the Mystery. All these things were in the universe, condensed into our solar system, and only thereafter did they emerge concretely in our Earth. Because everything was virtual there, now it can be here in our lives.

The cosmic principle, that is, the directing energies that command, filled with purpose, all the processes of evolution, obey the following logic, so well expounded by Edgard Morin: order, disorder, interaction, new order, new disorder, new interaction, and thus it proceeds always. With that logic more complexities and differentiations are always created; and to the same degree are created interiority and subjectivity, until its lucid and conscious expression, that is, the human mind. And simultaneously and also to the same degree the capacity for reciprocity of all with all, in all moments and in all situations, is being created. Differenciation/interiority/communion: the cosmic trinity that presides over the organism that is the universe.

Everything is happening through process and evolution, subjected to a dynamic non-equilibrium (chaos) that always seeks a new equilibrium through adaptations and inter-dependencies.

Human existence is not outside this dynamic. It has within itself these cosmic constants of chaos and cosmos, of non-equilibrium in search of a new equilibrium. While we are alive we are always entangled in this condition. The closer we are to total equilibrium, the closer we are to death. Death is the fixation of the equilibrium and of the cosmogenic process. Or else it is the passage to a level that demands a different kind of access and knowledge.

How does this structure concretely manifest itself in us? First, in daily life. Each of us lives a life that begins each day with personal cleanliness, how we live, what we eat, our jobs, family relationships, friends, and loves. Daily life is prosaic and often full of disenchantment. Most human lives are restricted to the daily routine, with the anonymity that implies. It is part of the universal order that emerges from the lives of the people.

But we humans are also inhabited by imagination. Imagination breaks down the barriers of daily life and searches for the new. Imagination is, above all, fertile; it is the realm of the poetic, of the probabilities infinite in themselves (of a quantic nature). We imagine a new life, a new home, a new job, new pleasures, new relationships, new loves. Imagination produces the existential crises and chaos in the order of daily life.

Everyone has the wisdom to augment the daily life with the imaginary, the prosaic with the poetic, and to rework the disorder and order. Devoting oneself only to the imaginary, would be to take a trip, flying through the clouds, forgetting the Earth; and possibly winding up in a psychiatric clinic. One could also deny the seductive strength of the imaginary, consecrate daily life and bury oneself alive inside it, thus appearing sluggish, not very interesting and frustrated. This interrupts the logic of the universal movement.

However, when someone undertakes daily life, and enlivens it with injections of creativity, then a rare energy is radiated, that is perceived by those who live with that person

Free translation from the Spanish sent by
Melina Alfaro, alfaro_melina@yahoo.com.ar,
done at REFUGIO DEL RIO GRANDE, Texas, EE.UU.