Be Revolutionary

Written by: Pat Barnett on Nov 6, 2006 6:39 PM EST

One of my favorite quotes is from Thomas Merton a Roman Catholic monk who died in 1960's.  This is from his book Faith and Non-violence:

A theology of love cannot afford to be sentimental. It cannot afford to preach edifying generalities about charity, while identifying "peace" with mere established power and legitimize violence against the oppressed.  A theology of love cannot be allowed merely to serve the interests of the rich and powerful, justifying their wars, their violence and their bombs, while exhorting the poor and underprivileged to practice patience, meekness, longsuffering and to solve their problems if at all, nonviolently.

The theology of love must seek to deal realistically with the evil and injustice in  the world,  and not merely to compromise with them.  Such a theology will have to take note of the ambigious realities of politics, without embracing the specious myth of a "realism" that merely justifies force in the service of established power.  Theology does not exist merely to appease the already too un-troubled conscience of the powerful and established. A theology of love may also conceivably turn out to by a theology of revolution. In any case, it is a theology of resistance, a refusal if the evil that reduces a brother to homicidal desperation.

Everyone who is fighting to change the country's direction is embrassing a theology of love no matter what faith if any.  It is our commitment to one another and to the country.

 Pat

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