First Unitarian Church of Worcester, MA
February 4, 2011
Rev. Tom Schade
" Wherever We See It "
Like many of you, my life has been divided into two different activities: shoveling snow and watching unfolding events in Egypt. Nothing like coming in from a session outside, stripping off the wet clothes, grabbing a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, putting on something comfy and watching CNN. What a change of pace from wondering how soon the plow will come by and close up the end of your driveway again!
I just discovered Al Jazeera English on my computer, which gets me away from my TV for some of the time.
My sense is that most Americans are not sympathetic to Hosni Mubarark. When we hear that he has ruled for 30 years, amassed a significant fortune and wants to make his son his successor, we root for the people in the streets. Even our government doesn't like him anymore, although they did gave him $50 billion over the last three decades, Republicans and Democrats alike. Time to throw the bum out.
By and large, we hate oppression wherever we see it. Wherever we see it. Unfortunately, our field of vision is very narrow and we accept oppression and exploitation wherever we aren't looking.
While we looked at Israel's security, we were pleased that Egypt maintained a 'cold peace' with Israel for 30 years. We were also dimly aware that to implement such an unpopular policy in Egypt required an authoritarian government, but we weren't really looking there.
Similarly, if a popular revolt arose in Saudi Arabia, against the House of Saud, many of us would cheer it on, even though our prosperity since the Eighties has depended on the oil policies of the royal family.
I think that this is all very odd. It seems disloyal to the dictators we have supported for decades. Yet, it didn't seem disloyal to our democratic ideals to support those dictators all those decades.
I could say that this is evidence of mass hypocrisy. But I have to say that I hate rhetorical accusations of mass hypocrisy. I know that it is a standard refrain of the prophets, ancient and modern:
"You say that you are faithful to Yahweh, and yet you make sacrifices to false gods."
"You say that love the earth, and yet you drive a gas-guzzler."
I am not saying that these accusations of mass hypocrisy are not accurate; I am just saying that I hate them. They are moralistic, and moralism is usually based on bad theology.
Wherever you look closely, you will see oppression and exploitation of some sort. The entire world social order is a complex, interdependent web of relationships that includes people living in the most abject poverty and extreme exploitation and people living with unimaginable wealth and privilege. The world is not fair. There is no one who is not part of it, and by being part of it, cannot be accused of somehow accepting it. There is no one who can see it all.
It is an inaccurate view of the creation to imagine that oppression and exploitation are local or occasional problems. It is an inaccurate view of human beings to imagine that it is a sin to aware of one injustice but not all of them. There is no one who can see it all.
It is a more accurate view of humanity to see that oppression and exploitation are everywhere, even in most human relationships, and that we are moving from ignorance to knowledge in our understanding of the world we live in.
Harsh moral judgments are based on a belief that sin and evil, inconsistency and ignorance are the problems of individuals alone: I call that mistaken theology.
Perhaps we have not been thinking of the plight of Egypt's people for these last thirty years. Let us learn now, and apply that learning to the future. It will help us understand the world better. And even more important, it will extend the reach of our human solidarity with others, far away and in a different culture. We are moving from ignorance to knowledge and the only virtue that matters now is solidarity.
Now, back to the snow.
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