POLITICS, of course, is an
unavoidable concern for us. As
social beings, we cannot help but get into politics. That’s simply
because we have to organize ourselves as a people. And it’s a need
that will always be an on-going affair.
We need laws to govern the way we live, we need peace and
order, we need a working economy. We need leaders on whom we invest
some authority. These and a lot more is what politics is all about.
In all of these, we have to find ways of how to meet them.
That’s why we have elections, among many other others. Of course, the
conduct of our elections is also subject to some agreed rules.
Now, with the elections coming up, the political fever is
upon us, and the big challenge now is how to maintain our human and
Christian consistency—some say, sanity—in politics.
What we are seeing now, even while quite early yet in the
game, is a gathering storm of political attacks. There’s a lot of
mudslinging, faultfinding and muckraking, reckless branding and
stereotyping.
If not these, then they go to the other extreme of
unmitigated praises and alleluias of personalities whom they
practically portray as completely sinless, the savior of the world,
while the opponents are pictured as the devil incarnate, the ultimate
villain deserving instant death and hell.
Some say this is normal. I say it’s not. It’s inhuman, let
alone, unchristian. There seems to be an unspoken
understanding that when it comes to politics, we can behave like
animals, fighting each other over ideas and opinions.
Some say we need not distinguish between the persons of
the candidates, officials and supporters, and the different positions
they hold. Everyone and everything is fair game. Killing can even be
resorted.
We have to say that this cannot be. We are supposed to be
ruled always by something indispensable even in our most contentious
affairs.
Everyone seems to forget that charity is what keeps us
human and Christian in politics as it is in every aspect of our life.
But especially in politics where, by its nature, things can be messy
and tricky. Precisely the complexity of politics makes charity most
indispensable.
Charity is what enables us to respect and love one another
in spite of our sharp differences and conflicts, thereby following
Christ’s new commandment of loving one another “as I have loved you.”
He even went to say that we have to love our enemies. For this love,
Christ ultimately had to die on the cross.
All these for the simple reason that first and last, we
are brothers and sisters, creatures of the same God even if we call
him by different names and describe him in a variety of ways.
Truth is we are all members of the same family. Whether we
like it or not, we are obliged to love one another no matter what.
This is a basic truth that we should never forget, especially when we
do politics.
Some say that charity dilutes if not dissolves many
important values like truth, justice, fairness, etc. That’s why many
politicians do not give much attention to charity. At best, they
render only some lip service to it.
But hardly anything can be farther than the truth, since
charity, in fact, holds the highest standards insofar as these values
are concerned. What is often conveniently forgotten is what while
charity requires the most stringent criteria of truth, justice,
fairness, etc., it goes much further to include mercy and compassion.
It’s charity that would enable us to have a certain
openness to all views and positions, including those we do not agree
or even consider as objectively wrong. It’s not so much because of the
views that we are open as to the persons who hold them.
If, in the worst scenario, we believe that they are in
error, we can try to correct them with utmost delicacy, strictly
following due process that governs the proper resolution of issues.
We should avoid ad hominem attacks, rash judgments that
often are a product of an orchestrated mob rule, assertions and
accusations that hardly have any strong basis or are simply based on
hearsay.
We should try to tame our passions that often blind us and
push us to do uncharitable things. While we inevitably have our biases
and preferences, let’s also be open and fair to those who differ from
us.
In the end, we should be guided by a well-formed
conscience, always attentive to God’s will and ways in doing politics,
and especially when choosing our public officials.
social beings, we cannot help but get into politics. That’s simply
because we have to organize ourselves as a people. And it’s a need
that will always be an on-going affair.
We need laws to govern the way we live, we need peace and
order, we need a working economy. We need leaders on whom we invest
some authority. These and a lot more is what politics is all about.
In all of these, we have to find ways of how to meet them.
That’s why we have elections, among many other others. Of course, the
conduct of our elections is also subject to some agreed rules.
Now, with the elections coming up, the political fever is
upon us, and the big challenge now is how to maintain our human and
Christian consistency—some say, sanity—in politics.
What we are seeing now, even while quite early yet in the
game, is a gathering storm of political attacks. There’s a lot of
mudslinging, faultfinding and muckraking, reckless branding and
stereotyping.
If not these, then they go to the other extreme of
unmitigated praises and alleluias of personalities whom they
practically portray as completely sinless, the savior of the world,
while the opponents are pictured as the devil incarnate, the ultimate
villain deserving instant death and hell.
Some say this is normal. I say it’s not. It’s inhuman, let
alone, unchristian. There seems to be an unspoken
understanding that when it comes to politics, we can behave like
animals, fighting each other over ideas and opinions.
Some say we need not distinguish between the persons of
the candidates, officials and supporters, and the different positions
they hold. Everyone and everything is fair game. Killing can even be
resorted.
We have to say that this cannot be. We are supposed to be
ruled always by something indispensable even in our most contentious
affairs.
Everyone seems to forget that charity is what keeps us
human and Christian in politics as it is in every aspect of our life.
But especially in politics where, by its nature, things can be messy
and tricky. Precisely the complexity of politics makes charity most
indispensable.
Charity is what enables us to respect and love one another
in spite of our sharp differences and conflicts, thereby following
Christ’s new commandment of loving one another “as I have loved you.”
He even went to say that we have to love our enemies. For this love,
Christ ultimately had to die on the cross.
All these for the simple reason that first and last, we
are brothers and sisters, creatures of the same God even if we call
him by different names and describe him in a variety of ways.
Truth is we are all members of the same family. Whether we
like it or not, we are obliged to love one another no matter what.
This is a basic truth that we should never forget, especially when we
do politics.
Some say that charity dilutes if not dissolves many
important values like truth, justice, fairness, etc. That’s why many
politicians do not give much attention to charity. At best, they
render only some lip service to it.
But hardly anything can be farther than the truth, since
charity, in fact, holds the highest standards insofar as these values
are concerned. What is often conveniently forgotten is what while
charity requires the most stringent criteria of truth, justice,
fairness, etc., it goes much further to include mercy and compassion.
It’s charity that would enable us to have a certain
openness to all views and positions, including those we do not agree
or even consider as objectively wrong. It’s not so much because of the
views that we are open as to the persons who hold them.
If, in the worst scenario, we believe that they are in
error, we can try to correct them with utmost delicacy, strictly
following due process that governs the proper resolution of issues.
We should avoid ad hominem attacks, rash judgments that
often are a product of an orchestrated mob rule, assertions and
accusations that hardly have any strong basis or are simply based on
hearsay.
We should try to tame our passions that often blind us and
push us to do uncharitable things. While we inevitably have our biases
and preferences, let’s also be open and fair to those who differ from
us.
In the end, we should be guided by a well-formed
conscience, always attentive to God’s will and ways in doing politics,
and especially when choosing our public officials.
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