WE should never think that charity is
the odd man out in
the field of politics. Precisely because politics is fast becoming
like a contact game, sportsmanlike charity should be the main
character in it.
Charity and politics are not meant to fight each other.
They need each other. Charity should be the soul of politics. And
politics, given our social nature, should be one of the best occasions
where charity can be developed and lived fully. It provides an
excellent test to see if charity is authentic.
Charity is what makes us to be real men and women, not
human caricatures stretched and warped by our petty shenanigans. It’s
what we need to live and have, if we want to keep our humanity, sanity
and sanctity intact. It’s what leads us to truth and objectivity,
freedom, justice, fairness and mercy, especially in our politics.
And so we just have to learn how to keep our emotions and
judgments in control, and to be quick to rectify our instinctive or
spontaneous reactions. Charity needs to spring first from the heart,
mind and will that should be vitally linked to God, and then packaged
with the best refinement we are capable of. Again, especially in our
politics.
We have to disabuse ourselves from the thought, sadly
quite common these days, that in politics some exceptions from charity
can be tolerated and even expected. We can feel free to insult,
attack, even make up charges, indulge in some below-the-belt gimmicks…
No, that’s not true at all.
The real test to see if we are doing politics truly proper
to us is when we manage to live charity even in the midst of the
dizzying variety of possibilities and conflicts politics can occasion.
It’s when the heat generated by politics also fans the flames of love
for God and for the others.
One time, I felt so gratified when I happened to take
dinner in a private setting with, among others, two politicians who
were supposed to be at odds with each other, at least in the papers.
At that time, they were chummy and exchanging jokes, and they
refrained from talking politics in my presence.
What we should do in politics, whether we are politicians
or ordinary citizens and voters, is first of all to pray and offer
sacrifices, to see to it that our spiritual life is strong and healthy
before we enter into the intricacies of our unavoidable politics.
Never ignore this requirement. They are what will link our politics to
the very providence of God.
Then we have to know and study the issues well. In this
regard, we have to be open-minded and willing to listen to all sides
as much as possible. We should try to make a conscious effort to
reject biases and prejudices that we find to have no good basis.
Dialogues are crucial in this area. Thus, they should be
conducted in the most charitable way, always respectful of everyone no
matter how much we disagree with them. We should avoid inflammatory
rhetoric, rash judgments and tactless statements.
We should just stick to the objective points of our views,
letting them swim or sink on their own merits in the ocean of opinions
that can be floated by others. We need to be highly sport here, seeing
to it that an atmosphere of civility and good spirit pervades.
That the others do some anomalies is no excuse for us to
do the same things. Remember that charity “is patient, is kind, it
does not envy, does not deal perversely, it is not puffed up, is not
ambitious…it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things
and endures all things.” (1Cor 13,4-7)
Then we have to know and study the politicians and
candidates. This is the most tricky part, but we just have to try our
best to get a good picture especially of their integrity and
competence, the two basic elements to know about them.
Again here, it’s more of establishing the positive aspects
rather than of the negative side of the personalities involved. We
have to be careful to distinguish the traits that we think can serve
the needs of our political life, from the personal defects that should
not be put out in public unless they have some bearing in public life.
Then we have to really understand the essence of freedom
which should infuse every step of our political exercises. Freedom and
charity go together always, and they give more importance to the
persons than to the issues. Our attitude to politics should have this
basic orientation.
the field of politics. Precisely because politics is fast becoming
like a contact game, sportsmanlike charity should be the main
character in it.
Charity and politics are not meant to fight each other.
They need each other. Charity should be the soul of politics. And
politics, given our social nature, should be one of the best occasions
where charity can be developed and lived fully. It provides an
excellent test to see if charity is authentic.
Charity is what makes us to be real men and women, not
human caricatures stretched and warped by our petty shenanigans. It’s
what we need to live and have, if we want to keep our humanity, sanity
and sanctity intact. It’s what leads us to truth and objectivity,
freedom, justice, fairness and mercy, especially in our politics.
And so we just have to learn how to keep our emotions and
judgments in control, and to be quick to rectify our instinctive or
spontaneous reactions. Charity needs to spring first from the heart,
mind and will that should be vitally linked to God, and then packaged
with the best refinement we are capable of. Again, especially in our
politics.
We have to disabuse ourselves from the thought, sadly
quite common these days, that in politics some exceptions from charity
can be tolerated and even expected. We can feel free to insult,
attack, even make up charges, indulge in some below-the-belt gimmicks…
No, that’s not true at all.
The real test to see if we are doing politics truly proper
to us is when we manage to live charity even in the midst of the
dizzying variety of possibilities and conflicts politics can occasion.
It’s when the heat generated by politics also fans the flames of love
for God and for the others.
One time, I felt so gratified when I happened to take
dinner in a private setting with, among others, two politicians who
were supposed to be at odds with each other, at least in the papers.
At that time, they were chummy and exchanging jokes, and they
refrained from talking politics in my presence.
What we should do in politics, whether we are politicians
or ordinary citizens and voters, is first of all to pray and offer
sacrifices, to see to it that our spiritual life is strong and healthy
before we enter into the intricacies of our unavoidable politics.
Never ignore this requirement. They are what will link our politics to
the very providence of God.
Then we have to know and study the issues well. In this
regard, we have to be open-minded and willing to listen to all sides
as much as possible. We should try to make a conscious effort to
reject biases and prejudices that we find to have no good basis.
Dialogues are crucial in this area. Thus, they should be
conducted in the most charitable way, always respectful of everyone no
matter how much we disagree with them. We should avoid inflammatory
rhetoric, rash judgments and tactless statements.
We should just stick to the objective points of our views,
letting them swim or sink on their own merits in the ocean of opinions
that can be floated by others. We need to be highly sport here, seeing
to it that an atmosphere of civility and good spirit pervades.
That the others do some anomalies is no excuse for us to
do the same things. Remember that charity “is patient, is kind, it
does not envy, does not deal perversely, it is not puffed up, is not
ambitious…it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things
and endures all things.” (1Cor 13,4-7)
Then we have to know and study the politicians and
candidates. This is the most tricky part, but we just have to try our
best to get a good picture especially of their integrity and
competence, the two basic elements to know about them.
Again here, it’s more of establishing the positive aspects
rather than of the negative side of the personalities involved. We
have to be careful to distinguish the traits that we think can serve
the needs of our political life, from the personal defects that should
not be put out in public unless they have some bearing in public life.
Then we have to really understand the essence of freedom
which should infuse every step of our political exercises. Freedom and
charity go together always, and they give more importance to the
persons than to the issues. Our attitude to politics should have this
basic orientation.
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