2012-03-15-Politics

Session

• Transcribed by Halbert Katzen

Dialogue

Dear Michael and Mother Spirit, tonight I have what I hope is not too strange a request, or something that might be considered just a pure curiosity question. But I was thinking, now in our political season, just how you two view these processes that we go through in order to elect our officials. So if you would consider that, and if it’s possible to answer in a short time on such a broad question, we would appreciate it. Amen.

Lesson

Politics

Good evening, this is Michael. Mother Spirit and I would be glad to address your question. You are correct that it is such a broad term that perhaps we should begin by defining politics as just all those processes by which individual men and women are chosen for governmental positions. And this is generally in all three recognized branches of government—the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. If there’s one word I could think of to address this whole subject it would be—necessity.

• The necessity for politics

There is definitely a necessity to have leaders in modern societies. In fact, ever since the most ancient, primitive tribal organizations, where you had just a few elders--men and women of lifetime experience and supposed wisdom--to help direct the affairs of the tribe; all the way down to modern days: the first thing to notice in a very general worldwide sense is that almost all phases of evolutionary government are still existent on the planet. You still have very isolated primitive tribes with a counsel of elders who, to various degrees of formality, do conduct the affairs of everyone; all the way to your large nations. Now as your own country is undergoing these political processes to pick out your community leaders, ranging from the city council all the way up to the national level--this is all politics, the way these leaders are chosen and the amount of power that is given them.

So let’s look at that power. Although it exists on mental levels of persuasion, coercion, and argument, and implying spiritual levels of value, still what characterizes politics--shall we say from educational institutions—is a kind of physical power. In other words, not only do these various government agencies create and promulgate laws--rules of human behavior, they have the physical authority by way of police and, on an international level, the military, to enforce these laws. So one of the things that characterizes the political realm is this physical power to enforce the laws that are created. The other major function of modern government is the assessing of taxes and fees to finance the societies involved. Whether again it’s on a city, or country, state, or federal level, it is a function of government to assess and collect these taxes and these fees and then to disperse them as they see fit.

In the evolution of government--which Mother Spirit and I definitely recommend you reading that chapter in The Urantia Book because it’s far too lengthy and detailed to go into here--in the evolution of government you’ve come down to some modern, relatively democratic nation-states where politics pretty much refers to the processes by which men and women are elected. And right now, you in the United States are going through this, where the party out-of-power is selecting its candidates, and the party in-power has its contra arguments to make.

Insofar as Mother Spirit and I are mainly concerned with each one of you as individuals and not as political parties or groups, we can only assure you, again, of the necessity for this whole realm of human behavior and activity. Government is an absolute necessity just above the small consanguine family group. There is some organization and some authority needed in such a nation-state as the United States. There has to be some accountability for those laws that are on the books--the tens and hundreds of thousands of them. There has to be some means for the citizens of your country to become aware of these laws. And that is so much a part of your education system, not only formally instructing the children what these laws are, but what they can infer from all the behavior around them--what is legal, what is not, and even what is extra-legal--what is generally being done irrespective of the laws.

Citizenship

• Civic responsibility

Mother Spirit and I wish to emphasize, more than anything else, your responsibility, your ability to respond to these duties put upon you as a citizen. It is only occasionally that you get a chance to vote and cast your own preference for who is going to fulfill those government offices around you. And as you know, there are so many media--from newspapers, magazines, the television networks--all with their more or less proclaimed, or just implicit, point of view. The realization of this implicit point of view can very quickly lead you to understand how the only way to arrive at even a relatively objective understanding of any political situation; the only way is to keep an open mind and literally to shop around. It helps to enjoy this process, to check out different commentary from commentators expressing their political opinion, because it very quickly gets into several major camps—what you call political parties, or just general philosophies of government. It is good to sample, to be eclectic, to compare one against the other, for any reliance upon a single network to give you a full and comprehensive view of not only what exists--what is the political situation, but what are the choices you have as an individual, what are the contrasting points of view?

There is no other way, my children, to really comprehend what is happening in the political realms except by doing this, by, shall we say, giving up your own prejudice, your own pre-judging of the situation, and realizing that there are so many points of view. Obviously these points of view coalesce into political parties and political dogma, a realm where, similarly, you have the dogma of established churches. It is only by tuning into your own inner comprehension, based on a wide sampling of opinion: this is the only way to arrive at your own individual and unique understanding. For it’s from this understanding that you can draw your choices then for who is relatively better suited to carry whatever government organization on into the future—the better, ideal future that you envision. This is your duty. This is your responsibility as a citizen--to make your opinion known whether it’s for the city counsel, the state senator, or the president.

This is a subject in which one could say a thousand words, or a million words, and so I’ll leave it at this and hope that I’ve given you a feeling of this responsibility, this civic responsibility that everyone has: to be as informed as possible within your own lifestyle. To be curious about these matters. To listen with an open mind to all the various, conflicting, warring points of view. And then use your own creative spirit to come up with what you individually think is best. And make it known: get out there and vote!

So I have to leave at this, my dear ones. The realm of politics, messy as it is with all the conflicting claims, and promises, and results: it is a stark necessity. But one you will be relieved, as you move on in your spiritual life, to find there are the celestial organizations of executive and legislative and judicial power. They’re a little more transparent, a little more obvious and consistent and comprehensive in their inner workings. So with that I’ll open the floor to any questions or comments you may have. Go ahead.

Dialogue

Student: Good evening, Michael. This is G.

Michael: Good evening.

Student: Thank you for that. I appreciate that lesson. I personally enjoy politics. I don’t care for it when it gets all the way down into mudslinging, but I’ve worked in politics and enjoyed it a lot. It has a magic to it. It takes on a life of its own and a lot of people get really caught up in it. So it can be a dangerous arena. Not that people begin to believe what they’re stumping--but I don’t know what it is. I guess it’s potential for good or evil is really notable; you can feel it. Anyway, I just wanted to say I appreciate what you had to say.

So many people think it’s just a worthless waste of time. They don’t want to think about it. They don’t want to talk about it. They think that it has no bearing on their spiritual life. To me, that is the arena, a major part of the arena, where we work and do our service. It all reflects on us as citizens of this world as well the heavenly kingdom. This is the work of our realm. We don’t have to run for office, but you just can’t walk around not knowing something about what’s going on in the world and having an opinion. And I think that’s much of what this is, is just having the courage to have an opinion about some of these issues that we vote on, or that they represent what moves and shapes our nation, our world, our arena. Anyway, I thank you for that.

• The raw nature of politics

Michael: Well, you’re welcome, my daughter. There is a certain concreteness, you might say, to the political realm. In spite of the organization--from the most severe fascist type of control to the most egalitarian democracy--there’s a certain concreteness of living men and women filling those positions of power. One of your more cynical rulers one time said, it’s not who casts the votes but who counts the votes that really matters. But either way, someone ends up standing there with all this power, all this physical power of written law, police, and military. And that is what constitutes--in that very thing, I think--as you say, what turns some people off because it seems too raw, too crude. Yet there it is--a necessity and very much a part of your lives that pretends, anyway, to determine human behavior.

Now Mother Spirit and I are well aware of all the extra legal activities, everything from the black market to, as an extreme example, an assassination to get rid of a leader: all does still exist around the world in various forms. Right now a lot of the old, established dictatorships are being challenged and overthrown. So it’s this very raw, physical nature of politics that is so much a part of your physical human lives that it does deserve its due respect. So thank you, my daughter, for bringing that up. And be in my peace.

Student: Thank you, Michael. And thank you, Jerry.

Closing

Michael: Well, if there are no more questions or comments this evening--I understand there might be some kind of physical, electronic difficulties in people getting through this evening. In either case, I thank all of you who make these lessons of Mother Spirit’s and my own, make them available to all the folks who are curious and interested. We do thank you for your efforts.

And so with this I’ll bid you all a fond Good Evening. Be in my peace.