Violet White argues that all who are engaged in the struggle for a just society – whether of faith or of no faith – stand on the authority of eternal values and live by faith, and in our perfect storm of disasters it’s time to come together in this empowering spiritual territory: “it’s no mean advantage being on the side of the Universe.”
We rise, insurgent, from the foundations of the earth to manifest their blessed rule of truth, of justice, in the service of love. To bring again incarnate that irrevocable undergirding, against which principalities & powers – these rogue rulers – vainly enthrone themselves, imagining they can overthrow that rule which alone enables life, even their own. We come in all times and in all places and in all peoples against the oppressor, the usurper. We are the people of faiths and not of faiths and we are all people of faith because we are all believers; we walk by faith because faith alone suffices in the midst of devastation, and faith is the victory which overcomes the rule of tyranny.
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None of us know what it is to be infinitely good, but our good faith leads us in the paths of righteousness wherein lie the imperishable footprints of a goodness we have known in those who have gone before, from which we launch our own. We listen, keeping our ears to the ground, alert to the sound of new manoeuvres stirring the surface of the globe, yet seeking always the deep word of its immutable soul. Testing every spirit. There is a time to wait and a time not to hesitate. We are mindful to encourage each other. Sometimes by example, sometimes by affirmation, sometimes by complaint. By accepting difference; by compromise; or by refusing to yield and breaking, dividing and multiplying. Always and ever the struggle continues.
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We are those who have seen the promised land over and over again. We have seen that a people without a vision perish and wither from within; we are not of that benighted company and can never belong to it, though we invite them to enter into the true abundance of the one in which we all – heedful or not –live and move and have our being. We are not of those who draw back to align with perdition, in whose soul none can find delight, for the just shall live by faith. We know it is those who sow in tears who reap in joy. That life defies death. That the last must be first. That the proud are scattered in the imaginations and inventions of their own hearts, while commoners are native. We heed the call in myriad ways, eternally creative. We are the people of faith.
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WE ARE THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH
Resisting the capture of Earth’s bounty
As the capture of Earth’s bounty by the very few rapidly escalates, they are instituting ever more draconian measures to control the rest of us and protect themselves from dissent. What are the sources of confidence we who resist can draw on in this evidently unequal struggle? ‘We are the people of faith’ is a reconsideration of the standing we have and the basis from which – in our many different ways and places – we can collectively resist.
Though this has been a struggle throughout history – and one which needs to be fought again and again on every level – we are spiralling down right now into apparently irreversible catastrophe, and the urgency of resisting effectively could hardly be greater, even as the outlook appears especially bleak.
The monstrous runaway train of extreme wealth inequality – increasing exponentially, dizzying us all with its terrifying, correspondingly massive power imbalance and resultant immense suffering; the climate calamity; the gung-ho ramping up of militarism and the threat of nuclear war; the collapse of even the appearance of respect for international law, as evidenced by the horrifying response of the ‘International Community’ to the genocide in Palestine; the preference amongst our governments for fascist ideology with racism, refugee-bashing, relentless attacks on social welfare and public services, the scapegoating of the most vulnerable and the intensifying crackdown on protest and civil liberties amid rapidly increasing authoritarianism; the corruption and cynicism at the heart of governments in the hegemonic world generally and a wholesale dispensing with truth – even as a concept – by these elites, few of whom are attempting to address the real issues we face – together form a perfect storm of seemingly unstoppable disasters.
The elite and their outriders seem to be in possession of all the material advantages. I want to propose that we are overwhelmingly in possession of all the spiritual and innate advantages, and that it’s time for us all – whether of any particular faith or none – to find unity in this greater strength and go forward with renewed confidence.
Why faith?
When a Labour Party aspiring to socialist principles (unlike before and certainly since) lost the 2019 British election, Jeremy Corbyn signed that off by pointing out that these policies remain extremely popular, and then he made a statement which sounds extraordinary in our times of prescribed political speech, but which calls us beyond those narrow boundaries to remember our history and the timelessness of our struggle:
We will forever continue the cause for socialism,
for social justice, and for a society based on the
needs of all rather than the greed of a few…those
principles are eternal; they will be there for all time.
I think this speaks to who we all are. Because even in the grimmest of times, those of us who resist share an innate sense that, though the odds seem stacked against us and our power often seems negligible, yet we are on the side of the Universe.
I’m a Christian, so the language of faith and eternity is home territory for me. But don’t we all feel our connectedness to the rule that ultimately governs and defines all things? Love, Justice, Truth ..? We don’t just strive for what we prefer, like the materially powerful, but for what is right. And when we try to change the devastation all around us, we enter that struggle in faith – we reach forward in the light of a vision we believe in, based on those values which seem self-evidently true for all time.
We argue from that truth and from empirical truth – which not only looks to what is best in the long run but is increasingly more expedient than expediency, even as the dangers ramp up. Those who have the power to halt (or even slow) our environmental disaster know the empirical truth – they just will not act on it. And their position seems ever more untenable. We see them tying themselves in knots to avoid anyone noticing they are constantly sawing the branch on which not only we, but they themselves, sit.
They fragment, restrict and break truth. But our vision and means are holistic (and we bring our whole selves to the fight). And our struggle is not just for ourselves, but for others, for all. This is a persuasive standing which is powerful both in inspiring other people, and enhancing our solidarity, even as the ethos of the ruling powers is less and less attractive and sustainable.
What shall it profit?
We say oppression damages the oppressor as well as hurting the oppressed, and there is a self-destruction inherent in working to maintain injustice that we see in the gospels being described by Jesus as gaining the world at the expense of your soul (or yourself).
This principle has been startlingly evidenced in the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians. The displays of rank depravity – so prolific in Israeli politicians and soldiers, and which they themselves have unblushingly shared to a mass audience – show them rapidly going under to this offence of their moral compass.
This short poem addressed to the Israeli Occupation describes the process of disintegration:
There is a Cup
As each atrocity spills,
the Cup fills.
They are the deluged;
it is they who bear this grief.
But – be aware –
it is you who will drain it,
steeped in dissolution,
when you come face to face
with who
you have become.
So – another advantage. It is not we who risk the loss of our humanity, at stake in such bargains. Few thoughtful people would consciously choose to pay that price if they foresaw the consequences. And we have seen that some do become aware and change their outlook, highlighting the danger for others and becoming powerful advocates against the evil they previously endorsed.
Testing the spirits
As well as being rooted in the unchanging truth of first principles, we need to be able to discern the truth of the present moment, to interpret the signs of the times, and to recognise where those opposing us are mistaken and persuadable. Where they are proceeding in bad faith, we need the insight to see through their manoeuvres. We need to develop good judgment. We need the wisdom to know when to be relenting and when not to give an inch. This is a fluency better than simplistic dogmatism.
While experience refines these fine-line awarenesses, they derive from an acute ear, drawing on intuitive/spiritual sensitivity, and time for reflection/self-reflection – aside from speaking or acting – can be pivotal to this. Regardless of our spiritual orientation or what we even think that means, we’d be fools to neglect this valuable inner resource; given what we’re up against, we need every weapon in the armoury.
And it’s good to keep our integrity on point in the same way. We shouldn’t waste time or lose ground trusting the untrustworthy, but scepticism is not the same as cynicism, which frequently characterises those who oppose us. Some call for more cynical strategies to play the opposition at their own game; a far less short-sighted aspiration is to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Genuine humility is joined at the hip to true confidence. And we don’t need to be afraid to check our own trustworthiness and renew it; to detect in ourselves false or stale notes and move forward in good faith, adjusting where we see we should. If there’s one thing that characterises governments right now it’s how appallingly untrustworthy they are. Let’s not go there.
It’s rare to arrive in a good place when the other party holds all the cards. And it’s no coincidence that wealth inequality in Britain was at its least when we had an industrial base and widespread collective bargaining. Well, we don’t have anything like that now, so the need to understand and work with the advantages we do have is even greater.
Reclaiming the territory
In conclusion then, in a commonality of faith we have deep sources of sweet confidence and strength that we should never underestimate or be deflected from. Humility is a great thing, but the opposite of humility is pride, not confidence, and it’s not a synonym for timidity, vacillation or weakness of purpose. We have good grounds for our confidence.
Our confidence is fundamentally different from the confidence of ruling elites, which is often pretty flaky, based on compartmentalised premises that don’t even hold together in their own terms, and rooted in their own class arrogance, conscious or otherwise – the artificial status for which they’ve been schooled from birth or have adopted. Our confidence is infinitely purer, deeper and stronger; we reach beyond ourselves and personal sensibilities and ambitions to real values, universal values, values of community, to the inherent worth of each creature, to the primacy of love. This is a confidence that needs no apology and it creates true solidarity – another great advantage.
We are resisting people who – however apparently powerful – are working against the inherent truths that undergird everything; we are working to see those fundamental realities honoured in practice. Anyone who builds, supports or endorses unjust structures is defying the natural authority. They’re the usurpers, the invaders, and they get the payback that comes from running counter to the Universe. We need to reclaim the confidence of who we are: the people of the land.
Being on the side of the Universe is no mean advantage
Every day demonstrates that we have the fight of our lives on our hands right now. We should remind ourselves that we have resources the occupying powers cannot even dream of; lifelines they have fatally (though not necessarily finally) severed themselves from – and in so doing inevitably weakened their position in the most fundamental of ways. It’s no mean advantage being on the side of the Universe! And we should never underestimate the disadvantages stacking up for those who manoeuvre against it.
Whether we are people of particular faiths or of no faith, we who resist injustice are all people of faith, sustained by vision and eternal values. And when people in churches pray ‘Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven’, we are here to remind them what they are praying for and challenge them with the urgency of getting with the (timeless yet ever new) programme, together with those of other faiths and of no faith; to stop dithering on the sidelines if they don’t want to be sidelined. Because this is where the prophetic voice is speaking and will go on speaking – with or without them. United in our aspiration for a just world we will become an irresistible force.
