What I Want to Believe

The true nature of power is in weakness and suffering. - George Ellis

As much as I lean toward thinking of humans as a big brutish greedy species who dirty their own nest and destroy everything in sight, I have often wondered why, if we are that bad, we haven't already destroyed ourselves. There have been plenty of opportunities for red buttons to be pushed, a plethora of opportunities for nuclear annihilation. I'm sure we have met the quota of hate and fear needed to get the job done.. So why haven't we? (Ok, here comes Gidget.)

Maybe there is a moral framework, an ethical force built into the universe. That's what George Ellis, a Quaker physicist scholar from Capetown, South Africa believes. I listened to an interview with him during my drive to NYC, and his ideas seem relevant and hopeful, just like Liberation Theology before it was destroyed by the Vatican. Isn't it sad that love, peace, tolerance and fairness are seen as radical concepts in our world?

Ellis talked about Knosis, a Greek word that means "to empty yourself" as a concept discovered independently by all the great religions of the world (he believes they discovered the concept within the fabric of the universe, that they did not invent it). The evidence in Christianity would be Christ giving up his life to save the lives of others. He gave examples from his own life as an activist working to end apartheid, a system that seemed indestructable but was eventually brought down by what he calls Knosis, and he also talked about the peaceful resistance of Ghandi and Martin Luther King as examples of Knosis. The universe is effected when you give up your self, give up your need for revenge, give up your preconceived notions and balance self-interest with the interest of others. All of these acts require unconditional (or agape) love, and can change the enemies' mind.

Ellis talked about a wartime situation (Afghanistan?) where a group of soldiers were taught peaceful resistance when the townspeople threw stones at them. They simply stood, letting the stones hit them. Even in more dangerous situations their orders were to not kill anyone. This strategy seems crazy to us now, after all the spooked soldiers shooting Iraqi citizens on impulse. Eventually the people of the town, not getting the desired reaction, stopped throwing stones. And the soldiers, whose self-respect was still intact, loved and respected their leader.

To not retaliate requires extreme courage. Our culture, however, teaches us just the opposite. Ellis believes that TV and movies are enemies, that they teach us that killing is the way to solve problems. But I think TV and movies just mimic aspects of our wider culture. Our leaders (people in power) teach us that killing is the way to solve problems.

Can you imagine having a president that you respect and trust, and would take a stand and balance our self-interest with the interest of others? Can you imagine a leader who knows that true security means having no enemies, and uses their power to change enemies to friends? I can't imagine it. I don't believe it will happen, we are too far gone. But this is what I want to believe.