Today's Supreme Court Decision

I am saddened that many of my conservative friends, who have long (and rightly) spoken out about the constitutional dangers of judicial activism are champions of the travesty of the Supreme Court's decision today. In a 5-4 decision, the Court has granted corporations a right that the first amendment clearly provided only as a "right of the people" for the past 220 years. By doing so, corporations now have a double measure of free speech. Each and every citizen within the corporation has the original right of free speech, and now the corporation has a second "right" never heretofore granted. Money, not people will now have even greater control of the USA political process.

By creating these artificial collective voices with the stroke of a pen, the High Court has allowed these self-serving behemoths the right to shout so loudly that the singular voices of the People will now be undetectable amongst them. And, by kowtowing to these super voices, it is no longer true that all People are created EQUAL. Those with money are clearly "more equal than others."

I believe that history will show this to be a sad day for our Republic.

Blessed Are The Peacemakers ...

Jesus undercut the basis for all violent, exclusionary and punitive behavior. He became the forgiving victim, so we would stop creating victims ourselves. He became the falsely accused one, so we would be careful whom we accuse.

Any worldly system actually prefers violent partners to nonviolent ones; it gives them a clear target and a credible enemy. Empires are actually relieved to have terrorists to shoot at and Barabbas figures loose on the streets. Types like Jesus, make difficult enemies for empires. They cannot be used or co-opted.

The powers that be know that nonviolent prophets are a much deeper problem because they refuse to buy into the very illusions that the whole empire is built on, especially the myth of redemptive violence. Like Jesus, they live instead a life of redemptive suffering.

Taken from Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, p 152 by Richard Rohr