Democracy and spiritual practice - Wildmind

Due to the alarming political state of affairs within the US, which has parallels with occasions in different international locations, I’ve been writing about how we, as religious practitioners, may skillfully face the troubling feelings politics can provide rise to.

The 2 feelings that stand out for me are concern (the place is that this all going? how dangerous will issues get?) and despair (mourning the lack of democratic norms).

To assist me to cope with these potent feelings, I’ve adopted three slogans: Ft on the bottom. Coronary heart broad open. Eyes upward (or preserve wanting up). These present a framework for my follow.

Ft on the bottom means discovering methods to maintain ourselves emotionally balanced, so we can keep away from panic and despair. We would wish to be aware in our information consumption. We would select to not comply with those that construct followings on social media by producing, outrage, and comply with as a substitute people who find themselves knowledgeable, compassionate, and balanced. Maintaining a every day meditation follow helps us be calmer. Maintaining our friendships (particularly with those that are clever and balanced) helps us with emotional regulation. We would additionally perceive that what’s occurring in the present day is a part of an extended historic sample of swings between extra democratic and autocratic kinds of presidency.
Coronary heart broad open jogs my memory that it’s necessary to not shut down and disengage, regardless of how overwhelming the information is perhaps. We have to create an interior area of compassion — staying in contact with our personal struggling — and dwell from that area. We have to keep in contact with the truth of others’ struggling, and do what we will to assist.
Eyes upward jogs my memory that we mustn’t ever let what’s occurring now appear acceptable. We should keep in mind, at a time of viciousness and chaos, what’s good and regular, and the way issues ought to be. However a return to regular, tough as it’s to think about the trail that takes us there, wouldn’t be sufficient. “Eyes upward” means aspiring to create a greater, fairer society than we had earlier than. Above all, it means creating a deeper appreciation of democracy and wanting a greater, extra inclusive, much less corrupt democracy.

Democracy Is Underneath Menace

The truth is, one of many issues we’re shedding, or is perhaps shedding — and it is a supply each of grief and concern — is democracy itself. The grief comes due to the freedoms and safety we have now misplaced. The concern comes for a lot of causes, however chief amongst them is that when leaders are not topic to democratic accountability, very dangerous issues begin to occur, from political persecution as much as torture, homicide, and genocide.

Democracy goes by intervals of growth and contraction. There have been only a few democracies earlier than World Struggle I, however an explosion of them afterwards. Democracies in that interval additionally turned extra really democratic, extending the franchise to working class males and to ladies.

Earlier than WWII there was rise of authoritarianism and a decline in democracy. However after that conflict, the previous colonies shed their European overlords, former dictatorships turned democracies, and democracy expanded once more. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, many former communist dictatorships adopted democratic types of authorities. The variety of individuals dwelling in democracies peaked round 2006, after which democracy there was an increase as soon as once more of authoritarianism. Typically this authoritarianism took the guise of “intolerant democracy” the place elections happen, however the ruling get together has rigged issues in order that they’re virtually sure to remain in energy. Orbán’s Hungary is a first-rate instance of this.

Proper now we’re seeing a stark decline in democracy in america. Hazard indicators embody:

the president taking management of governmental spending (a perform reserved for congress)
threats to media shops and legislation companies that the president regards as enemies
threats in opposition to judges (and precise arrests)
the chief department defying court docket orders
the federal government making an attempt to take over the working of universities, and so forth.

These are all basic strikes in establishing a Hungary-type authoritarian pseudo-democracy.

Recognizing the long-term ups and downs of democracy reminds us that it’s not “sport over” when a rustic turns into authoritarian and even an outright dictatorship. Authoritarian regimes are likely to implode, and folks’s starvation for freedom and self-determination can by no means be completely suppressed.

Causes to Have Religion In Democracy

I place confidence in democracy as the most effective type of authorities for advanced trendy states. It’s our greatest hope for a dignified human existence. And it’s the greatest political system for facilitating religious follow.

I say this realizing that there isn’t a such factor as an ideal democracy. Human beings are themselves not good, and we’re rising from a historical past soaked in blood. We can not slough off the previous, and need to study from it, generally painfully, with a view to transfer on.

I supply 4 grounds to help my declare that liberal democracy is the most effective type of authorities.

1. Liberal Democracies Are Extra Peaceable

It’s exceedingly uncommon for democracies to go to conflict with one another. The institution of democracy in nearly all of Europe and South America has drastically decreased the incidence of conflict in these areas of the world. The extra democracies there are, the extra peaceable the world is more likely to turn into.

Autocracies are inevitably violent. Their leaders are themselves belligerent and illiberal. They see wars as a great way of distracting a inhabitants from the poor way of life that outcomes from their inept management. Their populations are sometimes unable to protest in opposition to wars. That is the case in Russia, for instance. Individuals could also be so misled by propaganda that they don’t perceive what’s happening. Many individuals in Russia assume their troopers are preventing Nazis in Ukraine. The extra freedom there’s, and the extra the media is ready to report what’s happening, the extra opposition there’s to conflict.

When autocratic leaders don’t direct violence in opposition to different international locations, they usually accomplish that in opposition to less-favored residents of their very own international locations. Liberal democracies are usually peaceable locations to dwell. Residents don’t typically need to concern that they are going to be dragged off for holding dissenting views. As Orwell wrote, “No system besides democracy could be trusted to save lots of us from unspeakable horrors.”

2. Liberal Democracy Permits for Materials Flourishing

Liberal democracies have a tendency to offer a far larger way of life than autocratic regimes. The ten international locations with the best way of life are all liberal democracies, and but liberal democracies rely for under a 3rd of the world’s governments.

Liberal democracies are usually secure, predictable, and sturdy. No democracy is ideal, however in the primary they’ve sturdy political establishments and authorized programs, and democracies often select individuals with demonstrated competence to workers its businesses. Authoritarian regimes, supply authorities posts as rewards to those that exhibit loyalty to the chief. Corruption thrives, and because of this, the nation and its economic system turn into inefficient. The extra dysfunctional and corrupt a democracy is, the extra possible it’s that it’s within the technique of changing into authoritarian.

The extra flawed a democracy is, the more serious the usual of dwelling tends to me. Neither the UK and US is anyplace close to the highest of the usual of dwelling chart (the US is fifteenth, whereas the UK is twenty second), and each international locations have been downgraded by the Economist Intelligence Unit from “full” to “flawed” democracies.

3. Liberal Democracy Permits for Emotional and Religious Flourishing

There’s a motive why so many nice religious and philosophical academics—together with the Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, and Plato—arose within the so-called Axial Age. The invention of iron meant that society was not dwelling at a subsistence degree. Individuals may use iron axes to clear forests for agriculture use, and plow fields with iron-tipped plows. The agricultural surplus they generated, they may transport lengthy distances in carts with iron-rimmed wheels. This created cities, the place minds may extra simply meet and speak.

With a better way of life, and with extra free time, individuals may now ask questions like, “What’s my life’s objective? What does it imply to dwell a very good life?” To focus right here on materials flourishing is to not be materialistic. It’s to acknowledge that freedom from materials need permits for religious flourishing.

Most of the qualities essential within the political tradition of a democracy — a democracy’s “character,” so to talk — are skillful traits of belief, ethics, and empathy. These qualities give rise to well-being in those who bear them and open them as much as religious progress.

In contrast, authoritarian regimes produce sad individuals. Authoritarian governments engender emotions of powerlessness and cynicism. Individuals could consider a regime’s propaganda for some time, however ultimately they notice that they’re surrounded by lies. Everyone seems to be corrupt, and nothing is completed nicely, however altering issues is sort of not possible.

Authoritarian regimes need to distract their populations from their issues. A technique to do that is to generate hatred. Leaders will usually goal a despised group that they blame for society’s issues. On this method, authoritarianism encourages unskillful feelings of hatred and intolerance. For a similar motive it encourages simplistic black and white pondering, quite than extra nuanced pondering that encourages truth-seeking.

4. Liberal Democracies are Tolerant of Religious Exploration

One of many “character traits” of democracies being their tolerance of range, democracies have a tendency to permit for religious experimentation. Mature democracies formally acknowledge, minority religions corresponding to Buddhism, and infrequently give them entry to particular advantages, corresponding to tax-exemptions. Though in some methods the US is a religiously illiberal nation, people who find themselves Buddhists or members of different minority languages have been elected to excessive workplace.

The American experiment took as axiomatic the concept that individuals ought to be free to comply with their very own conscience in in search of a life that’s significant. For that motive, the founders of the US prevented having a state faith. In distinction, autocratic nations usually have a well-liked state faith, and minority religions could also be deprived, discriminated in opposition to, and even persecuted.

Due to these optimistic circumstances, Buddhist sanghas are likely to flourish in democratic nations.

So for these 4 causes — democracies being extra peaceable, affluent, emotionally skillful, and supportive of religious exploration — I describe democracy as essentially the most fascinating type of political group.

We Are the Majority

As democratic norms are eroded, we have to keep away from panic (toes on the bottom), but we have to care deeply (coronary heart broad open) and channel our love anger into opposing dangerous adjustments. And as we do these items we have to preserve reminding ourselves and others of democratic beliefs, and of the fabric, emotional, and religious advantages of democracy (eyes upward). We have to preserve democracy in individuals’s minds and on individuals’s tongues, and resist their tendency to see what’s occurring as inevitable and unstoppable.

It’s the need for freedom that’s unstoppable. Sure, generally individuals take democracy without any consideration. Typically they’ll vote for authoritarian leaders as a result of they’re struggling economically or afraid of demographic change. And for some individuals the cruelty is the purpose.

However as I’ve written earlier than, “[it’s] necessary to keep in mind that there are numerous individuals within the US (and elsewhere, in fact) who consider in kindness, generosity, tolerance, compassion, democracy, standing as much as autocrats, and defending the world that sustains us. That’s far more than half of the inhabitants. We’re the bulk.

We’re the bulk. And we’ll prevail.