Religion and Rebellion

Religious People Take Note:

In a telegram to President John Kennedy in 1963, noted theologian, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel concluded that “We forfeit the right to worship God as long as we continue to humiliate Negroes.  Church and synagogue have failed.” 

Heschel and Martin Luther King

Fifty-seven years later, that message is “Black Lives Matter.”  Those that do not subscribe to it have indeed forfeited the right to worship God. 

  

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Thoughts on Rebellion

What causes people to rebel against their rulers?  When an existing governmental structure is unable to fulfill the needs of the majority of the people, they consider the words of Shakespeare and “take arms against a sea of troubles … and by opposing, end them.” 

In our history, this happened successfully in 1776 and unsuccessfully in 1860 for a significant portion of our population in the South.   It happened in Europe in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries when monarchies no longer operated effectively.  It happened in Russia at the time of the First World War.  It happened in China under Mao’s leadership.  It happened to the Roman Empire over many years. 

Rarely do existing governments readily acquiesce to such change.  They try to establish ways of stopping it through their powers by curtailing freedoms.  

As violent as steps to fight rebellion might be, those rebelling often resort to 

The French Revolution resulted in
many losing their heads

similar acts to acheive and maintain power. The French Revolution in the late Eighteenth century is an example.  Fidel Castro came into power in Cuba because of the shortcomings, recognized by the people, of the existing government and although the Cuban people are not completely happy with the results, the government has made rebellion unlikely if not impossible by authoritarian means.

A common thread in such rebellion is that it is against a system, rather than against an individual leader.  (Attempts to dislodge Adolf Hitler failed.) There usually is someone else to step into his or her role.  As much as some Americans despise Donald Trump, there will be no rebellion against him.  He merely represents and is made possible by the existing system, and even movements which have the emotional flavor of, but not the substance of, rebellion are directed toward it, rather than at an individual.  An example of this might be calls to “defund the police.”

Getting back to Shakespeare, “taking arms against a sea of troubles” usually requires the cooperation of those who possess a country’s ‘arms,’ the military.  That has always been a part of successful rebellions.  A good example is today’s Venezuela, ripe for rebellion, but those who want to bring it about there lack the support of the military. 

Let’s leave this with the famous quote of philosopher George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Your comments are welcome.

 JL