On Being Apolitical or Neutral by Karen Tate

I believe we are all One and part of the cosmic web.  Chaos theory, the butterfly wings moving in Oregon can affect a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico.  Or quantum entanglement, two or more objects can affect each other no matter how far apart they are.  Yes, we are all inter-connected whether we believe or understand it.   So the crazy neighbor or uncle we can’t stand and roll our eyes every time they spew sh*t out of their mouth, well they are part of us.  As are rich and poor, black and white, male/female/trans, Left and Right, American and French, Christian and Pagan, educated and less educated, religious and atheist, etc.  If we are more tolerant and inclusive, if we focus on love, joy and being in the grace of the Light we might evolve or ascend as so many are talking about these days.  The “deplorables” like the uncle or neighbor would do better if they knew better.

Can you remember when you had the self awareness to know you just didn’t know what you didn’t know?  They don’t yet.  I think, we, as a part of them, we have to “hold space” and move forward in love until they educate themselves, self correct and rein in their hate or bad behavior or thoughts.  As One, it’s as if one of our appendages is broken.  We don’t cut it off.  We tend it until it’s healed and healthy through all the pain and physical therapy.  Eventually we’re whole.

Unless this “part of us” is threatening our way of life…

That’s the special circumstance where are called to choose between one or the other, especially in today’s current political climate.  It is a false equivalency to say today’s two political parties are “all the same” and equally bad.  If you think that, you’ve really not been paying any attention for years.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame you for tuning out – it’s not been fun –  but imperfect Democrats and today’s MAGA, Christian Nationalist, anti-democratic Republicans are NOT the same. 

Today’s Republicans are neither your grand-father’s moderate Eisenhower Republicans who continued New Deal programs and believed in Social Security or your father’s Reagan Republicans, conservatives who believed in government being so small it could be drowned in the bathtub – in other words, helping no one but the rich. You can’t take away the rights of women and voters, ban books, try to steal elections, discriminate against non-whites/non-Christian/non-hetero people, fail to protect kids from gun violence, deny science and misinform and con people or not defend the Constitution/democracy or the rule of law and be the good guys. There is one side doing all that and more and it’s not the Democrats.

So please, before your eyes glaze over and you tune me out, or before you say you think the answer is dis-engaging, being neutral or apolitical, I’m not sure that’s the answer either. Staying out of the fray, keeping your hands clean while others fight to protect your rights might make you feel you’re above or beyond it all or more spiritual but you’re not.  Being apolitical or neutral or unbiased is political as silence enables oppression. You’re helping the bad guys!  Wake up! It’s also irresponsible, keeps you unaware and vulnerable and it is serious spiritual bypassing.  We aren’t going to just wake up one day and everyone is going to be enlightened and living on New Earth.  Hopefully we transition there but we have to live together through that transition.  Maybe we’re actually living through that transition NOW.  We want institutions to change (or even fall?) but we have to live through that transition or that vacuum.  So don’t bypass your common sense either.

  I’m reminded of the famous quote from Dante’s Inferno:

“The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.” – Dante Alighieri, Canto 3: Inferno

Or the quote from an unknown source:

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.”

Hey, I get this is not fun and living life is complicated.  Maybe I’m asking for too much.  Afterall, if you’re struggling to stand up yourself, how can I ask you to stand up for others?  If you tolerate abuse maybe it would make you more comfortable if I did too.  We’re all products of the narratives we’re brought up with, the messages we got at the dinner table or from the pulpit and the social and political climate in which we live, including what level of education we received – it all shapes us.  And even if we are all ONE and aspects of each other, can I just ignore the dangerous or threatening aspects of “me” and do nothing?  No.  Abdicating one’s responsibility is not the answer even if past trauma or current fear or hopelessness makes you want to spiritually bypass and bury your head in the sand and pretend what’s happening out there isn’t. 

Look, I don’t have all the answers yet. I’m an imperfect human doing my best to be tolerant even of the intolerable.  I care about people, the common good and social justice and act accordingly.  That’s got to count for something and put some value or good karma in my karma bank. I mean it has so far.  But I’m not wearing blinders to evolve or ascend.  Dropping out or spiritual bypassing can’t be the answer.

BIO: Karen Tate is a thought leader, speaker, seven-times published author, podcaster and social justice activist, Karen is a Caring Economy Conversation leader and Power of Partnership presenter. She has a certification from Smith College in the Psychology of Political Activism:  Women Changing the World and she can be seen in the award-winning docu-film, Femme: Women Healing the World. She has been named one of thirteen Most Influential Women in Goddess Spirituality. Her newest book is Normalizing Abuse: A Commentary on Our Pervasive Culture of Abuse. For more information:  http://www.karentate.net