Have you ever been apart of an evil leadership team? Have you ever supported evil leadership by not making the time to be informed, not speaking up, and being way too passive in the face of evil leadership?
I believe I can be faulted for supporting evil decisions and leadership at times by simply not making the time to be informed, reflect deeply on the matter, or act. Also, I have erred in life in ways that I regret. My errors were not intentional, but instead due to a lack of skill, discipline, or knowledge. I did make the time to know/learn better as well as make amends after episodes like this. Also, when I think of some political actions that occurred when I was a young twenty-something, I didn't make the time to understand the issues. Even recently, after the deadly, inhumane terrorist attack in Israel, I didn't make enough time to be rightly informed about the resulting violence that killed and maimed innocent people in Gaza. I should have spoken up and acted earlier to speak out against the aggressions in Gaza.
Bottom line, if we act in ways that support good lives for all children, we will act in ways that are productive, positive, and life-enriching. In Gaza, some leaders at home and many from abroad did not do right by children. Similarly during the cruel and inhumane terrorist attack in Israel, children were harmed and killed; and now in Iran and Lebanon as well as Ukraine and Russia, children's lives are harmed, killed, and put at risk. The first priority of good leadership should be to care for children--ALL children. Growing up in a Christian faith, I was always struck by Christ's message to care for children; and now as an adult I am heart-broken and angered by the way too many disregard that message as they wage war in Christ's name. That is wrong.
So, as I consider evil leadership, I first want to make amends and understand the times I may have knowingly or unknowingly contributed to evil. Fortunately thanks to having a wide support group of good family, community members, and friends around me, I didn't get mired in too many evil situations. This strong foundation of good makes me realize how horrible the current illegal war in Iran is--the Iranian situation could have been resolved peacefully with the use of diplomacy, sanctions, and supports. But instead, our all-too eager Trump administration who live in their delusions of almighty power and wealth, chose a sloppy, costly, wasteful, inhumane war instead--a war that is wrecking lives across the globe.
We have to slow life down in ways that help us to understand the issues of the day deeply. We have to slow life down in ways that give us insight and the energy to act in ways that lift up lives and protect the planet everywhere on Earth. We have to make the time to create policies and laws that promote the best lives we can imagine. Our too-quick and too-often ego-driven world of power cripples us when it comes to good leadership and powerful, positive action. We negate the potential we hold to imagine and create an awesome world for all; and too often we support quick, dehumanizing actions such as war to solve problems. Solutions like war only make problems, in the long run, greater.
We have to implore our more rational, intelligent selves to seek ways to create peaceful, productive growth the world over. There are countless, positive, imaginative solutions we can employ to meet that equation of good living for all, and that's what we should be working on rather than spending all of our time, money, minds, and resources on destruction, oppression, harm, hurt, and death. We can do better.
Today as I think about this message, I want to think about the decisions I make every day with these questions in mind:
- Am I contributing to the greater good for people and the planet?
- Are there positive and peaceful ways that I can counter the evil that exists in the world?
- Do I support evil in any way, and if I do, how can I change that?
- How can I positively effect change for the better?
- How can I build better patterns into my daily routine--patterns that help me to stay informed with regard to honest information and positive solutions to the world problems.
