Politics

Readers of The Urantia Book have many resources with which to interpret and respond to the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington. While lucidly aware of the struggles of the earlier ages of planetary evolution, and alert to the need for strong national defense (804), we look forward to the establishment of the world-wide rule of law and to the planetary transformation that the coming spiritual renaissance will bring. We know that the Most Highs rule in the kingdoms of men.

Insofar as we take our stand simply as representatives of the religion of Jesus, however, our discussions may be more focused. Can we deduce public policy from the teachings of Jesus? “My children, I implore that you cease to apply the teaching of the kingdom of the spirit to the sordid affairs of slavery, poverty, horses, and lands, and to the material problems of human equity and justice” (1605.2).

· Before coming here, Jesus was advised by Immanuel to “avoid all entanglements with the economic structure and the political commitments of your day.”

· To many of his Nazareth neighbors, Jesus’ refusal to join a patriotic organization seemed to betray the urgent political needs of the day.

· During his twenty-seventh year, in the after-supper meetings in the Zebedee household, the boatbuilder of Capernaum spoke freely, expressing “his ideas and ideals about politics, sociology, science, and philosophy.”

· In the Urmia lectures on “The Brotherhood of Men,” Jesus apparently spoke of the need for a government of mankind to complement the religion of universal brotherhood. He also taught that religions must yield sovereignty to God alone.

· In the first sermon of his public career, Jesus very clearly distinguished the kingdom of heaven from nationalist and militarist ideas (1536).

· Following the Ordination Sermon, Jesus “cautioned his apostles to be discreet in their remarks [about political matters] he forbade them to become in any way embroiled in these difficulties. . . . ‘Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and to God the things which are God’s.’ He refused to have his attention diverted from his mission of establishing a new way of salvation; he would not permit himself to be concerned about anything else. In his personal life he was always duly observant of all civil laws and regulations; in all his public teachings he ignored the civic, social, and economic realms” (1580).

· In the Epochal Sermon, Jesus began with a scripture warning of the political disaster that would follow if the people rejected the voice of God; and Jesus reminded his hearers about what the people had done to Jeremiah, who had portrayed a God beyond nationalism, even a God who had used the successful siege of the king of Babylon as an instrument in his far-seeing providence (1709; 1067; cf. 1810.4).

· In his last temple discourse, Jesus pointed out the political consequences of what the religious leaders were about to do: “When once you have finally rejected my Father's mercy, this nation will be left to its own counsels, and it shall speedily come to an inglorious end.” “The Most Highs who rule in the kingdoms of men shall finally overthrow this nation and destroy the place of these rulers . . . .”

· In the following discourse on sonship and citizenship, Jesus reminded us to be excellent citizens, and he said nothing more about such things.

As a result of his great decisions made at the start of his public career, Jesus would consistently refuse to use his powers to pursue material or political ends. Though almost no one appreciated the fact, his devotion to the gospel actually offered the Jews their best chance for national survival.

Most of the widely heralded religious leaders of the past century followed a different model. They were political leaders as well as religious leaders.

Those who effectively and exclusively devote themselves to the gospel today little sense their implicit statesmanship in obeying revealed guidelines in their work. What mortal can tell the political stakes involved? “When culture advances overfast, when material achievement outruns the evolution of worship-wisdom, then does civilization contain within itself the seeds of retrogression; and unless buttressed by the swift augmentation of experiential wisdom, such human societies will recede from high but premature levels of attainment, and the "dark ages" of the interregnum of wisdom will bear witness to the inexorable restoration of the imbalance between self-liberty and self-control” (1302.3).

We do not need prophetic details in order to trust the Master’s promise: “The persistent preaching of this gospel of the kingdom will some day bring to all nations a new and unbelievable liberation, intellectual freedom, and religious liberty” (1931). The religions of this world will someday "realize a unity in true worship of the Father of all" (1012).

Who is called to proclaim the gospel of love and mercy? “Religion does need new leaders, spiritual men and women who will dare to depend solely on Jesus and his incomparable teachings. If Christianity persists in neglecting its spiritual mission while it continues to busy itself with social and material problems, the spiritual renaissance must await the coming of these new teachers of Jesus' religion who will be exclusively devoted to the spiritual regeneration of men. And then will these spirit-born souls quickly supply the leadership and inspiration requisite for the social, moral, economic, and political reorganization of the world” (2082-83).

This is a time when many people are ready to respond to leadership. Even when the planet is tense, you who know the present reality of the universal family will join the spirit of “the calm and happy laborer,” who finally entered Jerusalem on a donkey, a symbol of peace and friendship. You are the light of the world!

The following message, addressed by Lee Armstrong to the Gospel School, November 18, 2005, does such a nice job of complementing the statement above that I requested Lee's permission--which he granted--to add it to this document.

Dear Gospel School friends,

I want to explore some ideas on this topic of the gospel and politics. I think there are different issues involved. I've read Jeff's excellent website entry "Jesus & Politics." For one who exclusively devotes herself or himself to the proclamation of the gospel, I think Jesus' advice to steer clear of political involvement is a word to the wise. In looking at the apostles and the followers of Jesus during his life, I think we can see a difference between the apostles who are exclusively devoted to the gospel and disciples who were supporters of the gospel, but who also lived the Urantian lifestyle with its multitude of material and social demands.

While the teachings of The Urantia Book have greatly influenced every aspect of my life, I regard the teachings as something to be implemented in my life experience. In other words, the goal is to live our spiritual values in the material world. Thus, my viewpoint of my own life would make me more of a "disciple" of the gospel rather than an "apostle," or one exclusively devoted to the teaching of the gospel. For me, this means that I look for numerous ways and numerous places to insert the teachings in my public contact as well as trying to attune my own inner spiritual growth to the will of our Heavenly Father.

Evolutionary man does not naturally relish hard work. To keep pace in his life experience with the impelling demands and the compelling urges of a growing religious experience means incessant activity in spiritual growth, intellectual expansion, factual enlargement, and social service. There is no real religion apart from a highly active personality. Therefore do the more indolent of men often seek to escape the rigors of truly religious activities by a species of ingenious self-deception through resorting to a retreat to the false shelter of stereotyped religious doctrines and dogmas. But true religion is alive. Intellectual crystallization of religious concepts is the equivalent of spiritual death. You cannot conceive of religion without ideas, but when religion once becomes reduced only to an idea, it is no longer religion; it has become merely a species of human philosophy. (102:2, 1120.4)

For me, this means that involvement in the political and social concerns of my community is a demonstration of religious faith, not a diversion from it. "Politics" is most often associated with government, but the truth is that "politics" occurs with any social group, anytime human beings interact and work together. In Paper 10, "The Paradise Trinity," The Urantia Book defines the social group:

The Son is indispensable to the fatherhood of God. The Spirit is indispensable to the fraternity of the Second and Third Persons. Three persons are a minimum social group, but this is least of all the many reasons for believing in the inevitability of the Conjoint Actor. (10:2, 110.1)

This number is consistent with what we teach in communications about the small group process. Thus, "politics" occurs in the family, in the workplace, in church and religious organizations, civic groups or just about anywhere three are gathered for some purpose. I think the key to successful political discussion is love. If we can remember that we love the person or people to whom we talk, then we can avoid the sting of the unethical fallacies such as personal attack (ad hominem) that often cloud rather than clarify debate.

Regarding the gospel and The Urantia Book, it's important to remember that these multi-sided teachings can be viewed in a number of different ways. In my country, our main political organizations or political parties are the Democrat and Republican. Readers of The Urantia Book may well more identify with either of these and still regard their values as grounded in the teachings of the gospel. I think this would probably be mirrored in readerships in countries throughout the world, whether their political parties tend to be regarded "liberal" or "conservative." The teachings appeal to all. So for interaction within Urantia circles, I tend to apply the apostolic model and try very hard to separate the political concerns from our tasks as readers.

That said, as a "highly active personality," I am involved in a wide range of social activity, some of it is political. I don't view this as different from my basic spiritual values, but as demonstrations of them. However, it is as an individual that I do this. I think it is valid for our spiritual values to shape and impact our moral understandings and social concerns. However, I become quite nervous when people then take their particular religious understanding and apply it as the stamp of authenticity for some political program or viewpoint, as if God had endorsed a particular political viewpoint. In this way, I see politicians "using" religion for political gain, rather than sincerely demonstrating their religious values in the causes and concerns they choose to support. So I believe that the separation of church and state is wise at the same time balanced by the paradox position that our religious values do impact how we view the world.

I may have taken this discussion in a slightly different tangent that what Jeff may have intended and will let it go. But if you forget everything else I have said, the most important thing to remember is that if we are able to truly love each other, we can disagree without causing hurt or injury.

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Jesus and Politics