…the True Believer?

Republican and Democratic candidates for President all have the same problem. They’re focusing on one of two words.

Who’s REALLY conservative? Who’s REALLY progressive?

The buzz words, which mean little or nothing without clear definition, have become the litmus tests. No can define what they mean exactly. But on both sides of the aisle, what is at stake is a new kind of true belief, a new form of orthodoxy (i.e., right thinking) – the true believer. Or, as it is described in my tradition, ‘the righteousness‘.

The claim to righteousness is a soul-numbing claim. In the face of it, Micah shifts the conversation from righteousness to goodness:

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,and to walk humbly with your God?” – Micah 6:8.

What would happen if we considered policy/program proposals and political candidates by the standards of goodness: justice, kindness, and humility?

Micah test is both conservative and progressive. It conserves a core ancient teaching of the western tradition, and it puts social justice, kindness, and humility at the center of public life.

What’s not to like about that?

• Gordon C. Stewart, Chaska, MN, Feb. 8, 2016.