The SB Question on Social Engagement
It’s hard to ignore the numbers of cases of Covid 19 spread across TV, Facebook, and seemingly everywhere. It’s hard to turn away from the reports about the virus, to ignore the stories of people dying without a loved one by their side, to be unaffected by the violence against black people, and to be indifferent to the lines of cars outside food banks. The visuals of this moment are fraught with widespread and contagious emotions that are depressing, scary, and unsettling.
Social justice and social transformation seem to be happening by the pure passion and willpower of human beings everywhere in this country. There is, in almost everyone, a burning desire to remove the injustices that have plagued society for so long. The rivers of social pain are now overflowing, and I have to say, I am inspired and encouraged by the current state of society fighting for what’s right. The pressure on those who control the levers of change is so great and widespread that change will happen. We have seen it before, and will see it many times to come, as this is the way social progress is accelerated.
Question 876 of The Spirits’ Book, discusses the answer that is setting alight the purpose behind such a profound desire for change and transformation: “In all ages and in all beliefs, human beings have sought to enforce their personal rights. An inspiring implication of the Christian doctrine is that this insistence on our own rights has become the basis for insisting on the rights of others.”
Implicit in the spirits’ answer is the notion that social changes require activism, peaceful protest, community organizing, engagement and financial support for movements such as Black Lives Matter and other social justice movements. We must insist with all resources available to us that our rights, and the rights of others, be defended. It is this form of commitment from our communities that affirms that we are the masters of our destiny, here, and in the hereafter.
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