personalism, nonviolence and seeking the left wing of what is possible...

One of the most complex challenges I experience doing ministry in this ever-shifting moment in history has to do with radical Christian love. Let me note from the outset that I am NOT talking about a sentimental spirituality that denies the reality of evil; nor am I advocating a naive notion of grace like Rodney King said after the LA riots of 1991: Why can't we all just get along? No, as a life-long student of MLK, I affirm his spirituality of personalism that was shaped by both the mystical Howard Thurman and the philosophical Jacques Ellul. This way of engaging the world posits a third way between the radical laissez-faire individualism of conservatives and the inclination of liberals to craft a one-size-fits-all collectivism. 

Christian Personalism emphasizes the significance, uniqueness, and inviolability of the individual, while also highlighting the person's inherently relational nature. "It's a philosophy that stands in contrast to the forces of massification and dehumanization Ellul saw in modern society, particularly within the context of technology. Authentic human relationships should be characterized by loving engagement and meaningful dialogue, rather than manipulation or control." At least these insights are at the core of this discipline:

+ Each person is unique and valuable, and should be treated with integrity rather than as part of a faceless mass. Ellul and King believed that realistic love challenges the movement towards conformity endemic to institutional bureaucracy, the intrusive dehumanization of unrestrained technology, and the cruel indifference fostered by rugged individualism. David Brooks recently shared a 21st-century take on this in a recent NY Times essay: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/opinion/happiness-community-wealth.html

+ Personalism finds ideological abstractions to be destructive. In all matters, especially conflict, relationships matter. "A genuine human connection, characterized by love and dialogue, as opposed to the impersonal relationships fostered by technology and mass society, is vital. Modern society tends to reduce individuals to cogs in a machine rather than recognizing and affirming the inherent dignity of each person." And both Ellul and King practiced a Christianity founded upon "the importance of loving one's neighbor and recognizing God's image in every individual."

For me, this means striving to NOT judge another based solely on the obvious. So many of those I disagree with politically, pragmatically, aesthetically, and spiritually are profoundly complex, loving beings. I barely know even the surface level of their stories. Over the years, I have come to realize that I have neither the wisdom nor the grace to make informed judgments about how they spend their time or resources. God knows I've been a mess inside and out of my own life at different times, and people made time and space for me to ripen and ask for forgiveness. I can't help but think of Kris Kristofferson's song about Dennis Hoppe: The Pilgrim.

See him wasted on the sidewalk, in his jacket and his jeans

Wearin' yesterday's misfortunes like a smile

Once he had a future full of money, love and dreams

Which he spent like they was goin' out of style

And he keeps right on a-changin' for the better or the worse

Searchin' for a shrine he's never found

Never knowin' if believin' is a blessin' or a curse

Or if the goin' up was worth the comin' down

He's a poet - He's a picker - He's a prophet - He's a pusher

He's a pilgrim and a preacher and a problem when he's stoned

He's a walkin' contradiction - partly truth and partly fiction

Taking every wrong direction on his lonely way back home

At this late stage in my ethical/moral development, I rarely find much value in linear credos. Of course, they are sincere attempts to articulate some profound convictions in this season of sanctified slippery slopes. As both the Left and the Right like to say: if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. So, if these laundry lists of convictions give birth to meaningful conversations, I'm all in. My preference, however, is a commitment to what my spiritual tradition used to proclaim: never place a period where God puts a comma. For me, this means

listening more than speaking, asking more questions than pronouncements, and meeting others where they are rather than where we think we should be. When I can do this, I am often blessed by where the relationship takes us.

Now, I have no illusions that this always works. Dr. King used to say that laws rarely change another's heart, but laws can keep some of us from harming others - especially those who are most vulnerable. King was as much a Niebuhrian as well as a personalist. After decades of living into my training as an organizer with Cesar Chavez and the farm workers union, as well as a variety of faith-based community organizations shaped by Saul Alinsky, I have come to understand that, strategically, a personalist committed to justice can have no permanent enemies. Too often, ideologues - or the privileged - sacrifice the good in pursuit of the perfect. I like the way Michael Harrington, founder of Democratic Socialists of America, used to put it: our quest is to discover the left wing of what is possible. This is a practical way of incarnating a spiritual discipline that abhors self-righteousness. The challenge in our conflicts then becomes a quest to discover and fortify our shared self-interest. Two examples come to mind:

+ First, Chavez was able to win collective bargaining rights for farm workers that simultaneously limited the power of landowners while giving agricultural laborers a voice in their own destiny. This did not happen through acts of noblesse oblige or a moral change of heart (although one grower's deep commitment to Torah led him to sign a contract with the union as an act of faith). Most of the time, however, it took well-trained picket lines, sophisticated organizing among a variety of potential allies, including spiritual, cultural, and news organizations, as well as an international boycott of table grapes, Gallo wine, and head lettuce. There were clear goals in this struggle, not abstract pep rallies. There were discernible payoffs for all involved, too, as everyone's self-interest was clarified. The key was recognizing the differences between selflessness and selfishness: one turns us into doormats, the other bullies. The third way, self-interest, acknowledges that we ALL have skin in the game and seeks to celebrate this. Crafting a personalist way of being is always a work in progress, but suggests a path through the wilderness. 

+ Second, the late Harry Belafonte told U2's Bono about a moment before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 became law. The marshals of the civil rights movement were together considering next steps. They were frustrated and started to slander then Atty. General Robert Kennedy: "He's nothing but a rich Southie from Boston filled with ugly race hatred." Dr. King interrupted this bitching with clarity and conviction. "We will NO longer meet and strategize if all we can do is complain about RFK. Your job is to find a moral way to move forward that is both congruent with our nonviolent principles and recognizes that even RFK is a beloved child of God." Belafonte went on to say that King told his allies: We know that Kennedy is a deeply religious man, so make his faith come alive. This led some of the architects of liberation to meet with RFK's bishop; who, in turn, met and prayed with Kennedy. Over time, these relationships not only changed the younger Kennedy into a righteous crusader for the civil rights movement he once opposed but also transformed the hearts and minds of those on the front llne of the civil rights movement.

This commitment is unlikely to bear fruit among the true believers of the current regime. If you've read M. Scott Peck's, People of the Lie, the Army psychologist charged with investigating the My Lai massacre (which the Army immediately refused to publish) explains how evil incrementally consumes our soul when we refuse to see our wounds and deal with them honestly. The more we lie and deny our faults, the more evil grows within. Roman Catholic priest, Greg Boyle, who founded Home Boy, Inc. - a community of transformation among the gangs of LA - is clear that none of us is born evil. When we endure violence to our body, mind, and soul, however, we start to pass our damage on to those around us. Our wounds can be redressed and healed through honesty, encouragement, courage, and love, but it takes a community of solidarity and accountability to make it happen. We all yearn to belong, to be loved, to be cherished. A lifetime of denial and lies not only subverts the possibility of renewal but also fertilizes the seeds of evil within. So, barring an act of God, too much water has gone under the bridge for the President to change. 

But that need not be true for many who voted for him - and this is where a strategic, disciplined, and consistent love can be a catalyst for change. Lead singer of REM, Michael Stipe, used to say: "Labels are for soup cans, not people." And in this is where I find my heart calling, even as fear, hatred, and destruction is ratcheted up. Gandhi taught us to BE the change we desire. I understand this to mean incarnating nonviolent love, not in a capricious, random way, but strategically and with discipline. The wisdom tradition of my faith tradition says that to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven. In the face of all that is dying around us, could one aspect of resistance include radical and sacrificial love?