The things, good Lord, that we pray for, give us the grace to labor for.
- Thomas More, English philosopher, lawyer, and author of Utopia
copied with permission from Sojourners, ‘Verse and Voice’ , July26,2010.
The demand is liberation; the emphasis is connectedness; the corrective is suffering; the power is imagination; and the vocation is tikkun olam — the repair of the world.
- Maria Harris, in her book Proclaim Jubilee: A Spirituality for the Twenty-First Century
Found on Sojourners Verse and Voice 25/6/10 (www.sojomail@sojonet.com)
….about the use and abuse of power. People talk about the use of coercive power which forces you to do something when you don’t want to do it; and collaborative power where some bargaining goes on to get what we both want; and co-operative power where we work together to get an agreed end. It seems to me that each of these types of power have uses as well as abuses. Parents know well the necessity of coercive power when a child needs to obey the command (“Johnny you will go to bed now even though your older sister is allowed to watch another DVD, and if you’re not in there in 3 minutes there will be trouble”). Teachers use collaborative power when they are involved in the management of a classroom of bored teenagers (“OK Class, if you get this assignment done before the bell goes you will be able to have free time for the remainder of the class, but if you don’t then you will be coming back after school to finish it”). Community organizations use co-operative power when they consult with community members and agree to work together on common ground issues for the good of the community.
But, each of these uses of power can be abusive as well. There’s no one type of power that is inherently better than the other, because different situations will call for different types of power and yet each one could be used to manipulate and get you to do what benefits me rather than what enables you. So, what’s the guidline for the proper use of power?
Biblical wisdom teaches us that power is abusive if it is not used from a basis of servanthood. The proper use of power is to use it so it serves the other, enabling the other to be and do what they have been created to be and do. To be their very best. Why does Johnny have to go to bed (Coercive power)? Because its not good for Johnny to be allowed to stay up all night. It won’t help him be all that he can be tomorrow. Why does the assignment need to be finished (Collaborative power)? Because the curriculum is planned around each assignment being finished and if the curriculum is not completed then the students’ education and therefore their future employment opportunities will suffer. Why is it good for the Community to work together with the Community Organization (Co-operative power)? Because the Community is much more likely to be a healthy Community if all the Stakeholders are pulling their weight. The fact that in each instance there are some positive consequences for the one in power (quietness in the house due to a child being in bed asleep; an organized classroom running efficiently is easier on the teacher; the community organization is able to achieve much more in partnership with the Community members) does not detract from the fact that power has been used in each case to serve, to enable. The crunch would come if it was realized that such use of power was not enabling the other to be/do all they can. Would I stop using it or would I continue because of how it serves me? If the latter is true it is very likely to be abusive, no matter whether it is coercive, collaborative, or co-operative.
How do you use power? How can power in your area of influence be used to enable others? What would this look like across the 10 Drivers of Society?
Food for thought. Let’s talk…..
David Wilson
Director
Sophia Think Tank
ST2 and TWR – Australia encourages and challenges media professionals to “engage with wisdom for personal and social transformation.”
We believe ‘wisdom’ flows from deep connection with the creative power of God, integration and empowerment within oneself, and a loving and respectful relationship with others.
Isn’t this common ground within Judaism, Islam and Christianity? Additionally, Buddhists and Atheists might applaud the latter two.
Then, isn’t engaging with the opposite of ‘wisdom’, engaging with ‘folly’ and ‘evil’?
If this question is sound, what is the position of the Herald Sun 22/4/2010? Page 1… “Dirty Cops Probe!” Pages 4, 5, 7, and 9… Kingpin Killed! Page 9 is devoted to comment by “Notorious criminal Mark ‘Chopper’ Read”. On page 9, there is a smaller article, questioning the integrity and honesty of the Victoria Police.
Are they being wise? Or, are they being foolish? Even, venturing into the realm of evil foolishness?
As media is the source of most of our information, aren’t we collectively entitled to truth without a distorting emphasis that is foolish?
If the Herald Sun is being unwise, what is the cause of this lack of wisdom? And, as this approach becomes more entrenched, what are the consequences for our society?
The Media Commentator
Stop the Press! Breaking news: A P Plate Driver with some mates in his car pulls over to the far side of the lane so that an elderly driver can get by on the left into a turning lane. When the Elderly driver acknowledged this gracious act the young man nodded and smiled back at him!
Stop the Press! Breaking news: A group of young men are gathered outside a night club in Kings St to have a smoke. It is 1 am and they are talking and laughing together. A young woman almost dressed in a cute little black thing, stops to ask them directions to another club. One of the young men obliges with instructions and pointed directions and as she leaves he rejoins the conversation before going back into the club.
Stop the Press! Breaking news: A Melbourne taxi driver says yes to a lady wanting a short trip across town and is polite as he drives her to her destination.
City life as it really is every day and night in Melbourne. But these true stories never make it to the media. We hear the stories of hoon driving, drunken violence, and rude taxi drivers and are moved to think that they are accurate pictures of what everyday life in the City is all about. But it’s not. I live and work in the CBD of Melbourne. I walk its streets at all times of day and night and I see many examples of laudable behaviour every day. I see very few examples of the type of behaviour the Media screams about all the time. I’m not denying its existence but I am saying that it’s not normative and that we would be much better off as a society if we made a much bigger deal of all that is good about our City and its people.
What if the Media declared a moratorium on “drunken violence” reporting? There is an unwritten code that suicides will not usually be written up because of the fear of copy cat behaviour. A good practice. When the media writes up and even unintentionally glorifies drunken violence in such reporting it only adds to the problem. The few people who are involved in drunken violence on Friday and Saturday nights in the Melbourne CBD love to see their actions in print and on TV. It makes heroes of them and gives other people like them a yearning for the limelight. This would be dealt a deafening blow by silence. I stupidly go out one night and get myself blind drunk, beat up a couple of people who dared to look at me, and hear absolutely nothing about it on the radio or TV. None of the media pays any attention to it!! Then the Police arrive and charge me because there was a camera that recorded what I did – a CCTV camera – and the cops got a hold of the footage.
Simon Overland correctly identifies the solution to the problem as a law and order AND a social solution. It will take all of us working together to do all we can to change the culture. Such cultural change starts with what we choose to affirm and concentrate on. Why not focus on all that’s good in the City and refuse to give airtime to any behaviour that just doesn’t fit what we know as the true culture of Melbourne. Three hundred thousand people in the CBD on Saturday nights and well over 299,500 of them behaving themselves and having a good “Melbourne experience”. Now that’s worth reporting, over and over again!
David Wilson.
Welcome to Sophia Think Tank, a new initiative established to explore the potential of a world that seeks wisdom on all matters.
