It's All Performance Art 89

I promise to write this blogpost entirely in English, Gentle Reader, as I want to give us a break to digest some of what I have already written and commented on about what I have mentioned so far on these pages in both Spanish and English concerning Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, which I think with some justification could be called the most important, most significant and most historically pivotal discourse ever spoken in the history of our species.

Having so far reflected and commented on the Beatitudes, on our mission as salt and light to the world, on Jesus as the fulfilment of the law, and concerning how we should handle disputes, disagreements and anger, desire, divorce, honesty of speech, and vengeance, I think we can safely conclude that there is one continuing and overriding theme here, and that is our value, each and every one of us, before God, as persons, as beings of value and worth, and of the importance that we each hold one another in the highest esteem as persons of value.  And that this sense of worth and value transcends everything, not mattering who we are, where we come from, our race, age, social class, income, poor and rich, every single one of us is a person of value who is also loved.

It is only a shame that it is still taking us so long to accept, receive and inwardly digest those words.  We have come a long way in our understanding of human rights and dignity, but we still have a long way to go, when it comes to actually believing it and practicing it.  There are still a lot of obstacles.  Our systems of government are still hierarchical and our society is still stratified by class and privilege, not to mention this economic system of voracious capitalism that completely tramples underfoot all human dignity.

A lot of Canadians still seem to view basic human rights, such as housing, as privileges.  Those will be the same people who crow the loudest that Canada is the best country on earth.  Those same people are also likely to be unilingual with little interest or capacity for learning a second language.

I had an interesting conversation over coffee with a friend.  We noted that almost all the great revolutions, at least for a while, resulted in regimes and situations equally or more horrible than the governments and dynasties that were overthrown.  It is a challenge trying to get people to think a bit differently about human dignity when they are already so comfortable and comatose.  There is the possibility that our current housing and affordability crisis will be enough to wake a few more people out of their slumber, but change seems to come very slow in Canada, and we have significant populations that are trapped in very backward thinking. 

All I can do is continue trying to live and act in a way that fosters and expresses my values and continue writing this blog.  If my one power is the power of not shutting up, then I am not going to shut up, Gentle Reader, at least till I have breathed my last, and even then I will find ways even beyond the grave of making my voice heard.