Putting Values Into Action

We've probably heard more about values and the "values vote" in the last six years than in the last hundred. Sometimes Christians (yes, and I'm one of them!) act as if they're the only people who have values. Yet, probably everyone reading this blog - whether atheist, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, or any other 'ism', has certain values that they try to put into action. These values might have been formed through day to day experience that tells them how people want to be treated. Or through reading philosophy, ethics, religious and spiritual literature, and studying the lives of people they admire. They might have been formed by "what my Mama taught me!"

Yet values often become inconsistent and even contradictory. Sometimes they're held as philosophical ideas, but they aren't practiced. Some think that values are for individual and social work, but not for politics. Somehow politics is supposed to be practiced in a neutral, value-less atmosphere that has more to do with loyalty than true values.

Yet, if values aren't practiced in the political arena, they are diminished and powerless. Of all places where values can make the difference, it's the political world.

One value that seems to be common to almost all religions is the Golden Rule - "Do unto others as you would like others to do unto you." Although it may take some learning to become conscious and caring of The Other, most religions and philosophies ask us to go beyond ourselves, and to develop a larger and more universal consciousness. Many religions and philosophies recognize this as a process. It isn't always natural to care about The Other. As children, we learn to become unselfish, but we don't start out that way. As we grow up, many of us try to expand this consciousness. That seems to be part of maturity.

What are some of the values that are practiced in politics? The Christian religion (and I believe other religions as well) ask us to care about the poor. The Bible talks almost endlessly about caring for "the poor and the needy, widows and orphans." Liberation theology calls this an "option for the poor". If we are to take our stand with one group, it is to be with the Poor, not the rich, the powerful, and the privileged. This is one reason I have so much trouble with George W.'s brand of Christianity - it favors the rich, over and over again. Raising the minimum wage is one way to care for the Poor. Pairing it with tax breaks for the rich, as the previous Republican Congress wanted to do, has no religious basis.

Compassion, healing, caring for those who are sick and suffering is another value. Stem cell research addresses this issue. So does health care. Affordable prescription drugs. Putting our money where it can help those who are hurt, sick, and suffering, carries out this value.

There is much talk of Family Values. But family values, for some, simply means reducing benefits for those without families (whether single, gay, single parents) or thinking of family values simply as making sure people have families, whether they want them or not (those against abortion) or thinking of values in only limited ways (the nuclear family). Yet family values involve health care for families, and certainly, above all, for children. Help for children who are in need - even if not citizens. Education. Job Training. Ways to help families function better, and care for each other.

Values involve peace, not war. Our country, in fact, most countries, spend so much time sowing the seeds of war and so little time learning to be peace-makers and peace-keepers. So many say they follow the Prince of Peace or the Path of Peace, and yet truly seem to get great joy out of killing their enemies and creating an "us- against-them" mentality.

I'd be interested in bloggers' responses to how their values are formed, and what priorities they have. I am greatly cheered by the effectiveness of the first 100 hours of this new Congress, and what they've accomplished. I hope that they can change the Bush administration's ways of spending money, and use our taxpayer's money for legislation that is more compassionate, and more effective.