The World Ain’t Ready for Reform Yet

In the spring of 1947 a prominent businessman named Martin Kennelly was elected Mayor of Chicago. The Democrat ran as a “reform” candidate; meaning not that the local political machine was interested in reform, but that the ever present aroma of scandal had become a little too pungent in the backrooms of the Cook County Democratic Party, and the usual crowd of scoundrels who saw “public service” as a good way to line their pockets decided that they’d better lay low for a while and put forward a respectable candidate as a “front man.”

Trouble was, no one told Mayor Kennelly that he was just a front man. So he took his job seriously and for eight years Chicago had relatively good government and a whole string of infrastructure improvements; without the regular “kickbacks” to the local politicians who were use to making a few bucks every time a driveway was paved; let alone when a new highway was built. No politicians were getting rich with under the table deals so long as Martin Kennelly was mayor. By 1955 the Cook County Democratic Party had had enough. It ran one of its own against Kennelly in the Democratic primary, a fellow named Richard J. Daley. Daley won handily, and all of the ward healers and machine politicians had dollar signs in their eyes. On the North Side, an alderman named Mathias J. “Paddy” Bauler, celebrated in the saloon from which he ran the affairs of the 43rd Ward. Paddy Bauler lifted high his beer stein that election night and he said, “Chicago ain’t ready for reform yet!”

Toronto Star columnist Richard Gwyn recently said something similar about the world. In effect, he said, “The world ain’t ready for reform yet.” At least he argued that some countries aren’t ready for reform yet; there are some countries which may not be ready for democracy. He was looking at the political violence in Kenya and Pakistan and suggesting that the inability of those countries to dissent peacefully against their governments indicates a certain political immaturity; a kind of “not yet ready for prime time” status.

Some countries aren’t ready for democracy, Gwyn suggested, and one might add Afghanistan and Iraq to his list. It’s an interesting argument, but I’m not sure that I agree with it. I mean, on the one hand, it’s awfully easy to sit back in the comfort of our homes and offices here in Canada and say that a certain nation isn’t ready for democratic rule, and that maybe the western nations shouldn’t be trying so hard to bring democracy to them. It’s easy, as Micah says, to cry “Peace” when our stomachs are full (Micah 3:5). But we aren’t the women in Afghanistan who would be forced back into subjugation if the Taliban returned to power there. We aren’t the people of Pakistan who are being blown apart by suicide bombers at political rallies because the Musharraf regime is either unwilling or unable to protect its own people. We aren’t the citizens of Kenya being hacked to death by members of a rival tribe who have a different political persuasion. It’s easy to say that a country isn’t ready for democracy when we are not caught in the crosshairs of tyranny. On the other hand, there are limits to what can be accomplished within any given country at any given moment in history. Recognizing the evil of oppression is no guarantee that one can create the good of democracy. The collective sin of oppressive political structures does not go away without a fight. And the preoccupation of the people with values other than justice and freedom takes away much of the ammunition which you need for that fight. The prudent politician recognizes that you can’t change everything; something that President Bush should’ve remembered before he invaded Iraq; something that Senator Obama would do well to remember today.

Is the world ready for reform? Should Christians even care whether or not it is? I want to play around a bit with these and related questions this morning. First, I want to reflect on some of the ways in which biblical faith has contributed to the rise of democracy. Secondly, I want to raise some concerns about the health of democracy in our own nation. Before we think about trying to import democracy to other nations, we might want to make sure that it remains strong here. Then, finally, a few reflections on the readiness of other nations to incarnate democratic reforms. And always with an eye for how biblical faith informs this discussion.

Winston Churchill said that democracy is the worst form of government; except for all of the other forms. No form of government is perfect, that’s for sure. But I’m prepared to argue that democracy, despite all of its faults, is one of God’s greatest gifts to humanity. I mean, let’s be clear about one thing: God cares about how the world is governed. This is one of the things that I take from John 3:16-17. God so loved the world – not just you and me but the whole world – that God sent Jesus Christ into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. God wants to save the whole world. Not just you and me, but the whole world. Not just the spiritual dimension of the world but the whole world. God cares just as much about economic policy and political structures as God cares about your soul. Which is to say that God cares immensely about all of these things. The notion that faith has primarily to do with the individual and his or her salvation; this focus of faith on the personal probably has more to do with economic and philosophical trends over the last 350 years than it has to do with the Bible. The themes of freedom and autonomy in the philosophical sphere, and the emphasis on individual initiative and the individual consumer in the economic sphere, have created the cult of the individual. We have transformed the individual into some kind of moral and metaphysical absolute. But this absolutizing of the individual is primarily a secular trend. The Bible talks about community; individuals yes, but within community (note the Old Testament’s focus on Israel and the New Testament’s focus on the Church). The Bible talks about justice; respect for the individual yes, but within the context of justice for all (see Isaiah 11:1-9). The Bible talks about the common good; it praises the gifts of individuals yes, but the Bible calls us to use these gifts for the common good (see 1 Corinthians 12:4-11). Jesus came to save you and me, yes; but within the context of Jesus coming to save the whole world. And democracy emerged as a way of protecting the rights of the individual within the context of striving for justice for all. It’s a brilliant balancing act which I think could’ve been inspired only by the Holy Spirit.

Indeed, democracy has tended to grow on soil which has been nourished by biblical faith. There are at least three biblical ideas which have been crucial to the rise of democracy: the sovereignty of God, the notion that the wisdom of God dwells in the hearts of men and women, and the notion that all people are equal in the eyes of God. The Bible says that God is sovereign; not the king, not the dictator, but God. That has helped to give rise to democracy. The Bible says that the wisdom of God dwells within the hearts of the people; that the law of God is written on the hearts of the people. That has helped to give rise to democracy. Because, you see, if it’s God who rules and not the king, and if God’s wisdom is present in the hearts of the people, then the people should rule as God’s agents; not the king but the people. All the people should have a voice: not just the property owners, not just the men, not just the white folks but all the people, because all are equal in God’s eyes; the God who, according to the Bible, is not partial to one group over another (Acts 10:34). But the people should rule not with an eye toward what’s in it for me, but with a focus on the justice for all which was proclaimed by the prophets (see Micah 3:1; Amos 5:24) and made flesh in Jesus (see Luke 4:18-19).

Max Stackhouse put it this way: “The Church de-absolutized [and] relativized all other aspects and sectors and perspectives of society.” That is to say, the Church de-absolutized everything except God. You have to be clear that only God is absolute, that only God is sovereign, before you can organize against the tyrants and the traditions which oppress people in the name of God. When everything except God is relativized, then democracy becomes possible.

So, first of all, democracy has tended to grow in soil which has been nourished by biblical faith. So, yes, people of faith, people who believe in the sovereignty of God, people who believe in monotheism should be concerned about the health of democracy around the world because we helped to create it in the first place. When something less than God is once again transformed into an absolute – when something less than God is once again transformed into a little god – then democracy is in peril and biblical faith is in peril.

So what, then, of the health of democracy; not just in places like Kenya and Afghanistan, but right here in Canada? I want to suggest to you that democracy is in trouble where it already exists, and risks being still-born where it does not yet exist, by a trend toward absolutizing something which is less than God; a trend toward treating something which is less than God as if it is God. And the something that I have in mind is the market. The something that I have in mind is the notion that free markets must operate unencumbered by the voice of the people speaking through the government. The something that I have in mind is citizens being redefined as consumers, and consumers being more concerned about the accumulation of possessions than about their rights and responsibilities within a democracy. “The ideology is now growth,” writes Kathryn Stoner-Weiss of Stanford University. The growth of economies and the production of more and more consumer goods has become, or at least is becoming, the new god in North America and China and Russia and much of the world. Jesus said that you can’t worship both God and money (Matthew 6:24), and at this point more people around the world seem to be flocking to the alter of mammon than to the alter of the Almighty. When debate on the environment is stifled because it might be bad for the economy, then it’s really bad for democracy. When a day which was once set aside for worship and rest and reflection is turned into yet another day for shopping, it’s bad for democracy. When people are working so hard to buy the latest, biggest, flattest high definition t.v. that they don’t have the time or energy to get involved in their community or even vote, it’s bad for democracy. One of the reasons why the candidacy of Senator Obama is so encouraging is that he’s attracting so many people, especially young people, back into the political process. Regardless of what you think of his politics, that’s a healthy trend for democracy. So the picture is not all doom and gloom. But I hope that in the election that may be on the way in Canada, we too might have something like his soaring oratory to excite us about and involve us in something more important than buying that new t.v. so that we can see more clearly and complain more loudly about how badly the Maple Leafs are doing. Democracy is in trouble when we allow anything that is less than God to be placed about the checks and balances of the democratic process.

So what of the readiness of other nations to incarnate democratic reforms? What about the readiness of places like Afghanistan and Iraq and Kenya and Pakistan to take democratic principles and put some flesh on them? The first thing that needs to be said is that democracy isn’t something that one nation can suddenly impose on another. Even Germany and Japan had some experience in electing a legislature prior to the establishment of democratic governments in those nations following World War II. God can create something out of nothing, but it doesn’t work that way with nations. For 100 years the United States has arrogantly assumed that it can invade other countries and set-up U.S. style democracies. From Woodrow Wilson to George W., it hasn’t worked unless something has already been in place on the ground. As the Bible says, when a nation assumes that it’s the Saviour of the world and that it can just move in and cast off the chains of an oppressed people, God laughs (Psalm 2:3).

But, secondly, something is already in place on the ground in Kenya and Pakistan. The nations are in turmoil precisely because there is already something of a democratic spirit in the hearts of some of the people, and they’re madder than heck that it’s being thwarted by those in power. Political violence can sometimes be a sign that the people are ready for democracy. Seems to me that we had a little bit of that right here in Upper Canada in 1837. Something about a bunch of farmers with pitchforks marching down Yonge Street before they were fired upon by British soldiers? That was one of the steps the led to the establishment of responsible government in 1841; a crucial step on Canada’s march toward democracy. So Kenya and Pakistan may be more ready for democracy than some might think. The victories of the two opposition parties in last week’s elections in Pakistan especially gives me hope. Maybe the Spirit is a movin’ in that place.

I’m less optimistic about Iraq and Afghanistan. I’m hopeful in the long run because I believe God’s promise that justice will roll down like water and righteousness like an everflowing stream (Amos 5:24), but I’m afraid that it ain’t going to happen before Canadian troops are likely withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2011. It isn’t going to happen before a new U.S. president likely sets in motion the withdraw from Iraq the day after his or her inauguration in 11 months. For the time being Canadian troops need to remain in Afghanistan because if the Taliban returns to power you can be sure that there will be no democracy there for a long time. But the Holy One is going to have to inspire the Afghan and Iraqi people to develop their own, home grown, style of democracy. Just as the nations of North America and western Europe have done. And that won’t happen tomorrow. The good news is that nations which have developed on Islamic soil share with nations that have developed on Christian soil that same foundational principle that only God is sovereign, that only God is absolute. Where that principle is in place, democracy is possible. Tyrants won’t fall unless the people have a firm belief the tyrant there is a Higher Power.

Christian theologian Reinhold Niebuhr said that the human capacity for good makes democracy possible, and the human capacity for evil makes democracy necessary. Ultimately it is the Holy Spirit, blowing wherever she wills, who will draw upon that human capacity for good and bring a new birth of freedom and justice to the nations of the world. Not the pundits but the Spirit will decide whether or not the world is ready for reform. Amen.


Text: John 3:16-17

Preached by Bruce D. Ervin

24 February 2008