Capitalism and the American system take heavy criticism for being opportunistic.  Some of that criticism is profoundly merited and some slightly hypocritical.  We all tend to love opportunity when it serves our cause.   The legal system is being exploited and pilloried on similar grounds.  We love the Supreme Court and all of its branches of Justice when they serve our causes.  Conversely we are critical of  both opportunity and courts when they don’t. Maybe capitalism and courts are not the center of the American problem.  Maybe there is something deeper than opportunism.  If there is I don’t see much play of that ‘deeper energy’ in today’s clashes.

The problem is our souls run on a different track than opportunity.  Whatever ‘soul’ means to you, it is something deeper than the pragmatics of opportunity.  Water and gravity have a purely physical working relationship.  Water will take every opportunity to find the lowest level and gravity will apply itself relentlessly until water is flattened against the hard surface of earth.  The language of our souls traces something even deeper than this earth hugging, uncompromising gravity. Soul takes us to our felt morality. Moral distress of the soul can be as harmful as cancer.  Suicide is a frequent end point of moral distress.  More frequently this distress leads to crippling depression.  This is why the gravity of governmental enforcement can never address directly the moral issues of the human soul and suffering.  This is why the Prohibition of the last century didn’t effectively end the issues of alcohol abuse and the pain of the soul. This is why Supreme Court rulings on women’s health care didn’t directly end the suffering of women or children, but rather simply changed the profile of their suffering so those who saw the ruling as opportunity could celebrate while the moral issues marched on.  

A modest reflection on Good.

The idea of Christian Nationalism or any form of religious nationalism dominating a government is strangely a radical form of secular opportunism mirroring an ancient error using a religious vocabulary.  The soul language strives to connect the theistic religions to a sacred realm. Not every opportunity can meet the soul’s special demands.  Yes there is something deeper than opportunity.  If this is a religious nation, good is actually practicing our religions.  Being a good politician is like being a good chef, nothing more and nothing less.  But “grace” and “God” aren’t subject to the same skill set of opportunism or any skill set known to humans. The roots of good reside in the deeper regions of contemplation, meditation, and/or prayer. This project suggests good is actually believing that.