* Activinos (activists in name only) do infinitely more damage than non activists. [This is going to come out so mean. But I am NOT feeling mean, or intending to be so at all.] Teresa of Calcutta said of the church, ' the greatest obstacle to people becoming Christian are those who preach the gospel but do not practice it.' Gandhi said 'if Christians would practice their Creed there would be no more Hindus.' We instantly see the truth of this, right? But not when it comes to activism, activinos do not see it in themselves. We deny it with all of our might. Maybe you knew what the English translation of the Greek for 'acting' is. I had no idea until a few years ago. Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy, in the Greek, means to 'act the part.' Now acting, can be a noble pursuit, right? Unless it is undisclosed acting, acting the part of a brain surgeon, for example. Then, it can be a murderous crime. Activinoism is such a murderous crime. Albert Schweitzer spoke what is probably my favorite quote of all time, 'example is not the major thing in influencing people. It is the only thing.' If activists show that we do not really need to pay a dear price for what we want, that mere 'acting' will suffice, well then, A. Those who are influenced by such activists will do no more then the same, and B. Do you really think that the onlookers, and the opposition, cannot tell the difference between an actor and the real thing? The activino(s) himself has strong motivation to deceive himself. But the onlooker, and the opposition, have ample motivation to see the truth, the hypocrisy, and by gum, they always do!!! They always do. This is the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Summer. Does anyone today think those folks were acting? It was even immensely difficult, near impossible, for the most evil opposition, or the most cowardly onlooker, to think that those folks were acting back then. Why? Because what an activist does, what a true activist always always always always does, is offer to pay, in unmistakable terms, an ungodly price, and sometimes, unflinchingly, unfailingly, willingly pay the price if it is demanded. Watch Freedom Riders. Watch Gandhi. Watch Iron Jawed Angels. Watch Malala. Watch Diane Wilson in the mini documentary Texas Gold on Hulu and YouTube ( where I pirated it and put it up years ago). Oh, and by the way, if you watch or deeply ponder any of those folks, ask yourself this question: yes, as true activists, they pay an ungodly price, but would they rather be acting? :-) . LOL. Activism is just another word for loving, for serving the from the soul in solidarity with the neediest. This is the ONLY physiological source for joy, for the generation of joy for oneself. And it is generated with every breath for the true activist regardless of the material hell they invariably bring upon herself. Why else would folks like Jesus do what they do? They are simply the enlightened greedy, and if there is to be a future for creation it is long past time to learn to follow their example, greedily. Gandhi did not say 'act,' or preach of, or demand.... the change you wish to see in the world. He said 'be the change you wish to see in the world.' Be the change you wish to see in the world. It is the joy, the only joy, that surpasses all understanding.
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