No opinion

I just posted the following on facebook -

I'd like to write a Facebook quiz in which all the choices are No Opinion. Like
(a) no opinion because I don't care
(b) no opinion because I don't really know enough about it
(c) This is not important enough to have an opinion about
(d) I have embarrassed myself expressing opinions in the past.
(e) I think opinions are inherently divisive.
Then I could collate the results and announce that the respondents were in universal agreement.

Where was I coming from with this? Ah, yes. Experience. There was immediate experience, reports on facebook about a teenage boy in Georgia who insists on dressing in drag in school. Who did I side with, facebook asked me? Actually, with the poor Principal and guidance counselor, who I pictured holding their heads in their hands. As I got into the story, quick before it goes away, I learned that Jonathan would not settle for being the only student in school allowed to use the administrator's restroom; he insisted on going into the girl's. On the other hand, there he is in lipstick and heels, do you want him going into the boy's? These are the weird dilemmas of a country where individual freedom is valued.

On the more serious side, there was my experience the other day at what was called A Listening Session at church. This was a carefully designed opportunity to express our uh-oh opinions about what we want in an associate minister (yes, this is a Unitarian church). Despite expert leadership, it veered quite naturally into more and larger opinions, a chance to state our own backed-up ideas and grievances. I found myself running out of time expressing my conviction that the church needs to address the needs of the variously handicapped (such as me, with hearing impairment) in a serious way.

It's not that my opinions are wrong. This one was right, everyone seemed to see it. There wasn't any conflict on the subject. What got me was my sudden realization that I was really wound up. Boy, did I have opinions, and the more I said them, the harder I believed them, and the more energy I had. My frustration had been hiding down there, left over from a Memorial Service at which I couldn't hear, because the earphones were not charged. So it was good for me to address the problem.

Sometimes people talk about justice being fueled by anger, that this is a good use of our anger. Thus I have attached a picture of Manjushri, the Buddhist icon who represents wisdom. He is usually shone wielding a sword. But it isn't supposed to lead to bloodshed, but to be the sword of clear wisdom, cutting through the nonsense to the heart of the issue, and leading to skillful action.

Obama's sword of wisdom

Still a little feverish with flu, I stayed home today and watched Barack Obama's Columbus, Ohio rally on C-span. I was more impressed than ever, in part by the faces in the crowd. It was wonderful to see so many young black men lit up with, well, hope. Joy, perhaps mixed with amazement. Remembering events in Selma, Alabama in the mid-sixties, I too am amazed.

I found myself noticing how, again and again, Obama said things you might hear from a dharma teacher. He stepped aside from the dualism the media relentlessly propound in their forecasts: It's not about red state, blue state, he said, but about The United States.

He stepped aside from the human tendency to divide and blame. It's not about erecting a boundary around America to stop outsourcing of jobs, he said, but about seeing to it that trade is fair and equal, and learning to make fuel-efficient automobiles right here in Ohio. That got cheers. You can't erect boundaries, really. This really is one world, as the weather keeps demonstrating. The climate is everyone's problem. Barack pointed out that energy efficiency was also everyone's responsibility.

There he made me happy, talking about individual responsibility like a true Grandma. In education, the government cannot do it all, he said; you parents have to turn off the TV and make their kids do homework. He talked about people working hard and saving, so their kids could have it better than they did - there's old-fashioned values.

The first presidential election I voted in was Goldwater-Johnson, so you can imagine how many years of political rhetoric I've heard. None of it began to make sense the way this did. Is it just me that's changed? I don't think so. I think Obama has a common-sense, problem-solving approach such as I have never seen before. It's visionary, but the vision grows right out of the common experience.

The sword of wisdom referenced in my title today is said to be held by a Buddha named Manjushri. From Wikipedia--

. . . he is depicted wielding a flaming sword in his right hand, representing his realisation of wisdom which cuts through ignorance and wrong views.

In Buddhist thought, when we cut through ignorance, we end our suffering. This is really the benefit of living in the present moment, that is, in reality. When we see clearly, we can act in useful ways. You don't have to subscribe to any particular religion to do that, though many have found meditation practice indispensable.

Recent American economic policy has favored the greedy to a devastating degree, as if we were not all connected, as if the continued exploitation of the ordinary person wouldn't ultimately bring down the house of cards. I thought of Manjushri as I watched Obama talk. I see Obama cutting through economic delusion, telling us we can be united in common pursuit of a decent life and opportunity for all, which was, after all, the stated American Dream.