I recently posted the first entry in what is sure to be a slew of entries about my path to religious decision. In the first post, I identified a tension within me that makes me an inherently contradictory (and therefore, somehow, consistent) person. The tension I mentioned was a productive and natural strain between reverence and reform.
To better articulate the tension, I am posting two essays I have written that exemplify the two contradictory songs of myself. The first, The Evolution Of Revolution, is an article I wrote as the editor of the Collegiate Post (a progressive magazine at BYU that was shut down largely due to the article I am posting). This represents the “reform” side of my soul. The second is a speech I gave at Alternative Commencement. For those not familiar, I organized Alternative Commencement after BYU invited Dick Cheney to speak at the traditional commencement. Our Alternative Commencement was held at UVSC and included Ralph Nader, Jack Healey (former director of Amnesty International), and Pete Ashdown (former Utah Senate candidate). I got to introduce the event, and this is the speech I wrote to do so. It is surprisingly apolitical, given the nature of the setting, and represents the “reverence” side of my personality.
Obviously, both articles represent both reverence and reform, since they are outgrowths of each other, but each tends to emphasize one impulse more than the other.
The articles are both a few pages (an eternity in the blogosphere), but I hope that you will read them and comment.
The only version of the Collegiate Post I ever got the chance to read was the one with that first article in it. I was studying on campus for finals and with just a few hours before a big one I somehow ran across a stack of Posts and started reading and didn’t stop until I read it all the way through, Honors Philosophy 202 comprehensive final be damned. That’s an awesome article and the CP was a great publication. My time was much better spent–I remember it had about two full pages of specific things you can do to help the environment and be a socially conscious citizen, this article, and lots of other interesting stuff. And I did just fine on the final.
Thanks for both of these. The whole thrust of both–thriving, not surviving–was an eye-opener for me. I especially like the last paragraph of each; most of it is the same, but the first concludes that we “should learn to ethical in the present tense,” while the alt.ment speech ends on a more forward-looking note, admitting that “we are not finished.” Both advocate beautifully for action now, but the former is more urgent; the latter allows that it will be a long road. Well done on both.
One thing I’d like to hear your take on applies especially to the Collegiate Post article. I agree that it is very difficult to be proactive and break from the status quo on ethical and social issues, but you don’t discuss the times when the status quo is right, or at least when radicals do take it too far. I assume you don’t agree with everything violent and/or overzealous radicals have done throughout history, even when in the name of a good cause. The Palestinian “terrorist” you mention is a great example–I completely agree that he’s had horrible injustices done to him and he is labeled a terrorist because he doesn’t have a standing army, but I cannot say that killing innocent civilians is good, ever. I’m just as opposed to Israel or the U.S. or anyone doing it, and I hope you too question his methods, even if he does have some very good reasons to be pissed off. So when can you know that you’ve taken things too far? Note: I am not saying that you are doing/advocating anything that goes “too far,” I think all (almost all?) your ideas are positive and in the correct spirit of rebellion and questioning etc., but where is the line and how do you make sure you stay on the right side of it?
And to end this too-long comment: is there anywhere that one could get to an archive of Collegiate Post articles online? Or even in print? Would BYU have a copy (other than the one in your troublemaker file somewhere in the administration building to be used as evidence against you)?
Hi Ashley. I’d previously read/heard both these essays and I find they both have longevity that I hope and fear will keep them relevant for decades to come. The line about double-spaced, one-inch margins reminds me of another commentary in a similar vein I recently read here: http://www.zmag.org/Sustainers/Content/2004-04/20wise.cfm
My past four years at BYU has been a time of genuine struggle and disappointment as I’ve wanted to see more progression and openness there and in the church at large and not seen it emerge. I am frustrated with our church’s fixation on the superficial and denial of our deep potential for goodness, integrity, and inclusion. Aside from the WoW example you include, there are also the issues of latent endorsement of the conservative status quo, entrenched anti-feminism and anti-intellectualism. What really gets me most is thinking about all the real good we could be doing in the world that we don’t–combined with my feeling of not being taken seriously at best and at worst being an outcast for these longings.
Looking forward to you getting into more specifics of where this tension is taking you.
From the alternative commencement speech:
I like your mix of ‘charity and chastisement’, although it is not an easy balance. I feel a similar way regarding the church and the environment.
This discussion on integrity reminds me of the essay by Elouise Bell (’When Nice Ain’t So Nice’) where niceness, like the compassion you talked about isn’t really a virtue. There’s something missing when we shove improvement or change under the table for the sake of not stirring things up.
Also one of my favorite topics lately is the creation of community. Thanks for posting the article.
Ashley,
After working with you on the Alternative Commencement, I came away with respect and admiration for your courage, tenacity, and intelligence. I thought your speech was brilliant.
As I’ve been following your blog and emails, however, I wonder to what degree you feel your views can be challenged or sharpened. I’ve noticed a trend of you responding to pats on the back, but not criticism.
I tend to agree with much of what you say. When I teach at BYU, my end goals for the students and myself are liberation and transformation. I try to get students to move beyond the routine, the monotony, the hoop-jumping and recognize that an education can and should change their lives.
But individual change and social change are complex things. I don’t think you can say there is one template, universal way of making it happen. Yet I notice a disturbing trend of dogma creeping into your political philosophy. Let’s call it the “late Nader” strategy. It’s the “all or nothing, us against them, no one else is as pure and ethical and good, and if people would only hear me crying in the wilderness they would know the truth” strategy. The reality is that different situations call for different strategies. This isn’t an argument for incremental change over revolution, it’s a recognition that both can be viable and both can fail.
What is your support of Mike Gravel for president accomplishing? That’s a sincere question that I would be interested to hear you answer. I respect Mike Gravel and am glad many of his ideas are circulating, but he will never be president. And he and his supporters destroy a great opportunity for meaningful influence and input when their strategy is to villainize and distort the most viable progressive candidate (Barack Obama) we have had for president in over 40 years. What if, instead, they changed the rhetoric a bit and said, “hey, this is pretty amazing that a former community organizer, a man whose father was a goat herder from Kenya could be president of the United States. And look how people who have never cared about politics are getting involved, particularly young people—canvassing, phonebanking, donating, voting. His message is one of bottom-up change so maybe we could help shape some of his policies, maybe we could work with them, maybe he and his followers could be allies not enemies since we share many of the same goals. Maybe we could give him the benefit of the doubt on some things and recognize him as a slight improvement over George W. Bush.”
It just seems to me a waste of time, energy, and opportunity to work against such a substantial bloc of people because they don’t recognize the absolute purity of Mike Gravel—and the evil of Barack Obama. The real question should be: how do we effect change in a practical way. Not everyone is the same. Not everyone has your personality and temperment (and privilege). So how do we work with ordinary people without talking down to them or imposing our way as the only way on them? How do we empower people? How do we work towards the outcomes we want? How do we create the communities we want?
These are complex questions. I believe it will take humility and openness on all ends, not ready-made answers that alienate and offend. We need to learn to communicate with each other, not finger-point with piety. We need to be thoughtful about what’s working and what’s not.
I believe in alternatives. I’m writing my thesis on the alternative publishing movement and many of the ideas apply to other institutions as well. But we can easily slip into cant when we set up these simplistic dichotomies that box people and institutions into monolithic categories. It actually becomes a form of fundamentalism. It’s the difference between early Malcolm X and MLK. MLK was considered a sell-out for sometimes working with presidents and other white authorities. But the genius of MLK was that he diversified his strategies to reach the best possible outcomes.
Okay, my diatribe comes to an end. I look forward to hearing your response. Maybe it could be your next post.
Best,
Joe
I wrote an email to you a few weeks ago. I deleted it, because it didn’t feel right. The gist of it was, “You want everyone to be like you, but you should respect others’ differences.” Naturally, I used more conciliatory language, but that still didn’t disguise the fact that I was disrespecting your difference from me. I just realized my error.
I’m going to agree and disagree with Joe. I think it is narrow-minded, Joe, to give all the credit to whoever wins the election. Just because Gravel won’t win the election does not mean his candidacy is meaningless. That is a fallacy all too often perpetuated by the Democrat-Republicans in power and reinforced by our winner-take-all electoral system. Third parties have been responsible for the introduction of very important ideas into more mainstream politics. In the current race, when John Edwards’ emphasis on poverty and universal healthcare turned out to be politically viable, Hillary and Obama shifted to the left (disclosure: I voted for Obama in the primary).
I tend to be more conciliatory and pragmatic when it comes to politics. I’m willing to fudge on a few principles and vote for a big party candidate if I feel it will help in obtaining some significant good. In other words, my take on life is to applaud myself for good achieved rather than chastise myself for good omitted.
But to pretend that my way of doing things is superior and that everyone should convert would be little more than self-congratulation. It would be to hand all the praise to the MLKs and Booker T. Washingtons while leaving out Malcolm X, W.E.B. DuBois, and Mike Gravel.
But the same is true of the inverse. Ashley, bear with me, but I often find you to be self-righteous. But I’m not saying that pejoratively. I think self-righteousness has its place, just as being practical has its place. It’s a thankless job to stand on principle and demand that everyone come to where you are. You will “lose” every time, but that does not mean your efforts were vain.
Basically I believe that no one can be everything to everyone, that we depend, or should depend, on people with whom we disagree.
Yes, Nate, I agree. Maybe I wasn’t clear. I generally think 3rd party candidates are fine and healthy (though sometimes they can turn into ego trips) and I have voted for them in the past. I also absolutely agree with your assessment of Edwards’ contribution to this campaign. My point was that different situations call for different strategies; I respect Malcolm X and Ralph Nader, for example, but I don’t respect when they attack(ed) people who are more or less on their side (MLK and Obama); when “purists” get into politics they can quickly become ideologues and their followers fundamentalists as they point to the one and only right way and demonize those who are even slightly different. That was my point. I don’t have a problem with Mike Gravel running for president or Ashley supporting him, when it comes down to it. My question is how do you maximize that opportunity and effect actual change. I don’t think the answer is putting yourself in a corner and pointing at all the “hypocrites” and “sell-outs.”
Ash,
As I am sure you are aware, I have a psychological tick which causes me to root for mormons whether I like them or not. My latest flair up came in the form of sporadic support for Mitt Romney. During those brief periods of mental weakness I took notice of his campaign and I could not help but to be embarrassed and angered by his pandering to the far right. Now that I have read your article I think something you wrote touched on why Romney so quickly shrunk from his more centrist principles.
here is what you wrote:
“We are not wise, we are successful. Liked.
Applauded. Well-behaved.”
This perfectly described Romney. He refused to go out on a limb for any of his beliefs. ever. Instead he focused on finding the status quo and sucking up to conservative opinion makers.
More troubling is that Romney exemplified the BYU ideal. He folded quickly in the face of political adversity, and laid down his soul at the feat of the Gods of the status quo. This is a skill he likely honed at BYU, probably as president on BYUSA.
Austin,
I am sorry I never responded to your very good question. I think it is very important to remember that–contrary to the just-add-water conclusions of angst-ridden teendom–the status quo is sometimes a good thing, and reformers are oftem implicated in the problems they are trying to solve. I will think more about what is “too far” and try to respond more later. Other than that, I will simply say that I have been using the phrase “status quo” in a more figurative sense to refer to the dangerous notions of vested interests, etc. The moral point I was trying to make you have already correctly understood: It was an argument about fairness and consistency–about judging acts equally, without the perks of interpretation the majority frequently enjoys (and manipulates). It was not intended to sanction any specific response, but, rather, to express sympathy for any minority who has been wrongfully interpreted by a hypocritical majority.
Jules,
Thank you for linking that wonderful essay. It was honestly a relief to read someone articulating what that author was willing to articulate.
I am sorry you are intensely frustrated with your experience at BYU. I understand the feeling. Heartily. Please keep trying to reverse the superficiality you see. We need you.
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