AMERICA AT A CROSSROAD
As we are about to begin the new year 2025, we are standing on a precipice, facing the specter of a very different America. Will it prove to be a pretty picture going forward or will it be one of hardship and regret: hardship that could resonate in the life of the ordinary citizen, though not in that of the billionaire?
The following is an excerpt of an article that Mary Evelyn Tucker wrote at the beginning of the pandemic. It was published in Orion Magazine on August 13, 2020 and is still relevant today, almost 4-1/2 years later. Her article could offer us insight and reflection as we may find ourselves faced with some serious decisions going forward.
EXPANDING THE SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY
by Mary Evelyn Tucker, PhD
HOW MIGHT WE unlock hope in an expansive spirit of democracy for present and future generations in this time of upheaval? As the underside of American society is being revealed and the stark inequities and racial prejudices made manifest, we are called to reflect on what brought us to this disturbing state of affairs. With shock and recrimination we are responding to the truth of our history and the entrenched habits of structural racism along with economic inequity.
How do we look clearly at our history and, through reexamining it, seek ways forward? Can we own our past and create a more equitable society, just economics, and inclusive politics? May we ask forgiveness and restore compassion? Can we recognize that democracy rests on peace, not violence and bloated military budgets? In short, how can we rediscover and expand the spiritual roots of democracy?
This will be impossible without a recognition that humans are interwoven with each other and with the larger kinship of life—interconnected and interdependent. This is because relationality is at the heart of life. In this spirit, an authentic democracy affirms the inherent dignity of humans and the intrinsic worth of nature.
So where do we look for aspiration and inspiration to be reunited with the spiritual roots of our democratic yearnings? We may begin with indigenous traditions that have strong cosmovisions celebrating the kinship of all life forms and communitarian social ethics that emphasize a shared common good.
We might start with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy[*] that began in 1142 and exists into the present. Benjamin Franklin was familiar with the Confederacy and referred to it during discussions in the Constitutional Congress. The original Confederacy was a model of peace and consensus-building that arose in response to a period of intense warfare among five related tribal groups.
Focusing on harmonious relations between the tribes, it also highlights the importance of decision-making that keeps in mind seven generations into the future. Doing so links social and ecological wellbeing. Intergenerational justice is valued by the Haudenosaunee tribes. These are peoples who hold relationality and kinship among species to be a sacred trust. Thus an expanded spirit of democracy encompasses a broader solidarity among humans and across generations. Moreover, this sacred trust implies fostering the flourishing of the biosphere.
We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations.
Click here to read Mary Evelyn Tucker’s full article.
Mary Evelyn Tucker is co-director of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology with her husband, John Grim. She is affiliated faculty with the Yale Center for Environmental Justice at the Yale School of the Environment.
Mary Evelyn graciously granted C:WED permission to excerpt and publish her article.
*Haudenosaunee Confederacy: Called the Iroquois Confederacy by the French, and the League of Five Nations by the English, the confederacy is properly called the Haudenosaunee Confederacy meaning People of the Longhouse. The five tribes, of which it originally consisted, were the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas.
Often described as the oldest, participatory democracy on Earth, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s constitution is believed to be a model for the American Constitution. What makes it stand out as unique to other systems around the world is its blending of law and values. For the Haudenosaunee, law, society and nature are equal partners and each plays an important role.
Orion Magazine, first published in June1982. Its fundamental conviction is that humans are morally responsible for the world in which we live, and that individuals come to sense this responsibility as they develop a personal bond with nature.
