To Vice President Vance And Elon Musk
US Vice President J.D. Vance blasted the leaders of European democracies at their recent meeting in Munich (is that the place famous for colluding with a false peace with Hitler?) because they were putting controls on social media, thereby undermining democracy.
Democracy, whether the classical Greece or the Christian variety, crumbles without moral foundations.The Bible calls parents to exercise discipline. The Ten Commandments are a call to nations and their leaders to be accountable: Thou shalt not tell lies, kill, steal, commit adultery, blaspheme etc. The Bible calls parents to discipline their children and leaders to provide godly discipline. The Quaker George Fox reminded us that 'Humans either obey the Ten Commandmnts of God or they condemn themselves to the ten thousand commandments of humans.'
Silicon Valley moguls now given a free pass in USA Government are not interested in true democracy. Their gods are power and profit, and by removing their social media from all acountabilities they are drowning the world in the worst excesses of unacccountable mass selfishness. Selfishness is the enemy of democracy, of human community and sustainability- it does not care why 'little people', the poor, the marginalised etc matter, it does not care whether truth, beauty and goodnesss perish.
Most people in the world are now under dire threat of becoming slaves to algorithms. The points I now make are not taking sides in politics: we call people on the Right and Left and Middle of politics to a far more fundamental, universal and lasting revolution.
So how can New Monastic believers demonstrate and broadcast the true basis of freedom and well-being to the world's population?
By pointing out the above and the following:
Elon Musk may hate well-established western democracies because embedded, however inadequately, in their constitutions and institutions are moral values, accountabilities, the Christian social vision of The Common Good, and the concept of a Higher Good or divine Judge of all.
A member of a struggling local church said to me today: 'I can encourage each person I chat to to say the Lord's Prayer each day of their lives.' And we can post a phrase from this prayer or one of the Ten Commandments on social media every day of our lives.
