Political Activities in a Religious Order

Power struggles-CG1¹, a permanent fixture in organized religions, can be more fittingly described as contesting factions, and are usually based on different streams or styles of theology and devotion rather than personalities. 

Rule of law-CG1² contains specific regulations of the order, often detailed and including obedience to tradition-based customs.

Official decisions-CG1³ are similar in principle to what is seen in organizations or society. Perhaps the rule of obedience makes them more authoritative.

Societal issues-CG1⁴ are essentially issues dealing with the order that preoccupy the membership, including its leaders.

The Public Interest-CG1⁵ is now about the good of the order that members care about and so have as much right to address as do leaders.

Moral institutions-CG1⁶ become conceptions of spirituality, because this is what primarily grounds and distinguishes any particular order from another order.

Communal needs-CG1⁷ does not need to be re-named because the order sees itself as a moral community.

Political networking-CG2¹ perhaps replaces manoeuvring as people seek to affect placement on key committees or determine who is assigned to draft a important document: but perhaps more goes on that outsiders do not get to know about.

Position statements-CG2² probably replaces briefings.

In camera deliberations-CG2³ surely remain.

Guided reflection-CG2⁴ is proposed to replace public advocacy. It is based on identifying important notions and asking members to consider them thoughtfully and meditatively, and enter a dialogue with a mentor.

Open conferences-CG2⁵ replace media debate. These events allow the membership to express, hear and share a variety of views.

Spiritual challenges-CG2⁶ replace moral challenges. Spirituality rather than morality, whether or not followed, is the more profound issue for any order. Morality can be taken for granted, but spirituality is debatable. Spiritual qualities are difficult to assess at the best of times, and slippage under pressure into arrogant or ignorant states is an ever-present danger.

Winning approach-CG3¹ is perhaps more appropriate than victory strategy.

Social measures-CG3² are replaced by organizational or order measures.

Membership commitment-CG3³ replaces popular commitment.

Because moral failings in an order reflect spiritual impurities, what might be required in the face of certain types of crisis would be a spiritual crusade-CG3⁴.

Righting of wrongs-CG3⁵ remains unchanged.

Any order will have a governance system with bodies that officially propose, review and sanction order-wide policies and rules-CG4¹. However, as in organizations, sections within the order can put forward their proposals-CG4² that are naturally built around their factional interests; and specialist commissions-CG4³ within the church but outside the order may be expected to provide an assessment and contribution. Open inquiries-CG4⁴ involving members of the same or related orders or religions, or people otherwise connected through work, are probably appropriate. Again it would be no surprise to find considerable resistance to conducting such inquiries.

Leadership types remain unchanged in regard to formal names: i.e. they will still be elected-CG5¹, appointed-CG5² and emergent-CG5³. However, what these positions entail will surely be significantly different.

The order has religious imperatives-CG6¹ emerging from the importance of traditions (however outdated), but also from pressures that are organizational, secular and even profane (e.g. hiding pervasive corruption and the abuse of power).

These can be contrasted to the spiritual imperatives-CG6² that should be driving the order towards a better world for themselves and outsiders built on truth, compassion, forgiveness, acceptance and devotion to service.

We have seen in recent years much evidence of how leadership-CG5 and political will-CG6 function in the great religions.

Sovereignty-CG7¹ seems inappropriate for an order, and expecting the religion to enable autonomy may not be realistic. However, an order must have genuine dominion over its own affairs so as to manage internal relationships despite factional differences and other external political pressures.