Abstract
In this article, political pastoral analyses or diagnoses are deemed to be a spiritual practice. To move this argument forward, I begin with a brief discussion of what I mean by spiritual practice and its corporate underpinnings. Before addressing how political pastoral diagnosis is a spiritual practice, I explain what I mean by political pastoral diagnosis, offering several illustrations from Scripture and contemporary society. I then move to argue that political pastoral diagnosis is a spiritual practice that comprises (1) a critical assessment of the social-political situation, relying on multiple interpretive frameworks, (2) compassionate lamentation, (3) a challenge based on the vision of the common good, and (4) a demand to restore liberative care and justice—a demand that includes proposed pastoral interventions. Included here is an explanation of why political pastoral diagnosis is a spiritual practice—a practice vital to the well-being of communities of faith and society. I conclude by briefly arguing that teaching students pastoral care involves more than providing theories and skills to care for people. It also involves offering spiritual practices associated with political pastoral diagnoses—spiritual practices of raising Amos.
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Notes
For a discussion of the meanings and attributes of community, see LaMothe (2013), Missing Us.
Does this mean that I am agreeing that spiritual practices need not be located in a particular community of faith? That is, one can have a spiritual practice that originally emerged from a particular tradition and community, and it can still be regarded as a spiritual practice. I agree with this and also agree that it can be aimed toward the flourishing of self and others, but I contend that this is a distortion of the meaning of spiritual practice because it is divorced from a community of faith.
This metaphor also connotes the issue of sovereignty for many people. I do not have the space or time to enter into the problems and possible solutions to the issue of sovereignty. Robbins (2011) has provided an intriguing and convincing analysis of sovereignty from a theological perspective. He offers a corrective to Carl Schmitt’s use of theology that proposes a notion of sovereignty that supports varied forms of dictatorships. Robbins explores a theological justification of diffused power associated with democracy.
Eagleton (1984) provides an overview of cultural and literary criticism in Europe from the early 19th century to the late 20th century. He notes that “modern criticism was born of a struggle against the absolutist state” (p. 107) before being captured to and corrupted by the cultural industry. The point here is that secular criticism initially involved a concern about how the state was negatively impacting people in society. The prophetic function, then, can be seen in other venues, which may be why Hegel believed reading 10 newspapers in the morning was a spiritual practice.
Note that are quotations of Scripture are from the NSRV.
Of course, people who have no interest in religion can demonstrate concern for the well-being of others. It is up to them whether they would interpret this as a spiritual discipline or use some other adjective.
This throws a wrench in neoliberalism’s focus on individuals pursuing their self-interest. I am sure it would have been in the self-interest of Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr., and others who were killed or harmed to curtail their assessments and activism. Indeed, it is their willingness to set aside their self-interest for the sake of others that confirms the transcendent, spiritual nature of their work.
Decades ago, Browning (1976) argued that a feature of pastoral care was its moral context, which was linked to communities of faith that were also communities of moral discernment. Browning, in my opinion, viewed this not simply in terms of the immediate contexts of care but also in terms of larger social and cultural realities, which includes the political.
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LaMothe, R. Raising Amos: Diagnosing Social-Political Pathologies as A Spiritual Practice. Pastoral Psychol 71, 623–638 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-022-01022-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-022-01022-2