With Great Power

I’ve been seeing a lot of quotes lately about the efficacy of power and strength. The idea being that those who are stronger are thus entitled to dominion over those who are weaker. These quotes, as they often do, have been coming from people with an extraordinary amount of power by way of justifying their domination of those who have significantly less power. This is a grotesque way of thinking, the exact kind of thinking that leads to empires of violence and oppression. It leads to violence and subjugation. It leads to war and death. This is a way of thinking that sees the end of power being the expansion of power. It is a foolish sort of strength that is ultimately self-defeating.

There are those who advocate for this sort of power. They call it pragmatic. They claim to be realists. In a way, they are. I started writing this blog with an eye towards how we are a culture steeped in this interpretation of power. I sought to look up quotations backing up this form of power, but as I was seeking, I was surprised at how few quotations actually advocated this power.

So instead of this blog being me writing a repudiation of a power-hungry, blood-thirsty culture it is rather a collection of other people doing that work for me. It is amazing how many of our most influential and admired historical figures have advocated for peace. It is revealing how few quotes I could find on the value of strength as a means to domination. It is revealing how many of those quotes came from people that history has judged as toxic to our growth as a species.

In the first place, I put for a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power that ceaseth only in death.

                Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

The jaws of power are always opened to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing.

                John Adams, A Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law

The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised ofer any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.

                John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

Power can be thought of as the never-ending, self-feeding motor of all political action that corresponds to the legendary unending accumulation of money that begets money.

                Hannah Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism

Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

                Frederick Douglass

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.

                John Emerich Edward Dablberg-Acton, Letter to Mandell Chreighton

But there is still more; that is, that the image of God is engraved in all people. Therefore not only do I despise my [own] flesh whenever I oppress anyone, but to my fullest capacity I violate the image of God.

                John Calvin, Writings on Pastoral Piety

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.

                Jesus Christ, Matthew 20:25-28

This should stand as a warning to those who seek to use their power over people. History does not judge well those who use their might as an explanation of their own righteousness. Those who use their power to seek their own ends often find their own end.

Peace,

Rev. Jeff Fox-Kline

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At Twelve Corners Presbyterian Church, we believe faith is meant to be wrestled with together, in an honest, thoughtful, and compassionate way. Whether you have questions, disagreements, or simply a desire to explore what faithful living looks like in a world shaped by power, you are welcome here.

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