Revolution

I've been reading a fascinating book, "Here Comes Everybody" by Clay Shirky (wouldn't Clay Shirky be a great name for a band?)

Here's a quote that really stuck with me:

"The hallmark of revolution is that the goals of the revolutionaries cannot be contained by the institutional structure of the existing society. As a result, either the revolutionaries are put down, or some of those institutions are altered, replaced or destroyed."

I think of a lot of different different things when I read this quote. First, I think of the emerging church. The emergin church has a lot of definitions, the way I see it is an examination of the form of church and whether or not it helps or hinders the function. I think the emerging church is a kind of revolution. Some are trying to put it down by talking and writing about it negatively. But the goal - a well-functioning church - is not being met by current church forms. Churches will change or die or become irrelevant, but there will be different forms and more of them in the coming decades.

I also think about child welfare. There is so much politics and pride in the practice of protecting children that the real purpose gets missed, and the children who die in care are just the tip of the iceberg of so many stories that never make it to the front pages or the web logs. Where there are revolutionaries - different voices - they are often easily put down. I was. Foster parents who object get their kids taken away, so they remain silenced about the issues for the sake of the children. It makes me wonder what needs to happen so that a true revolution can take place in child welfare so that institutions change.

I also think about unfettered capitalism and corporations and their results: the widening of the gap between rich and poor, the undermining of rights for the poor and the middle class, a ever increasing number of poor people, environmental degradation. I think part of what needs to happen for a revolution to take place is for people to have an understanding that the rich and powerful cannot be depended on to do the right thing for all of society and that there are other options. Then there needs to be enough coordination to affect governments for change. With the web we may now have the tools to do that.