Be the change … within

How we have misunderstood this great commandment

Photo by Maria Thalassinou on Unsplash

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Many pixels have been spilled over the fact that the reaction from those who oppose Donald Trump's mind-boggling reascent to the presidency is very different now than it was in 2016. In fact, the resistance seems to have completely disappeared or gone underground. Democrats in Congress are still squeaking about "bipartisanship" as if that's an actual thing these days. Many are supporting Trump's agenda – bending the knee, rushing to obey in advance for fear that they'll lose their jobs or worse.

The outrage of 2016 has been reduced to a few brave people still willing to speak truth to power, such as Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde and the always-reliable Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I don't know what the cable pundits are saying. I no longer listen to them.

In fact, I haven't tuned in to cable news since the election, and I'm not alone. Audience shares for MSNBC fell 46% after the election, and CNN shed 33% of its audience. The only cable "news" channel to gain has been Fox, capturing a 70% share of the audience, according to Neilsen.

This brings me to my point, which is that we who oppose the current regime have completely missed the point of the saying: "Be the change you want to see in the world." (Contrary to popular belief, Gandhi did not say this. The phrase was first used by a high school teacher in 1970 who implemented something called "The Love Project," which actually did a lot of good for her students.)

We think it's a lovely sentiment, but to paraphrase GK Chesterton's criticism of Christianity, "being the change has been found difficult and left untried." This is at least true for progressives – but not true for the far right, which is having a smashing success of being the change they want to see.

Want proof? Look at the politics we're living under today. It is the direct result of a group of people who believed so strongly that they could be the change they wanted to see in the world that they undertook a decades-long process to make it happen. They founded think tanks. They thought locally and ran their ideological candidates for everything from state governors, legislators, school boards and dog catchers. They led a movement to overturn the federal Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcast TV stations to air all sides of an issue, so they could create and dominate the public airwaves with radio and TV hosts who espoused their beliefs. (The growth of Fox News viewers can attest to their success.) They so changed the meaning of political ethics that an adjudicated rapist, a convicted felon and a long-time con man could ascend to the highest office in the land – twice. They finally succeeded in getting a Supreme Court in place that would overturn Roe v. Wade, stripping women of their bodily autonomy. They are currently succeeding in placing White Christian Nationalists in positions of high power.

They accomplished all of this over the decades because they truly believed that they could be the change they wanted to see. What's the difference between them and us? We talk about "being the change" and the light and love in the world – but we have yet to fully dedicate ourselves to that belief. Not only has the right wing (not just in this country but the world) set in motion their plans to make systemic changes to the world around them, but they have done the most important part that we keep skipping over: They are true believers in their cause. They fully believe they are on the side of the angels.

Don't believe me? Just look at their reaction to Rev. Budde's gentle challenge to Trump's power. (Watch the whole homily, it's great!) They lost their minds over it. Calling Rev. Budde everything but a child of God and demanding that she apologize for "bullying" that poor president man.

This reaction baffled me until progressive Christian author and pastor Brandan Robertson reminded me of how far-right Christians see the world. They believe things like compassion, mercy, and empathy are evil.

Robertson makes the distinction between "Horizontal Morality" and "Vertical Morality." The former requires an embrace of empathy. "You must be willing to listen and learn from the experiences of others and allow those experiences — and the demonstrable proof of either their flourishing or their suffering — to guide one's moral framework," writes Robertson. The right, on the other hand (literally), follows the latter, which means they follow what they consider to be God's authority. "If God says something is wrong, then it is wrong — even if it produces good or, at the very least, does no harm. If God says something is right, then it is right — even if it causes harm to others."

Robertson continues: "Sympathy, empathy, compassion, and lived experience do not matter to those with authoritarian morality. What matters is obedience—suppressing their feelings, conscience, and evidence to align with what they believe to be the 'Truth.'"

I spent years arguing over the Bible and homosexuality with many Christians like this who didn't care one bit about how "right" it felt to embrace my sexuality. God said it was sinful, and so it was. This kind of thinking is how we have arrived at the ending of Roe, even if women die. It's the thinking that is ending the rights for our transgender siblings to receive the medical care they need or the ability to use a public bathroom, even if they suffer. It's the thinking that has sent immigrants into hiding for fear they will be swept up and deported, or worse, sent to internment camps for who knows how long. The suffering of those who are affected by these policies is of no concern to them. Empathy for them means they would have to betray what they see as God's commands. They will obey what they believe God wants, no matter who gets hurt.

The reason they are succeeding in this moment is that they understand that true, lasting change does not come from changing the outward systems – because a new president or Congress can come in and change them back. What leads to a more lasting change is to BE that change – to believe it so deeply that it manifests in everything you say, do, or think. Every action you take is one that advances the change you want to see. You thoroughly embody it.

We often admire those who have done this: Gandhi, King, and Mandela. It's worthwhile to work to change systems on the outside, but the only way to make change stick is to fully embody what you want the world to look like. The far-right has succeeded. No matter how we feel about that, the truth is they are now our teachers. We must study them and embrace their tactics of both outward and inward change so we can turn the tide back toward a world of love, empathy, compassion, and peace.

I believe we have entered into a time that A Course in Miracles calls "The Last Judgment." As a former evangelical Christian, such a phrase makes my skin crawl because I was raised to believe that this "end time" was when God would judge the righteous and the damned – and most of us would be surprised by which camp God judged us to be in.

According to A Course, however, this "Last Judgment" simply means that everyone "will come to understand what is worthy and what is not. […] The first step toward freedom must entail a sorting out of the false from the true."

This is the time that we are in right now. We are being forced to sort the false from the true. I believe this is why the opposition has gone silent. I think we are finally realizing that we've gone about being the change all wrong. We've done our outward work of marching and organizing, but we've neglected the inner work. I think – I hope – that the truth of this is sinking in, and we are finally ready to be – to embody – the change we want to see.

We either believe that love is stronger than hate, or we don't. We can't waffle on this issue. The far-right has not once strayed from their core belief that "every knee shall bow" to the tin god they want us all to obey. The far right’s embodiment of their belief has led us to this moment.

This doesn't mean that all is lost. It means that we must double down on our inner work of rooting out hatred and fear from our own hearts and minds. This is where I have arrived, and I hope that the relative silence of the opposition is a sign that many of us have arrived at this realization as well.

Both Jesus and A Course agree that it doesn't take all of us coming to this realization for our inner opposition to one day prevail. Jesus speaks of a remnant who works for the good of all, and A Course says, "if a sufficient number of people" come to embody miracle-mindedness in the world, it will come to pass.

The only caveat? We must do our work. As A Course reminds us: "It is essential, however, that these individuals free themselves from fear sooner than would ordinarily be the case because they must emerge from the conflict if they are to bring peace to other minds."

How do we do this? We use the spiritual tools we have – meditation, prayer, study, breath work, gathering in safe groups, etc. – and we develop new tools. Robertson advises us to embrace that other-focused "Horizontal Mortality" that knows empathy truly is the secret weapon to changing the world.

"We must double down on our commitment to compassion, allowing our love for our neighbors to motivate us to fight for them. We must resist authoritarianism with everything we have and continue to hold up a mirror to those blinded by their commitments, trusting that every human has the capacity for compassion—and if that capacity can be awakened, we might have a fighting chance to turn the tide of these dark days for Christianity and America," Roberston concludes.

This "Last Judgment," where we undertake the process of discerning what is false and what is true, does not lead to death or suffering because "no one who lives in fear is really alive." Indeed, this "process of right evaluation" is really "the doorway to life."

Let us walk through that door together.

PS: Here's what Gandhi actually did say in a 1913 article for Indian Opinion (which echoes A Course written some 50 years later): "We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do."

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Music for the Journey:

“We’re All Light” — XTC

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Upcoming speaking engagements:

I have been speaking at Clayton Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Newberry, SC, on the first Sunday of each month for the past year. I am happy to announce that I have accepted their call to become their permanent part-time pastor. This means I’ll continue to speak on the first and third Sundays at 11 a.m., with a guest speaker on the second Sunday. There is no service on the fourth Sunday. Drop me a note if you’d like more information on how to join us. The second and third Sundays are on Zoom.

Feb. 2, 2025 - Clayton Memorial UU, Newberry, SC - “How to get unstuck”

Feb. 16, 2025 - Jubilee! Community, Asheville, NC. Livestream available.

March 9, 2025 - The Unitarian Church in Charleston, SC - Livestream available.

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About the Motley Mystic:

The Motley Mystic is an online community for people who have realized that the truth speaks with many voices. There is no one religion, philosophy, institution, or dogma that captures the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. No one needs to swear allegiance to one line of thought or belief to discern Truth because Love is the only thing that’s real. That’s what we explore at the Motley Mystic - all the tools and strategies we need to remove our barriers to Love and live fully as our true Divine Self.

Candace Chellew is the founder of Motley Mystic as well as Jubilee! Circle, an interfaith spiritual community in Columbia, S.C., which existed from 2010-2024. She is also the author of Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians, published in 2008 by Jossey-Bass, and the founder and senior editor emeritus of Whosoever: An Online Magazine for LGBTQ People of Faith. She is also a musician and avid animal lover.