Muted

(originally typed on my iPhone as a response to losing internet access and the frustration that was created)

Interesting how mute, muted and mutiny all seem to go together.
That's what every tyrant discovers, though that only occurs when their regime topples. Think: ".. let them eat cake."
There is a dignity worth dying for, a dignity denied by oligarchs, because they have spent most of their life positioning and politicking to rise to their perceived status, and so to listen to or allow minions an authentic voice (I am not referring to paternalistic pretense perpetuated as public performance) that might bring dignity to the speaker-- that is to be denied...lest the oligarch be exposed to be the frightened child that he or she truly is.
That is the power of voice; that is the reason men and women will die a martyr for this simple freedom-- the freedom of speech.
We see it in America: on the job, at school, and certainly in religious institutions: shut the mouth of the prophet; call her names like rabble-rouser or trouble-maker; write in his file that he is divisive or not a "team player" because he asks what others are thinking-- fire them before people hear that message and begin asking questions previously repressed. The fear that runs the office betrays the tyrant for who he or she is. Why the cover up? Why the secrets? Why the stranglehold on communication?
The tyrant rules by projecting their own fear onto their minions, and it works.
It really does work.
The people surrender to oppression. People go back to slave life in Egypt and suffocate the dream of a promised land flowing with the milk and honey of freedom and mutual respect. Mutual trust.

Fear wins.
Death to hope.
Death to honor.
Death to creative dreams.
Death to a community of loyalty and mutuality.
Enter anxiety; distrust; gossip; betrayal; scheming; resentment-- these are the fruits of the tyrant who wears the misnomer "leader" and uses fear, shame and intimidation to keep minions in their place [which was amazingly played by Alan Alda's character in mediocre film, "Tower Heist].


A true leader enters in, engages alongside and then to the front. You see this in Walmart executives who spend a day working in a store, in college presidents who teach a class, in Army Colonels who take a duty.
A leader would never isolate himself from his troops; that is the hallmark of tyrannical separatism.
A leader uses her power to elevate and empower others toward the greater good for all, taking on a servant's humility and not asking another to do what they themselves would not do. The golden rule means something to a true leader; it is a joke to the tyrant.

Freedom is to speak one's mind; to write one's thoughts and not be intimidated by the tyrant's projected fear.
The paradox is humorous and tragic-- pure drama: if the citizen speaks a truth that "causes trouble", it is because the situation is corrupt, not because of the spoken truth.
On the other hand if the citizen is a slandering slob, then the honorable leader will have truth on their side. We see this in the life of the prophet Daniel, whose critics were ashamed because of Daniel's high character.
So what if we risk bold honesty?
What if we never betrayed our own witness by harboring secret agendas?
What if we let the Truth set us free?
I dare you to go one day with complete unblemished honesty. I dare me.
--
All this because I lost Internet and have been reduced to thumb-waving on my iPhone.
Boy I'm weird.