This thoughtful and relevant Whitehead column quotes John Lennon: “We’re not going to draw children into a situation to create violence so you can overthrow what? And replace it with what? It was all based on this illusion, that you can create violence and overthrow what is, and get communism or get some right-wing lunatic or a left-wing lunatic. They’re all lunatics.”
To me, this shows the depth of John Lennon’s sophistication and the growth of his insight into the human condition. Violence so you can overthrow what, and replace it with what?
Today, as we all sense the on-coming massive changes, fear builds in those who cannot surf the change while living in faith. That fear leads them to listen more and more obsessively to their chosen savior, left or right. And just like clockwork, before they know it, they’re living in hatred, because they were operating out of fear, and therefore to that extent they’re acting like lunatics. Pray God that we remember not to become lunatics ourselves.