{"id":38329,"date":"2024-09-10T18:30:21","date_gmt":"2024-09-11T01:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=38329"},"modified":"2024-09-10T18:30:21","modified_gmt":"2024-09-11T01:30:21","slug":"an-ancient-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/an-ancient-map\/","title":{"rendered":"An ancient map"},"content":{"rendered":"

My bookshelf is full of modern books, and it is difficult to find a book older than thirty years. The challenge to find a book over three hundred years old was aided with a simple prompt in AI. The leadership book I chose to read was The Prince<\/em> by Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli. I chose it for three simple reasons: I had never read it, the political nature of it fits well between week two and four, and it was a short easy read. What I found was that even though the book was short, it was powerful and has many implications in the modern political world.<\/p>\n

This essay will look at the different maps of leadership found in the 16th<\/sup> century work of The Prince<\/em> and lay it alongside the kingdom-centered political map offered by Jim Wallis in God\u2019s Politics<\/em> which we will read next week. Then, I will dive into the map guiding me in this political season.<\/p>\n

Ancient maps of power <\/em><\/p>\n

Machiavelli\u2019s work lays out an ancient map for an Italian prince. How is a prince supposed to reign and be prince? Is he to be generous or miserly? Cruel or compassionate? Loved or feared?[1]<\/a> The author encourages the prince to be a miser as a generous prince ultimately runs out of money and taxes the people, so they end up hating him. A prince should be cruel, but only in the beginning, so that the people learn to be afraid of him but will soon forget the cruelty he brought onto them. A prince should arm his subjects, “for by arming them these arms become your own, those that you suspected become faithful and those that were faithful remain.”[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

The map Machiavelli presents to the prince is based on how the world actually is not on how he wants it to be.[3]<\/a> The general populace is easily swayed, easily manipulated. They are always impressed by the mere appearance of working for them. If the prince is needed, and he is seen as the answer to all the societal problems then the people will support him. Machiavelli writes, “Therefore a wise prince will seek means by which his subjects will always and in every possible condition of things have need of his government, and then they will always be faithful to him.”[4]<\/a> There is a lot of room to develop these ideas further against our own political backdrop in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n

Another layer Machiavelli adds on his map is for the prince to always be ready for war, even in a time of peace, to have his eyes focused on the battle.[5]<\/a> Furthermore, he tells the prince to seek out wisdom from only select individuals who only can offer limited information. This way, the prince is seen as a ruler who cannot be questioned. [6]<\/a><\/p>\n

A map centered in God\u2019s kingdom<\/em><\/p>\n

Contrary to Machiavelli\u2019s map of manipulation, fear, and power, Wallis lays out a kingdom-centered political map for the American Christian. He critiques both the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. His map is too nuanced for either political party to get where they want to go. Instead, his map offers followers of Jesus a way to try and navigate some of the political landmines. He critiques George W. Bush and writes, “But the nationalist religion of the Bush administration, [is] one that confuses the identity of the nation with the church, and God’s purposes with the mission of American empire.”[7]<\/a> Unlike the prince, and Christian Nationalists, Wallis is not concerned with expanding the American empire but rather calling people into the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n

While The Prince<\/em> highlights ways of manipulating the crowds, trying to find ways to control the masses, Wallis\u2019s map shows Christians seeking the destitute and isolated. He writes, “Jesus is assuming the social location of his followers will always put them in close proximity to the poor and easily able to reach out to them.”[8]<\/a> The map leading to the kingdom of Jesus directly contradicts the map leading to earthly imperial power.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The map I use<\/em><\/p>\n

I am comfortable reading maps. I use them frequently. Over the last few years, I have been detailing my own map. My map is kingdom-focused, meant to lead myself and others closer to Jesus. Politically, I find myself outside of the simplistic maps of the Republican or Democratic parties. I do not support abortion, even when it is dolled-up with fancy terminology by the Democratic party. I do not support free access to assault rifles for everyone, even though the Republican party uses a 200-year-old map referencing the need to protect ourselves from the British.<\/p>\n

The political maps of our time are so simplistic that people feel the need to support their group at all costs. Reflecting on abortion policies, Wallis writes, \u201cFrom year to year the abortion rate doesn\u2019t change much, even when it has been a serious campaign issue. Republicans literally win elections based on their anti-abortion position and then proceed to ignore the issue\u2026\u201d[9]<\/a> I have cast a vote on the abortion issue four times, as I have adopted four children. I decided that those were votes that really mattered.<\/p>\n

For this upcoming election, I will choose to vote for character over power; for a liberal democracy[10]<\/a> over a two-issue ploy for a power grab.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Machiavelli\u2019s \u201cThe Prince\u201d: Summary & Analysis<\/em>, YouTube, 2022, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EwWg2MDvHDI.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli, The Prince | Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli<\/em>, Translated edition (Asturias, Spain: King Solomon Publishing, 2021), 86.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Machiavelli\u2019s \u201cThe Prince.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Machiavelli, The Prince | Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli<\/em>, 47.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Machiavelli, 61.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Machiavelli, 97.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Jim Wallis, God\u2019s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn\u2019t Get It<\/em>, (New York: Harper San Francisco, 2008), 149.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Wallis, 211.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Wallis, 299.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird, Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2024), 158.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My bookshelf is full of modern books, and it is difficult to find a book older than thirty years. The challenge to find a book over three hundred years old was aided with a simple prompt in AI. The leadership book I chose to read was The Prince by Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli. I chose it for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":205,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3266],"class_list":["post-38329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-machiavelli-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38331,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38329\/revisions\/38331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}