Is Love the Most Transformative Political Act?

Notes from America with Kai Wright

WNYC Studios

News Commentary, Politics, History, News

4.4 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 18 January 2022

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This MLK Weekend, Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Lewis helps us understand the potential of love in our politics. Then, hear from a student participating in a hunger strike for voting rights. What is it like putting your body on the line when your own Senator is the person standing in the way? Arizona State University sophomore, Michaela Schillinger, takes us through the process of organizing a strike while balancing school, meeting with legislators like Senator Kyrsten Sinema, and a surprising update as the story continues to unfold. Companion listening for this episode: How Martin Luther King, Jr., Changed American Christianity (1/18/2021) What did MLK’s uniquely Black theology teach us about the relationship between faith and politics in 2021? "The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.

Transcript

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0:00.0	What does a quote?
0:02.0	Love Your Neighbor as thyself mean to you?
0:05.0	Wait, let me think about it first.
0:07.0	I guess that quote is a Christian quote.
0:09.0	Like if you put good energy into the world,
0:12.0	you're gonna get it back.
0:13.5	Having empathy for the people around you.
0:16.0	I didn't grow up for like religious or anything.
0:19.1	But I guess it just means treat people with compassion right.
0:22.2	If you approach every
0:23.4	interaction with an open heart. Maybe you can feel a little bit of what
0:26.9	they're going through. I guess people who don't really love themselves as much
0:30.0	tend to treat others the same way they treat themselves for it.
0:34.0	What is loving yourself mean?
0:36.0	Cherishing the temple you're stuck with, practicing self-care,
0:40.0	what does it mean for the communal good?
0:43.0	A society where everyone is only looking out for yourself is found to fail.
0:47.0	So for the collective good, we can all look out for each other a little bit more and be a little bit more pro-social. and rule. It's one of the most widely known, maybe widely misunderstood tenets of many faith traditions.
1:07.8	It's also one that guided the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. So tonight on the eve of MLK Day we're going to
1:14.4	unpack the big ideas embedded in those little words love thy neighbor as thy
1:20.2	self and let me say that the national celebration of King's legacy has rarely felt so loaded with meaning as it does to me this week.
1:31.0	Last year, 19 states passed dozens of new laws restricting access to the vote.
	...

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