THERE’S a lesson this Christmas for the Opposition! Especially seeing their futile efforts to be heard, rendering them more speechless, through suspensions or corruption charges. Two thousand years ago, a once powerful Jewish people lay powerless under a Roman Empire, which left them longing for their messiah or the one who would save them from such oppression, unfortunately, they looked in the wrong direction. The Jews looked for a leader who would lead them through an armed rebellion, and least expected a leader arriving who would use love instead of violence. That leader, their Messiah, arrived on the first Christmas Day! Today, as I see the suspension of so many elected representatives, they need to know they were not elected to shout slogans and disrupt proceedings inside Parliament, no, they were elected to use debate, argument, and convincing words, essential in a democracy. The Messiah, born on that first Christmas, used discourses and debated with the Pharisees and people in power. He did not jump around screaming, yelling and getting himself arrested, but won the hearts of people with wisdom, wrapped in persuasive speech.
Maybe, the one who’s coming closest to realising this is Rahul, and slowly but surely, a second state in the south has gone to him, which brings in the concept of ‘patience’. Nobody, is going to win a resounding victory against a formidable leader like Modi immediately, and what we have to learn is that methods of love and peace work gradually. To defuse seeds of hate and anger being sowed will take some time and today’s speeches by opposition leaders need to be ‘double engined’; of influencing the head, while striking the heart.
Jesus used intellectual arguments but which tugged at the heart! How did he do this? He used parables or stories to drive heavy meanings across. The opposition leaders have no story to tell and nothing to ignite the hearts of listeners except one of pulling down Modi. They need ones that will explode in the imaginations of their voters. But for such a story they need ideas that are original and inspiring. What we have are lack-lustre thoughts with no plot, setting or ending.
And as most opposition leaders now fear the midnight knock on their door, a lesson they could learn from this Christmas Day, is that the baby in the manger grew up and lived a life without sin. Finally Pilate, the governor said, “I find he has done nothing wrong!” Can this be said of our opposition?
This Christmas, learn from a Man who with no publicity agents, or WhatsApp groups built himself into the hearts of the people to win one-third of today’s world. There’s much our opposition can learn this Christmas, if they will only look at the babe in the manger and realise He has a winning formula..!
—Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com
