Brexit: How Would I Vote? | Jane's Journals

I love having the time to research issues and make more informed decisions about the issues of today.I may get tired of offering my opinions on the controversies, I may not! I feel so free now that I no longer need to navigate within the institutional church. To serve in most mainline churches today means to be politically correct, to compromise for the sake of serving others. The whole goal behind that is to teach the values of Jesus and work from the community level up, promoting spiritual growth. Sounds like a lofty goal, but very little changes. To heck with that! I think I can promote more good by just being myself and doing my own best to live as a follower of Jesus.

Last Thursday I knew nothing about Brexit. By bedtime Friday I had a great foundation. Why? I listened to BBC (British Broadcasting) all day on satellite radio. I was sewing a quilt for my granddog and found myself pulled into the post-vote coverage. For several hours, the newsperson interviewed Britons who were having Friday Fish and Chips at a local pub in south England. They intentionally gathered up people with varying positions and allowed each to speak out, round robin. What a history lesson.

How would I vote after this time listening and some later online research: EXIT! Yep. One gentleman, in particular, expressed something that horrified me. EU countries do not have the equivalent of states rights like we have in the US. Furthermore, many of the EU leaders are appointed, not elected. Broad, politically negotiated decision affect every country and are binding. The EU reduces regional authority on immigration, economics, trading, security and much more . It is a reaction to globalization that gives a large block of people (the wealthy across Europe) a type of world power they don’t have on their own. The structure is perfect for megalomaniacs to take charge and control millions of people. Now, the UK will be a smaller player on the world stage. The price is more autonomy, more self-determination, more liberty. Democracy. Sounds good to me. I still subscribe to small is beautiful.

What is most interesting to me about all of this is how it draws to mind the tales of a great British writer, Tolkien. In his Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books, he told the story of large, greedy powers who take over Middle Earth and bring darkness and decay. A small group of people, including the Hobbits and Elves, join together to break the grip of the elite ruling party.

Another British writer, C.S. Lewis, told basically the same story in his Narnia series. And the American Star Wars movies tell the same story, this time, about the Imperial Forces who take over the universe. A small, scruffy band frees the galaxy from evil. What about the Matrix? “The One” appears just in time to free the people from Mr. Anderson and his matrix. The same story has been told for millennia. It is even the story of Jesus, who worked to free people from out-of-control religious forces who sided with imperialist Rome. Carl Jung studied these stories and developed the Hero Archetype.

These stories are more than fancy tales about heroes who stand up to oppressors, in other times and places. They are human history and a warning about our future. Here. Now.

Great prophets in British History