Prophets and Projects

James Murphy uses the word “prophet” in a way I’d never heard of. No, he says, a prophet isn’t always the “bearded and eccentric biblical seer delivering God’s judgment on his people”. In fact, the ways he defines it, a prophet need not even be a messenger of God at all!

 

Who is a prophet, in Murphy’s way of thinking?

“Prophets wage war against statesmen for their amoral realpolitik; and against priests for focusing on ritual rather than righteousness.”

Somebody needs to speak up to those in power, sometime to expose their excesses, at others to push for measures that neither group would ever advocate. Sometimes the reason those in power don’t change things is because it suits them; at other times, the reason is that it is very hard to change society.

 

By his definition, Martin Luther King was a prophet who fought for racial equality. So too are activists like Greta Thunberg who fight for measures against global warming. Note these are not religious reformers, they seek social change which those in power do not/cannot bring about.

 

Prophets and authority play complementary roles, says Murphy. The role of the prophet is to point out problems, to confront evils, to raise awareness.

“The prophetic office exists to set moral limits on the exercise of political and religious power. Prophets chasten politics by reminding us of transcendent moral values.”

But it is not their role to fix them. Why not? Because solutions are messy and imperfect, they need negotiations, and yes, compromises. For working those out, we need authority figures and systems.

“Prophets cannot rule us or create good institutions; they can only denounce abuses of power by politicians and priests.”

Besides, some prophets can be the bad guys; and even when they aren’t, they may be hopelessly impractical.

 

A prophet leads, I realized, something much larger than a mere protest, as Seth Godin put it:

“Protests are momentary, temporary and urgent… (Protests involve) creating a moment in time where there’s enough opportunity and social pressure that they participate.”

Rather, a prophet applies pressure for what Godin called a “project”:

“A project is impatiently persistent. It plays a longer game, one that can outlast the status quo. A project identifies the system and brings a systematic approach to changing that system. Projects can seem boring when seen with a stopwatch, but they’re powerful when measured with a calendar.”

Like Gandhi did.

 

Interesting perspectives, both.