"It is the duty of all to oppose unjust authority...

Monday 4th May, 2020

" It is the duty of all to oppose unjust authority and overthrow tyrants". This quotation of John O'Keeffe was sent me by a friend. She has written a play on him and writes of his daughter, Adelaide. It is a sentiment and viewpoint to be held sacred today as we face a world of dictators as well as laws drastically controlling our movements and freedoms. 

My mind concentrated on the words duty, oppose, unjust and tyrants. Each of us must unpack them and study their relevance to our own lifestyles and actions.

My duty is to be myself. Being myself I uncover my purpose. In uncovering that I come to recognise what I deem right and wrong.

For example I believe it is not right to impose beliefs, ideas, lifestyles upon others. Each of us must decide for ourself our principles and actions. Yet it seems to me that there are universal standards that as a human, a member of the human race, one has a duty to uphold. As a consequence of those standards one realises that whatever undermines, negates or cheapens them must be opposed or a justification sought and accepted. 

I believe all human life is sacred. Yet there are arguments for a justified war, for capital punishment, for euthanasia and they are legal in some countries. They are to be considered but to be opposed if my conscience and consideration deem them wrong. I must not stand by and be indifferent or disinterested. I must question and challenge until satisfied. 

I accept authority if legitimate.

I accept for example the imposition of taxes, of laws justly promulgated, of political decisions re foreign policies etc but should I deem the authority as overstepping its remit and legitimacy then again I have a duty to oppose. 

Tyrants, by definition, I will not abide. Nor will I abide tyrannical acts and consider it wrong not to oppose them. Tyrannies come in many and various guises. They are constituted of the arrogance based on the proud presumption that the tyrant and his/her cohorts know what is right and good and impose it at all costs, often by force and fear.

My experience has alerted me to tyranny in homes and families. Reports over the last month have indicated a rise in domestic violence. This is often linked with child abuse, male dominance and fuelled by alcohol. Rightly society, the law condemns such whether physical, mental or sexual even financial. 

I have witnessed the tyranny of gang culture. Gangs terrify whether in the playground, through cyber space, in housing estates or on the streets of cities. Drug culture, knife crime and bullying are associated with these gangs. These are tyrannies curbing freedoms, education and social intercourses. 

We all know of tyrants in history and many tyrants still stride the world stage. Hitler, Idi Amin are examples and we see the devastation caused by them. Last Saturday week I read a review of a biography of Vladimir Putin and was appalled at the claimed tyranny of him and his cohorts. He is not alone in the world today. We must oppose them yet we trade with them, laud them on State visits and refuse to publicly condemn their acts of tyranny. What of Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia, of the poisoning of people on the streets of Salisbury.....?

John O'Keeffe would be exposing them on the stage and in his daily discussions and social activities. Yes, some do so on the internet but the counteraction is swift in cyber space. Some authorities cry 'realpolitik' to justify.

A phrase much used by a pious Aunt of mine, still alive at 104, is ' the tyranny of sin'. She has a point. I link it to spirituality and the power of evil, as well as psychology and the power of the ego, to sociology and the power of riches and influence. Yet as with all principles and actions I need first to take the beam from my own eye.

Then I will see more clearly what is unjust, what tyrannous, what to be opposed and what is my duty. 

#johnokeeffe #okeeffe #okeefe #tyrants #dictators