Rebelling against what will not make us better people.
Societies that advance do so because some people choose courage over fear, values, and moral consistency over mere fanaticism. While courage moves towards action despite the adverse consequences, fanaticism, according to George Santayana redoubles efforts when it has forgotten its aim.
It is not enough to condemn evil and injustice, we have to commit to being better ourselves. That when found in the same circumstances as the people we condemn daily, we do better. Our lips and moral inclination should always walk hand-in-hand.
We need to be people who are self-reflecting, and self-critiquing, rebelling against those traits, actions, and value systems that will not make us better, first within ourselves and then among those we call our own.
But above all, there needs to be a spiritual commitment to reject the decay and callousness around us. Faith and trust in Someone or something greater than ourselves is the bedrock of character formation. If we are going to act despite the adverse consequences, we will have to be men and women of character, surrounded by like-minded men and women.
To rebel against what will not make us better requires that first, we become aware of what it means to be better people, and second, how to get there. That is what the Rebel Priest Newsletter is all about.
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About Mategyero
D. E. S. Nuwamanya-Mategyero is brave, outspoken, and prophetic.
He is a Ugandan public theologian, writer, and former Parish Youth Minister of six Anglican churches. Mategyero was educated at Nkumba Primary School, Makerere University (BA. —Political Science & Psychology), and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity—Biblical and Theological Studies).
Read the longer bio here.
