Jesus does not directly take on social reform. Instead, he preaches a life of simplicity and nonviolence that is simply outside the system of power, money, and control. More than directly fighting the system, he ignores it and builds an alternative worldview where power, prestige, and possessions are not sought or even admired. Such withdrawal of allegiance is finally the most subversive act possible because the powers that be can no longer control us, either positively or negatively (by getting us to react against them). We are no longer inside their reward-and-punishment system. Maybe that is why mystics, saints, and hermits so infuriate the body politic. They ignore the whole thing and build an alternative set of loyalties.
—from The Wisdom Pattern: Order, Disorder, Reorder by Richard Rohr, OFM
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