I bring you greetings from the 52nd-freest nation on earth. As an American, it irritates me that my nation keeps sinking in the annual rankings published by Freedom House. I'm the son of immigrants. My parents were born in China during war and revolution, went to Taiwan and then came to the United States, which means all my life, I've been acutely aware just how fragile an inheritance freedom truly is. That's why I spend my time teaching, preaching and practicing democracy.
我從地球上自由程度排名 第 52 的國家帶問候來給各位。 身為美國人,我很受不了我的國家 在自由之家所公佈的 年度排行榜中不斷下滑。 我是移民者的孩子。 我的父母生在中國, 那是戰亂和革命的時代, 他們先到台灣,接著又前往美國, 意思就是,我一生中, 我其實一直都很清楚, 繼承來的自由有多麼脆弱。 那就是為什麼,我把時間 花在教導、講授、實踐民主。
I have no illusions. All around the world now, people are doubting whether democracy can deliver. Autocrats and demagogues seem emboldened, even cocky. The free world feels leaderless.
我沒有幻想。 現在,世界各地,大家都在懷疑, 民主是否能實現。 獨裁者和煽動者似乎很大膽, 甚至狂妄自大。 感覺像是沒有人在領導自由世界。
And yet, I remain hopeful. I don't mean optimistic. Optimism is for spectators. Hope implies agency. It says I have a hand in the outcome. Democratic hope requires faith not in a strongman or a charismatic savior but in each other, and it forces us to ask: How can we become worthy of such faith? I believe we are at a moment of moral awakening, the kind that comes when old certainties collapse. At the heart of that awakening is what I call "civic religion." And today, I want to talk about what civic religion is, how we practice it, and why it matters now more than ever.
但,我仍然抱有希望。 我不是指樂觀。 旁觀者才會樂觀。 希望意味著能動性。 意思是,我對於結果 有部分的責任。 民主的希望需要信念, 不是相信鐵腕人物 或有魅力的救星, 而是相信彼此, 它強迫我們去問這個問題:我們 要怎麼做,才能值得這種信念? 我相信,我們正處於 道德覺醒的時刻, 在過去的肯定性崩壞時 會出現的那種覺醒。 覺醒的核心則是 我所謂的「公民宗教」。 今天,我想要談談 公民宗教是什麼, 我們要如何實踐它, 以及為什麼它在此時特別重要。
Let me start with the what. I define civic religion as a system of shared beliefs and collective practices by which the members of a self-governing community choose to live like citizens. Now, when I say "citizen" here, I'm not referring to papers or passports. I'm talking about a deeper, broader, ethical conception of being a contributor to community, a member of the body. To speak of civic religion as religion is not poetic license. That's because democracy is one of the most faith-fueled human activities there is. Democracy works only when enough of us believe democracy works. It is at once a gamble and a miracle. Its legitimacy comes not from the outer frame of constitutional rules, but from the inner workings of civic spirit.
讓我從「它是什麼」談起。 我把公民宗教定義為一種體制, 共同信念及集體實踐的體制, 透過這種體制,自治社區的成員 選擇像公民一樣地過生活。 我這裡說的「公民」指的 並不是文件或護照。 我在談的是更深、 更廣的倫理觀念: 成為對社區有貢獻的人, 成為團體的成員。 把公民宗教當成宗教來講, 並不是詩意的特許。 那是因為,民主是最需要 信念支撐的人類活動之一。 只有當有足夠的人相信 民主行得通時,民主才行得通。 它既是賭博又是奇蹟。 它的正當性不是來自 憲法規定的外框架, 而是來自公民精神的內在運作。
Civic religion, like any religion, contains a sacred creed, sacred deeds and sacred rituals. My creed includes words like "equal protection of the laws" and "we the people." My roll call of hallowed deeds includes abolition, women's suffrage, the civil rights movement, the Allied landing at Normandy, the fall of the Berlin Wall. And I have a new civic ritual that I'll tell you about in a moment.
公民宗教和任何宗教一樣, 都有神聖的教義、神聖的作為, 以及神聖的儀式。 我的教義包含了這些文字: 「對法律的平等保護」 及「我們人民」。 我可以點出的神聖作為包括: 廢除黑奴制度、 女性投票、民權運動, 同盟國部隊在諾曼第登陸, 拆除柏林圍牆。 等一下我會告訴各位 一種新的公民儀式。
Wherever on earth you're from, you can find or make your own set of creed, deed and ritual. The practice of civic religion is not about worship of the state or obedience to a ruling party. It is about commitment to one another and our common ideals. And the sacredness of civic religion is not about divinity or the supernatural. It is about a group of unlike people speaking into being our alikeness, our groupness.
不論你來自世界的何處, 你都可以找到或創造一組 你自己的教義、作為,以及儀式。 公民宗教的實踐, 重點不在於崇拜國家 或是順從主政的黨派。 重點在於對彼此的承諾 以及我們共同的理想。 而公民宗教的神聖,重點 並不是神性或超自然的東西。 重點是讓一群不同的人, 透過談話表達 而找到我們的相似處, 成為群體。
Perhaps now you're getting a little worried that I'm trying to sell you on a cult. Relax, I'm not. I don't need to sell you. As a human, you are always in the market for a cult, for some variety of religious experience. We are wired to seek cosmological explanations, to sacralize beliefs that unite us in transcendent purpose. Humans make religion because humans make groups. The only choice we have is whether to activate that groupness for good. If you are a devout person, you know this. If you are not, if you no longer go to prayer services or never did, then perhaps you'll say that yoga is your religion, or Premier League football, or knitting, or coding or TED Talks. But whether you believe in a God or in the absence of gods, civic religion does not require you to renounce your beliefs. It requires you only to show up as a citizen.
現在各位可能有點擔心 我是在試圖推銷某種宗教。 放心,並不是。 我不需要推銷給你們。 身為人類,你們一直 都在宗教的市場中, 尋求一些宗教體驗的多樣性。 我們天生就會尋找宇宙的解釋, 讓那些用超然目的將我們 團結起來的信念能夠被神聖化。 人類會創造宗教, 是因為人類會創造團體。 我們唯一的選擇,就是是否 要將這種群體性用在好的用途上。 如果你是虔誠的人, 你就知道這一點。 如果你不是, 如果你已經不再去禱告儀式 或從來沒有去過, 那,有可能你會說 瑜伽是你的宗教, 或者英格蘭足球超級聯賽, 或者編織,或者寫程式, 或者 TED 演說。 但,不論你相信神或是不相信有神, 公民宗教並不會要求你 要聲明放棄你的信念。 它只要求你要以公民的身分出席。
And that brings me to my second topic: how we can practice civic religion productively. Let me tell you now about that new civic ritual. It's called "Civic Saturday," and it follows the arc of a faith gathering. We sing together, we turn to the strangers next to us to discuss a common question, we hear poetry and scripture, there's a sermon that ties those texts to the ethical choices and controversies of our time, but the song and scripture and the sermon are not from church or synagogue or mosque. They are civic, drawn from our shared civic ideals and a shared history of claiming and contesting those ideals. Afterwards, we form up in circles to organize rallies, register voters, join new clubs, make new friends.
這就帶到了我的第二個主題: 我們要如何用很有生產力的 方式實踐公民宗教? 現在,讓我告訴各位 剛才提到的新公民儀式。 它叫做「公民星期六」, 它遵循著信念聚會的軌跡。 我們一起唱歌, 我們轉向身邊的陌生人, 討論共同的問題, 我們會聽詩歌和經文, 會有布道,將那些文字 和我們這個時代的 倫理選擇以及爭論連結起來, 但那些歌曲、經文,和佈道 並不是來自禮拜堂、 猶太教堂,或清真寺。 它們是公民的, 源自我們共同的公民理想, 以及索求、爭取 那些理想的共同歷史。 之後,我們會圍成圓圈, 來組織集會、登記投票者、 加入新社團、交新朋友。
My colleagues and I started organizing Civic Saturdays in Seattle in 2016. Since then, they have spread across the continent. Sometimes hundreds attend, sometimes dozens. They happen in libraries and community centers and coworking spaces, under festive tents and inside great halls. There's nothing high-tech about this social technology. It speaks to a basic human yearning for face-to-face fellowship. It draws young and old, left and right, poor and rich, churched and unchurched, of all races. When you come to a Civic Saturday and are invited to discuss a question like "Who are you responsible for?" or "What are you willing to risk or to give up for your community?" When that happens, something moves. You are moved. You start telling your story. We start actually seeing one another. You realize that homelessness, gun violence, gentrification, terrible traffic, mistrust of newcomers, fake news -- these things aren't someone else's problem, they are the aggregation of your own habits and omissions. Society becomes how you behave.
2016 年,我和我同事在西雅圖 開始組織「公民星期六」。 從此之後,公民星期六 就散播整個大陸。 有時,會有數百人出席, 有時則是幾十人。 舉辦的地點包括圖書館、 社區中心、共同工作的空間, 在節慶的帳篷下,以及大會堂內。 這項社群技術並不用什麼高科技。 它強調的是人類基本的渴望, 渴望面對面的交情。 它能吸引年輕人和老年人, 左派和右派, 貧窮人和有錢人, 上教堂和不上教堂的人, 所有的種族。 當你來到公民星期六, 你會被邀請討論問題, 比如「你為誰負責?」 或「你願意為你的社區 冒什麼樣的風險或放棄什麼?」 這個狀況發生時,會有改變產生。 你會被感動。 你會開始訴說你的故事。 我們會真正開始看見彼此。 你會了解到,無家可歸、 槍枝暴力、中產階級化、 糟糕的交通、 不相信新來者、假新聞—— 這些都不是別人的問題, 它們是你自己的習慣 和疏忽的集成體。 你的行為造成了社會現在的樣子。
We are never asked to reflect on the content of our citizenship. Most of us are never invited to do more or to be more, and most of us have no idea how much we crave that invitation.
從來沒有人要我們去反思, 我們公民身分的內容是什麼? 我們大部分的人從來沒有被邀請 去做更多、成為更多, 且大部分人並不知道我們 有多麼渴望得到那樣的邀請。
We've since created a civic seminary to start training people from all over to lead Civic Saturday gatherings on their own, in their own towns. In the community of Athens, Tennessee, a feisty leader named Whitney Kimball Coe leads hers in an art and framing shop with a youth choir and lots of little flags. A young activist named Berto Aguayo led his Civic Saturday on a street corner in the Back of the Yards neighborhood of Chicago. Berto was once involved with gangs. Now, he's keeping the peace and organizing political campaigns. In Honolulu, Rafael Bergstrom, a former pro baseball player turned photographer and conservationist, leads his under the banner "Civics IS Sexy." It is.
因此,我們創立了一間公民學院, 開始訓練來自各地的人, 讓他們在自己的鎮上, 靠自己領導公民星期六的聚會。 在田納西州雅典市的社區中, 有位活躍的領導人 叫做惠妮金柏柯, 在一間藝術及錶框商店中 領導她的聚會, 還有一個青年合唱團 以及許多小旗幟。 一位年輕的激進分子柏托厄瓜尤 在芝加哥「後院」社區中的一個街角 領導他的公民星期六。 柏托過去曾經和幫派有關係。 現在他在維護和平 及組織政治活動。 檀香山的拉斐爾柏斯卓姆 過去曾是職業棒球選手,後來 成了攝影師與天然資源保護論者, 他負責領導擁護公民的 「公民學很性感」。 是很性感沒錯。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Sometimes I'm asked, even by our seminarians: "Isn't it dangerous to use religious language? Won't that just make our politics even more dogmatic and self-righteous?" But this view assumes that all religion is fanatical fundamentalism. It is not. Religion is also moral discernment, an embrace of doubt, a commitment to detach from self and serve others, a challenge to repair the world. In this sense, politics could stand to be a little more like religion, not less.
有時我會被問,甚至被學院學生問: 「用宗教語言不會很危險嗎?」 這樣不會讓我們的政治顯得 更武斷且自以為是嗎?」 但,這個觀點已經假設了 所有的宗教都是狂熱的基要主義。 並不是這樣的。 宗教也是道德的洞察、 對懷疑的擁抱、 承諾分離自我,去服務他人、 修復世界的挑戰。 就這種意義上來說, 政治是更像宗教一點, 而非更不像。
Thus, my final topic today: why civic religion matters now. I want to offer two reasons. One is to counter the culture of hyperindividualism. Every message we get from every screen and surface of the modern marketplace is that each of us is on our own, a free agent, free to manage our own brands, free to live under bridges, free to have side hustles, free to die alone without insurance. Market liberalism tells us we are masters beholden to none, but then it enslaves us in the awful isolation of consumerism and status anxiety.
因此,今天我最後的主題是: 為什麼現在公民宗教很重要? 我想要提出兩個理由。 第一,是要對抗 超級個人主義的文化。 我們從每個螢幕 及現代商業界的表面 所取得的每個訊息 都指出我們每個人 都靠自己,都是自由人, 可以自由地管理我們自己的品牌, 自由地住在橋底下, 自由地打工, 自由地在沒有保險的 情況下孤獨死亡。 市場自由主義告訴我們, 我們是主人,不對誰有任何義務, 但接著,它奴役了我們, 讓我們處在消費主義 和地位焦慮的嚴重孤立中。
(Audience) Yeah!
(觀眾)是啊!
Millions of us are on to the con now. We are realizing now that a free-for-all is not the same as freedom for all.
我們數百萬人現在槓上了這個騙局。 現在,我們了解到 人人自由放任 並不等同大家都有自由。
(Applause)
(掌聲)
What truly makes us free is being bound to others in mutual aid and obligation, having to work things out the best we can in our neighborhoods and towns, as if our fates were entwined -- because they are -- as if we could not secede from one another, because, in the end, we cannot. Binding ourselves this way actually liberates us. It reveals that we are equal in dignity. It reminds us that rights come with responsibilities. It reminds us, in fact, that rights properly understood are responsibilities.
真正讓我們自由的, 是受到他人的束縛, 有互相的支助和義務, 必須要在我們的鄰里和鄉鎮中 盡我們所能解決問題, 彷彿我們的命運交織在一起—— 因為確實如此—— 彷彿我們不能夠脫離彼此, 因為,最終,我們的確不能。 用這種方式束縛我們, 其實是解放了我們。 它呈現出的是我們在尊嚴上的平等。 它提醒我們權利都有附帶的責任。 它提醒我們,事實上, 妥善了解的權利,就是責任。
The second reason why civic religion matters now is that it offers the healthiest possible story of us and them. We talk about identity politics today as if it were something new, but it's not. All politics is identity politics, a never-ending struggle to define who truly belongs. Instead of noxious myths of blood and soil that mark some as forever outsiders, civic religion offers everyone a path to belonging based only a universal creed of contribution, participation, inclusion. In civic religion, the "us" is those who wish to serve, volunteer, vote, listen, learn, empathize, argue better, circulate power rather than hoard it. The "them" is those who don't. It is possible to judge the them harshly, but it isn't necessary, for at any time, one of them can become one of us, simply by choosing to live like a citizen.
現在公民宗教 很重要的第二個理由: 它提供的關於我們和他們的 故事,是最健康的。 現今,我們會談身分認同政治, 講得好像它是新東西一樣, 但並不是。 所有的政治都是身分認同政治, 永無止境的掙扎, 要定義出誰才是一分子。 不用血統和出生地將一個人 永遠標記為外來者的不良迷思, 公民宗教提供給每個人的, 是一條歸屬的道路, 考量的只有通用的信條: 貢獻、參與、包容。 在公民宗教中, 「我們」指的是想要服務大家的人, 想要自願參與、投票、傾聽、 學習、強調、做更好的立論、 讓權力循環,而不是聚藏它。 「他們」指的是不做這些事的人。 的確是可以很嚴厲地評斷他們, 但沒必要這麼做, 因為任何時候,他們之中的人 都有可能變成我們的一員, 只要他們選擇過著 像公民的生活即可。
So let's welcome them in. Whitney and Berto and Rafael are gifted welcomers. Each has a distinctive, locally rooted way to make faith in democracy relatable to others. Their slang might be Appalachian or South Side or Hawaiian. Their message is the same: civic love, civic spirit, civic responsibility.
所以,讓我們歡迎他們進來。 惠妮、柏托,和拉斐爾 都是有才華的歡迎者。 他們都有深根在當地的獨特方法 讓對民主的信念變成 是大家都可以連結的。 他們可能說著阿巴拉契亞山脈的、 南邊的,或夏威夷的俚語。 但他們的訊息是相同的: 公民的愛、公民的精神、 公民的責任。
Now you might think that all this civic religion stuff is just for overzealous second-generation Americans like me. But actually, it is for anyone, anywhere, who wants to kindle the bonds of trust, affection and joint action needed to govern ourselves in freedom. Now maybe Civic Saturdays aren't for you. That's OK. Find your own ways to foster civic habits of the heart.
現在,各位可能在想, 這些公民宗教的一切 適用對象只是像我這種 過度熱心的第二代美國人。 但,事實上,對象是 任何地方的任何人, 只要想要點燃信任的聯結、 感情,以及聯合行動, 都是在自由中 管理我們自己必備的。 也許公民星期六並不適合你。 那也沒關係。 找到你自己的方法, 去培養出真心的公民習慣
Many forms of beloved civic community are thriving now, in this age of awakening. Groups like Community Organizing Japan, which uses creative performative rituals of storytelling to promote equality for women. In Iceland, civil confirmations, where young people are led by an elder to learn the history and civic traditions of their society, culminating in a rite-of-passage ceremony akin to church confirmation. Ben Franklin Circles in the United States, where friends meet monthly to discuss and reflect upon the virtues that Franklin codified in his autobiography, like justice and gratitude and forgiveness.
現在,在這個覺醒的時代, 被深愛的公民社區 以許多形式在茁壯。 像是「日本社區組織」這樣的團體 採用有創意、表演式的說故事儀式 來推動女性平權。 在冰島有「公民堅振禮」儀式, 一名長者會引領年輕人 去學習他們社會的 歷史和公民傳統, 在類似教堂堅振禮的 人生大事及其慶祝儀式中 達到最高點。 在美國的班富蘭克林圈, 朋友每個月會聚會, 討論和反思富蘭克林 編纂在他的自傳中的美德, 比如正義、感激,以及寬恕。
I know civic religion is not enough to remedy the radical inequities of our age. We need power for that. But power without character is a cure worse than the disease. I know civic religion alone can't fix corrupt institutions, but institutional reforms without new norms will not last. Culture is upstream of law. Spirit is upstream of policy. The soul is upstream of the state. We cannot unpollute our politics if we clean only downstream. We must get to the source. The source is our values, and on the topic of values, my advice is simple: have some.
我知道公民宗教不足以 補救我們這個時代的極端不平等。 我們需要權力才能做到。 但沒有高尚品德的權力, 是比疾病還要糟糕的解藥。 我知道單靠公民宗教 無法修補腐敗的體制, 但沒有新規範的 制度改革不會持久。 文化是法律的上游。 精神是政策的上游。 靈魂是國家的上游。 如果我們只清理下游, 無法消除政治中的污染。 我們必須要回到源頭。 源頭就是我們的價值觀, 至於價值觀這個主題, 我的建議很簡單:
(Laughter)
要有點價值觀。
(笑聲)
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Make sure those values are prosocial. Put them into practice, and do so in the company of others, with a structure of creed, deed and joyful ritual that'll keep all of you coming back.
要確保那些價值觀是親社會的。 實踐它們, 且要在他人的陪伴之下去實踐, 用教條、作為, 及快樂儀式的結構來實踐, 才會讓大家持續回來。
Those of us who believe in democracy and believe it is still possible, we have the burden of proving it. But remember, it is no burden at all to be in a community where you are seen as fully human, where you have a say in the things that affect you, where you don't need to be connected to be respected. That is called a blessing, and it is available to all who believe.
我們這些相信民主且相信 民主仍然有可能實現的人, 我們要背負證明它的重擔。 但,別忘了,它完全 不會是個負擔, 如果在你所處的社區中, 你被視為完全的人類, 對於會影響你的事物,你有發言權, 你不需要被連結,也可以被尊重。 那就是福氣, 只要相信的人,都可以得到的。
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)