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Jehovah Witness
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“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
God blesses those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
God blesses those who are humble,
for they will inherit the whole earth.
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they will be satisfied.
God blesses those who are merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
for they will see God.
God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God.
God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
[Matthew 5:3-12 (NLT)]
Symbiosis
The relation between two different species of organisms that are interdependent; each gains benefits from the other
Synergism
The theological doctrine that salvation results from the interaction of human will and divine grace
Predator
Someone who attacks in search of booty
Prey
A person who is the aim of an attack (especially a victim of ridicule or exploitation) by some hostile person or influence
[Above definitions from WordWeb Pro]
The contrast between symbiosis and predator-prey relationships is very telling when we look upon human affairs. As an illustration of symbiosis from nature we can think of bees and plants. From their interaction, bees acquire nectar and plants acquire pollination—each gains a benefit. In the predatory-prey relationship, the wolf (for example) can play endlessly over and over in his mind the graphic of planting his hot fangs in the neck of a lamb and savoring the reinforcing satisfaction gained from both the mental fixation itself and also the actual doing.
It seems to me at base the Beatitudes illustrate a symbiotic relationship. They describe the blessedness that results when mankind orders its affairs symbiotically rather than in predator-prey manner. Blessed relationships occur in and among men and interface synergistically with divinity. Ideally, swords will be beat into pruning hooks and sheep will lie down with the lion.
When we look upon the broad sweep of human affairs we can see this relationship revealed. A totalitarian state, for example, enforces a predator-prey relationship whereas democracies safeguarding individual rights illustrate a symbiotic relationship.
Likewise the market economy in democracies is essentially a symbiotic relationship between supply and demand in which both market elements mutually benefit in a just and fair fashion. “Robber barons” in this light are predators and are justly restrained by government which actively structures the economic system symbiotically. (It is a deep misconstruction of the market economy to affirm that “greed is good” and hold that predation (a shark tank) is normal.)
In a democracy the fundamental institutions—government, church, family, and the creative sector—engage in mutual empowerment and restraint cultivating a healthy symbiosis. The Bill of Rights is all about protecting symbiosis among individuals and society. When justice flows down like waters symbiosis is the enabling structure. The police power of a democracy is quite unlike that in a totalitarian state. One underwrites symbiosis the other enforces a predator-prey relationship. Likewise government structures themselves in democracy are designed to augment concerted effort while curtailing predation. The American Congress betrays its own mission when it turns from conciliation and mutual benefit towards predator-prey bloodletting. To the extent that this results from fractures in the body politic, it represents a coarsening of American society. Kindness forever will be energized by symbiosis and meanness by predation.
For the fun of it I like to turn this way of looking at things to sports. Surely professional football is a predator-prey sort of thing. Really? If it were, the first thing we would do is overturn the “law and order” of the game. We would find “government” (in the form of referees) evil and overbearing and a detriment to “freedom.” As with the market economy, seeing sports as essentially an exercise in predation tells us much more about the perceiver than the game perceived.
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