The Elections of Pontius Pilots

Pontius Pilate was said to have "washed his hands" of the guilt of killing Jesus Christ, but for some reason it is said that the people exclaimed that they were guilty of his death:

"When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look to it yourselves.” And the whole people said in reply, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.”

(Bible, Matthew 27:24-25). In Greek "Pontius" means "marine", while "Pilate" ("pilatos") means "armed with a spear".

The pilots we elect to office in our incessant elections put on the robes of office then "wash their hands" of what they said they would do, brag about being marines at heart, then claim to have been naive for the words they used in their campaign that indicated war is not the answer to everything.

These Pontius Pilots thereafter continually blame each other for our maladies, continuing on with business as usual, evidently in denial about the peril the ship of state faces.

It reminds one of a movie where an airliner is going down in a storm, the pilot is dead, so the passengers are asked to select a pilot from amongst themselves.

Two main candidates emerge, one from each of two groups, each group saying the other can't fly, while at the same time advocating for their own great flying skills.

The problem is so severe that it would take both of them to avoid destruction, nevertheless that reality seems to escape them, so the fate of all on board remains in doubt.

All analogies break down at some point, but the reality here is that everyone suffers when cooperation toward the fundamental good is lost in these storms caused by the toxins of power.

The next post in this series is here.

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The toxins are corrupting our leaders' proper understanding our role in the world expressed by our foreign policy:

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