God and Tonga are our heritage [1]
Monday, March 30, 2009 - 05:00. Updated on Friday, September 12, 2014 - 13:57.
Editor,
Tonga's prodemocracy movement tightly hold Lord Acton's tail when he said, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." For years, they intoxicated the mass with that quote as if it is another absolute proposition from our Creator. Let me try to debunk Acton's naked half-truth.
It would have been better for Acton to have said that "Absolute power sometimes corrupts absolutely." Tongan monarchy is my data to counter Acton's well-known bluff. What about absolute democracy? No one can deny that "Absolute democracy corrupts absolutely" as shown by 16/11. My point is not to belittle democracy but to shot down idolizing of democracy. Now, does monarchy have a place in the 21st century, or is it only an artifact of history?
Deep reflection reveals that every good thought in a fallen world, whether it is from man or from God, is vulnerable to misuse. Both monarchy and democracy are dependent variables at the danger of being abused. Unfortunately, most European and American academics leave no room whatsoever for monarchy as a possible better form of government for any nation, and I believe it is rooted in their history's bitter experience with England. In fact, in 1838, John O'Sullivan, the editor of the Democratic Review, labeled England's monarchial power as the "gates of hell." Fair enough, for it was his experience with monarchy. Should I follow O'Sullivan's unfair emotional attack of monarchy, I may be forced to call democracy, as executed in Tonga in "16/11," as "hell's demons-on-the-loose." Also, I may be persuaded to label the third world nations' struggles with democracy as "hell's demons-at-their-best." What would O'Sullivan say to America's having Saudi Arabia (a monarchy) as one of America's closest allies? Turn Saudi Arabia to democracy now and her Muslim fundamentalist population would kick America out of their country. My point is this - yes, there is a place for monarchy in the 21st century.
Tonga's monarchy, as compared with the developing nations' democracy, has undeniably proved itself to be a political system worthy of our noble guard, a mission and message from our Creator. Monarchy is part of our story, our identity, our sense of uniqueness, and our individuality as a nation. Monarchy protects our "soulish" majestic sense of awe and points us forward to our God, the supreme and absolute monarch for all mankind. Our enlightened king's openness to our Christian heritage is better than the liberal democracies' rejection of Christianity. In a world saturated with hatred of authority, our voluntarily submission and respect to our king and to our forefathers instill in our children's hearts the same sense of respect to us. Our motto: "God and Tonga are my Heritage" is transformed to "God and Tonga are our heritage." The people and their king join hand in hand to form a noble nation where God is honored and the nation's uniqueness is protected. This is Tonga's exceptionalism.
No constitution on earth has urged its people to keep the Sabbath holy forever except Tonga. No nation on earth protects its people from homelessness by forbidding the selling of its land except Tonga. No nation has its president, prime minister, or king as a preacher of the Gospel, except Tonga. Yes we go overseas and gather gold and knowledge, but we should not be so ignorant as to believe that the good life rests alone in gold. Nor does it lies in knowledge alone. The good life lies within us as we treasure values and eternal principles - the "faa'i kavei koula e ...ulungaanga fakaTonga." Of course we dream big, but bigness does not lie only in economic and academic heights. It is rooted in the depths of our soul where cultural and spiritual values are nurtured. A democratic monarchy form of government challenges us to dig deep, to wrestle intellectually, to reflect philosophically with paradoxes of life until we feel our helplessness and admit our need to call on a higher power. Our future and our children's future are at stake. Our journey should not be one of regret, but rather a journey of triumph for the road that we are about to take is truly a Road of No Return. It is our mission, our calling, and our manifest destiny to uphold what our motto had urged us to be. God and Tonga are our heritage. Guarding that heritage requires a democratic monarchy, nothing less.
Senituli Penitani
Kings College
seni15266 [at] yahoo [dot] com [dot] au