Politics are wack - it's mostly about the characters instead of

The words of Santigold — "Politics are wack - it's mostly about the characters instead of the issues, like how religion is about religion instead of spirituality." — fall with the force of disillusionment, yet they carry the seed of awakening. In these words, she unveils a truth both sobering and universal: that too often, human institutions lose sight of their essence. Politics, meant to serve the people and guide society toward justice, becomes a theater of personalities. Religion, meant to awaken the soul to the divine, becomes an idol of rituals, hierarchy, and empty form. The outer shell replaces the inner spirit, and the true purpose is forgotten.

The origin of this thought lies in the human tendency to cling to appearances rather than substance. Leaders are judged not by the depth of their vision but by the charm of their persona. Faiths are followed not for their call to compassion and transcendence but for their ceremonies and divisions. Santigold, as an artist, sees through this illusion: she recognizes that what was meant to liberate has become a stage for vanity. Her words echo the voices of prophets, poets, and reformers who, through the ages, have cried out against form without essence, against spectacle without truth.

History gives us countless examples. Consider ancient Rome, where politics descended into the theater of emperors. Instead of serving the Republic’s ideals of justice and civic duty, politics became the contest of personalities: Caesar, Augustus, Nero. The crowd was distracted by grandeur, while the true issues of poverty, inequality, and freedom were buried beneath spectacle. Likewise, many religions across time have drifted from their spirituality into contests of power — inquisitions, schisms, wars — where men fought not for the divine, but for dominance in the name of the divine.

And yet, there are those who call humanity back to essence. Mahatma Gandhi rejected politics as mere power struggles and insisted on truth, justice, and non-violence as the true “issues.” For him, the essence of politics was service, not spectacle. In religion, St. Francis of Assisi cast off wealth and ritual to live simply among the poor, reminding the world that the heart of faith was humility and love, not pomp or hierarchy. Both men, in their ways, echoed what Santigold laments: that the truest things are hidden when the surface is mistaken for the substance.

The teaching here is powerful: beware of institutions when they exalt characters over causes, or when they cling to the forms of religion while forgetting its spirit. A people distracted by spectacle lose sight of justice. A believer lost in ritual without compassion loses the divine. It is easier to worship the image than to practice the truth; easier to follow the performance than to live the principle. Yet the easy path leads only to emptiness.

The lesson for us is this: in both politics and religion, seek the essence. Do not be distracted by the shining mask of the politician, but ask: what issue does this person truly serve? Do not be dazzled by the robes of religion, but ask: what spirit of love, compassion, or transcendence does this faith awaken? Seek substance over show, truth over form, spirit over spectacle. Only then will you avoid being swept into illusions.

What, then, should you do in practice? Look deeper. When you see leaders praised, look not at their character but at their fruits. When you attend rituals of faith, look not at the grandeur of the ceremony but at the compassion it awakens in you. Speak out when spectacle replaces truth. Live by essence in your own life, refusing to be defined by image or mask, but by integrity and spirit.

Thus let this teaching endure: politics without issues is hollow, and religion without spirituality is empty. Do not lose yourself in the theater of appearances. Instead, seek always the heart of things. For in the end, it is not the characters who matter, nor the forms, but the truth they either reveal or conceal. And the wise will always search for truth beneath the surface of the stage.