Progressives: Stop Waiting for a Hero

"...progressive values cannot be saved by heroes. Progressive values can only be saved by ordinary citizens living up to their principles."

Put away the flags

"...nationalism is given a special virulence when it is said to be blessed by Providence. Today we have a president, invading two countries in four years, who announced on the campaign trail last year that God speaks through him.

"We need to refute the idea that our nation is different from, morally superior to, the other imperial powers of world history.

"We need to assert our allegiance to the human race, and not to any one nation."

I am lately much ashamed to be an American, but I love this country and want to help it acheive its inherent potential. But if blind belief in America is supporting a national narcissism, then perhaps this article by Howard Zinn will give us thought as to how we might heal these pathologies.

Willie Nelson for President?

Hey, he'd have my vote!

Senator Obama Clarifies Points from Speech About Religion

This interview of Senator Barack Obama clarifies some of the distortions and misunderstandings (mostly courtesy of an AP story) from his speech to the Call to Renewal conference. The speech has been criticized from the secular left, as well as the religious right.

I believe that this kind of talk from a man of Obama's standing gives "permission" for people of faith to stand up for what they believe in, no longer heeding the tyranny of the religious right, who reserve to themselves alone the right to define what Christianity and moral behavior are. Linking the strength of God with the dedication of secular progressives to improve the world for all seems a good idea to me, NOT to court votes, but to work towards realizing a common goal to heal a wounded world.

Definitions of Power

This is an excerpt from Starhawk's book Truth or Dare where she talks about three kinds of power. When I hear the word power, I think of the kind of power where one seeks to dominate. Starhawk calls this power-over. But there are two other kinds of power: power-with and power-from-within. I read this book years ago and this part stuck with me and I wanted to share it with you.

Bill Moyers on Faith & Reason

I really loved this PBS show last night, with Bill Moyers interviewing writer Mary Gordon and philosopher Colin McGinn. I was especially fascinated by Mary's story...her growth as a person. From a childhood of wanting martyrhood so much that she prepared herself for suffering by putting thorns in her shoes, to a person with of insight, humor, honesty and a living faith complete with its necessary complement of doubt.
She is saddened at the fundamentalism and consumerism that threaten what she values most.

A favorite quote from her interview:

"So that now it seems that one of the most important human divisions is between those who think of religion as a major threat to our survival as a species. And those for whom our survival without it would seem to have no meaning."

Colin's interview didn't capture me the way Mary's did, but was interesting nonetheless.

I plan to watch the rest of the series...thoughtful, intelligent and inspiring.

Milgram experiment

This Wikipedia article on the infamous Milgram experiment frightens me no end. Conducted around the same time as the Eichmann war crimes trial in the early 60s, these experiments were intended to determine if a participant would follow the instructions of an authority to the point of violating their own conscience. Horrifyingly, over two-thirds of the test subjects overrode their humaneness to perform acts of cruelty as directed. Hmmm...