I won’t be attending, but I thought I’d flag the conference of the “Network of Spiritual Progressives” taking place this weekend in D.C. since it’s being hosted by my church.
Presenters include Congressmen Keith Ellison and Dennis Kucinich, Brian McLaren, Joan Chittister, Bill McKibben, and Michael Lerner, among many others. The agenda is crafting “an alternative to Tea Party extremism and Corporate Domination of American Politics and Culture.” Looks like it’s an attempt to forge a coalition of religious and secular liberals to exert pressure on the Obama administration from a progressive direction. I probably wouldn’t sign onto everything on their policy wish-list, but given how far to the Right the “center” of our public discourse has moved, anything that might help revivify the genuine Left and further break up the Right’s monopoly on religion-talk is welcome.
A Thinking Reed 