Jesuit Alumni Host 60's Radical At A Country Club

What I find interesting is the sixties radical is speaking in a toney country club, that 25 people in attendance is probably an exaggeration and that this article was actual published in a newspaper and was considered newsworthy.

Rabbi makes the case for a clearer progressive voice
Lawn Griffiths, Tribune
People spiritually long to discard the “ethos of materialism and selfishness” that appears to dominate the worldview, says Rabbi Michael Lerner, co-founder of Network of Spiritual Progressives and author of “The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right.” Regardless of people’s political leanings, he said, there is a powerful quest for “an ethos of love, caring for others, generosity and kindness,” he said Monday in Phoenix.But while progressives in the faith community may be effective at voicing what problems dog humanity, they fail woefully at exciting people about what can be done and then leading them through change, he said.

“There is a lot of caring and a lot of goodness” being delivered to people through systems such as government, but progressives fail miserably at making that known and making the case for the common good, Lerner told about 25 guests at a luncheon at Phoenix Country Club, hosted by the Jesuit Alumni in Arizona.

Lerner, a political activist for 40 years whom the late FBI director J. Edgar Hoover once labeled “one of the most dangerous criminals in America” for his anti-Vietnam and free-speech work during the 1960s, calls on liberals and progressives to more effectively communicate how important their causes are to Americans. As well-meaning as progressives may be to advance human well-being, they are not resonating “subjectively” with people about the issues of life because they tend to dismiss how central religious and spiritual concerns are to the lives of most Americans, Lerner said. The left’s reputation for intellectualism and a tendency to marginalize religious faith from public discourse have hurt its credibility, said Lerner, whose organization, Tikkun, works for social justice, political freedom and “recognition of the spiritual dimension of life.” Fearing they will alienate or split their base, liberals act as if “they don’t stand for anything,” he said. Progressive clergy often shrink from taking moral stands on some of the planet’s life-and-death issues because of a fear it will fracture their congregations and jeopardize the financial viability of their churches or temples and even hurt their own incomes, he said. They seem paralyzed to show courage as activists for noble causes lest they drive away some of their members. But conservative faith leaders are more forthright in their positions and attract followers because there is less ambiguity and greater certainty in their positions, he said.Ancient religious texts shared by major religions speak powerfully to the shared need to work together for earth’s survival, he said. “I know the case is easier to make today,” he said. “We need to save the planet.” Progressives ardently understand “what’s wrong with this world, but they are not able to articulate a worldview,” said Lerner, who founded Tikkun magazine, a Jewish and interfaith publication based in Berkeley, Calif. The rabbi, who leads a small Jewish Renewal congregation of 125 in Berkeley, said the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would have failed if he had acted like today’s liberals and progressives, if he merely had said, “I have a complaint” about racial inequality. King succeeded because “he has a vision of what was and what should be,” said Lerner, 64, who recently appeared on “Meet the Press” and “Bill Moyers Journal.” “Explicit caring” is typically demonstrated in conservative churches, he said. Lerner said fundamentalists are famous for pointing to holy texts for the final words on issues like homosexuality and women’s roles, but they tend to be selective at observing other tenets. For example, they don’t honor the command of the “Jubilee” (Leviticus 25:8-55) when every 49th year, people are commanded to begin the Year of the Jubilee by forgiving the debts of others and forgoing commerce.He said progressives put great stock in government’s role at enhancing life through such means as public schools, building roads, postal delivery, Medicare and more, but they’ve failed to show society how important that is to elevate human standards. He said he once told presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., that if she wins the White House, she should send a letter to every American on April 16, the day after tax day, and urge people to personally thank their neighbors for paying their taxes and making life better for one another. Lerner came to Phoenix from Fort Benning, Ga., where, on Sunday, he joined 10,000 people in the annual protest of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly School of the Americas), which, critics say, gives Latin American military personnel skills to use to torture people who might be seeking change and justice in their countries. As many as 100,000 people have died or disappeared in countries where the military is used, Lerner said. God, he said, put mankind on earth as his partners. “Our task is to be partners with God in healing the world,” he said.

Link to original article (here)