New Paradigm, New Hope

For the multitude of us who are dismayed at the lack in both political parties of anything we can hold on to, there is hope. A movement which I intend to support and I hope others will also is the Network of Spiritual Progressives. NSP espouses a badly needed new paradigm which is not really new, just not seen in public for many a year. This network has the revolutionary goal to bring spiritual values and meaning into politics. The most visible leader of the network, Michael Lerner, comes from a background in research psychology, magazine editing, and was ordained a rabbi in 1995. The ‘platform’ of the network is an 8-issue covenant still undergoing some development.

The first covenant states ‘We will challenge the materialism and selfishness often rooted in the dynamics of the competitive marketplace that undermine loving relationships and family life.’ Further covenants relate to
• personal responsibility in ‘caring for each other as well as to self-development’,
• social responsibility of corporations,
• education with added values of generosity, tolerance, intellectual curiosity,
• health care in a broader context,
• environment stewardship with ethical consumption,
• foreign policy with a strategy of non-violence and generosity,
• separation of church, state, and science but without keeping all spiritual values out of the public sphere.

Michael Lerner’s recent book, The Left Hand of God, Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right, is basic and gives full background and explanation of the issues covered by the covenant. In my opinion, this covenant is the three-fold social order, [equality, freedom, brotherhood] in modern context.

The websites for NSP and Tikkun magazine are a plethora of ideas and information: www.spiritualprogressives.org and www.tikkun.org. The location is 2342 Shattuck Ave, Su 1200, Berkeley, CA 94704, phone 510.644.1200. I urge all readers to learn more. I think you will be glad you did. The eight covenants cover every cultural, economic and rights issue I am concerned about at the national level.