Welcome to Engaging Faith, a new, hopefully weekly, series, from Street Prophets. Engaging Faith is to be a little tea house and reading room I'm setting up on our intersection between Faith and Politics.
This series is here for discussion, questions, answers, sharing stories, making observations, between the progressive community as a whole, and those of us who consider ourselves religious progressives. The focus of this talk, I hope, will be the interaction of faith, and the actions of religious people, for good or ill, towards the overall mission of Daily Kos, which I think is best summed up as:
To get more and better Democrats into office. By "better" we mean not only more talented and more effective, but also more progressive. We seek to work, progressively, towards a nation, and perhaps a world, where we're not destroying the environment; where we don't have to kill others to turn our lights on or go to work; where the people can be assured they'll have access to healthy food, safe shelter, meaningful education, and quality medical care independently of their ability to personally be an economically productive member of society; where we have the right to live, love, raise a family, work, and practice or not practice a faith in the way that seems right to us, as long as we're not directly hurting others in the process.
That's a long road, let's take a step together under the flip...
Where is this Coming From?
For those who might still be unaware, Street Prophets has been a "satellite" community originally created by Daniel Schultz (pastordan) and Markos Moulitas (kos) back in 2005, to "promote a new conversation about the role of religion in America's public life." The community has been talking, growing and developing ever since, but much of the conversation has been out of the line of sight of the average Kossack, taking place on a different website we will sometimes refer to as "Blue".
After the DK4 upgrade happened, it was suggested that we return here, as the continued support of separate satellite servers such as Blue is now question. While many of the details of exactly what we're going to do, where and when are still being ironed out, it's clear that our visible presence here is useful and important, though apparently uncomfortable for some.
This series goes back to one of the core motivations, part of the original mission of Street Prophets, to offer a connection between the broad progressive movement and religious progressives. During discussions inspired by the logistical upheavals at Street Prophets, many of us (myself included) expressed that this part of our mission wasn't receiving enough attention. So I'm starting this series as one step to work on that.
What Are We Doing Here?
So, what I see this series as is a place of engagement, a place where Kossacks can come with questions, and receive hopefully thoughtful and informed answers from people who have some idea what they're talking about.
These questions should be asked and answered from a place of respect of each other as fellow progressives who are generally working towards the same goals. We seek to connect, to work together, based on who we are right now, where we came from, where we seek to go together.
Some examples of the types of questions I have in mind:
- I'm working for a candidate running in a heavily Catholic area, how can I frame her message to help (or at least not hurt) her performance with Catholic voters?
- The Religious Right is coming out in force to block this bill I support, what should I know to respond more effectively?
- My canvassing partner seems very openly religious, and I'm very much not. What should I expect, how should I try not to offend, how should I respond if offended, in short, how can we make this work?
- Why is my local school board suddenly trying to insert "Intelligent Design" lessons into our Biology curriculum, what do I do about it?
- I'm trying to get a grassroots community initiative started, which local churches (mosques, temples, synagogues, whatever) can I expect to help, which can I expect to fight? How can I keep the ones I fight down to a minimum, and encourage the others to actively help?
I also wouldn't be surprised to see, and don't object to seeing, some questions along the lines of "I'm curious about X", or "I don't understand where this religion is coming from when they say Y", as long as they are asked with respect and out of a genuine desire for better understanding.
One kind of question I'd love to help with, but has to be handled gingerly, is "I left the church because they hurt me this way, and I see them hurting others the same way, how can I work to stop the hurt without people seeing me as an anti-religious bigot?" If that's where you're coming from, please be mindful that you're asking questions from a sore and vulnerable place, that might also hit others in sore and vulnerable places. Be mindful that you are looking for help and/or information from people who should be treated with respect, and who should be treating you with respect.
In general, when discussing sensitive topics I find it best to hit preview, reread it, edit it, take a few slow, deep breaths, read it again, make sure it's coming from a place of respect, make sure it's effectively communicating what I seek to communicate. Always feel free to hit the cancel button if the comment isn't where you want it to be, you can come back later (or not); it's OK, there's no rush. Personally, I hit cancel on about 40% of the comments I start writing.
What Aren't We Doing Here?
First off, we're not here to give knee-jerk answers. If your experiences with religion are largely limited to the Christianity presented as the One True Christianity by your parent's conservative church and the talking heads on Fox, then you should be asking questions, not giving answers. That is one niche of Christianity, not representative of Christianity as a whole, and certainly not representative of religion as a whole.
Secondly, we're not here to convert anybody. People's faiths, and their understanding of their faiths, will change over time, but we're not here to change them. You're coming from where you are; I'm coming from where I am; the other Kossacks, religious and not, are coming from where they are; our political allies, enemies and uncommitted swing voters are coming from where they are. We're all most effective when we acknowledge that and work from there.
Alongside that, we're not here to challenge the truth, validity, sanity or coherence of each others faiths. Just because someone believes in the God of the Bible doesn't mean they're irrational or insane. Just because an atheist considers themselves to be living without faith doesn't mean they're blind. Just because a religious teaching or practice sounds goofy to you doesn't mean it's without merit. Just because a person does not hold to any religion doesn't mean they are without ethics and morals.
Most of all, we're not here to disrespect each other, nor to disrespect the beliefs we each hold dear to our hearts. You're in a community, having a community discussion, and the Street Prophets community really goes by just one rule, but it's a broad one:
Don't act like a jerk or a hater
I'm going to trim these two sections down into a short blurb to be placed in each post of the series as a reminder, but I wanted to be a little more explicit about them here, at the start of the series.
Cathedral of St. John The Divine
As described above this is a fairly open forum, but I find open forums work best if there's at least something to get the ball rolling, so there will be a little something on-topic. The discussions in the comments can be on this bit here, or discussions within the broader topic, it's all good. Since I was so verbose above, I'll make the topic this week pretty short.
Today I'm going to talk a little about a church I almost literally grew up in. Though I was never in the congregation, I grew up down the street from them, and their yard was one of my favorite playgrounds. It's the Cathedral of St. John The Divine, a progressive Episcopal cathedral on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, currently run by The Right Reverend Mark Sisk, who is Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and The Very Reverend Dr. James A. Kowalski, Dean of the Cathedral.
A Cathedral is more than just a pretty building. It includes a community of clergy, church workers, the regular congregants, and the occasional visitors (go to see the elephants, stay to hear the pipe organ). It also includes the impact, for better and for worse, made on the broader community, within and without the broader church organization. It includes the history of what it has done, and the potential for what it works on doing.
I say it's a progressive cathedral because I have met people who belong to the church, because I know the neighborhood intimately. I expect there are several Kossacks who have attended this church, perhaps even regularly. I say it's a progressive cathedral because Bishop Sisk actively supports progressive issues, including (but not limited to) publishing essays in support of legal recognition of same sex marriages. I say it is a progressive cathedral because it actively works towards progressive causes, focusing on two causes (because nobody can work on everything).
The first cause it focuses on is addressing not only hunger, but the underlying issues that result in poverty and hunger, both independently via it's Cathedral Community Cares organization and collectively through WHANAP.
The second cause it focuses on is the ever-continuing AIDS epidemic, helping the uninfected stay uninfected, helping the survivors heal, and being a focus point for solemn remembrance for the victims. That is why they have an altar, pictured up top, designed by artist, activist and AIDS victim Keith Haring, and had it installed it a month before he died. That is why, the fourth Saturday of every month, they offer an AIDS Memorial service. That is why they have a chapel dedicated to the victims of the epidemic, pictured below:
I say it is a progressive cathedral because, to the extent it is willing and able to act politically, it acts alongside progressives. It offers just one place where progressive politics can and does engage faith.
What Next?
The floor is open to comments and questions, on this Cathedral or any other topic along the lines I described above.
Think about whether or not you might want to host one of these diaries at some point in the future. Starting next week I'll be putting the call out for volunteers and setting up a schedule for who will host this series on various weeks.