faith

I will admit that when I had finished Sam Harris’s The End of Faith I understood the urge to ban and burn books. I had never read anything so bigoted, inciting, wrong-headed, even evil, before in my life. Chris Hedges, however, has been more methodical in his response, shredding Harris’s positions (and those of his fellow atheists), in a powerful, challenging, and dark but honest pragmatism.

Pastor Dan at StreetProphets posed an interesting question today. Who are the opinion leaders that you look to? Are they working online in addition to other venues?

Just got off a call with someone interviewing me about communicating faith and politics on the intrawebs. One of the points I raised was that there were any number of good spokespeople for the religious left beyond the obvious figures.

Dearest friends,
Please mark November 10th as an opportunity to make Art, strengthen relationships and co-conspire for a better tomorrow.

Come join the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Youth Against War and Racism and Iraq Veterans Against the War in plotting for:
-truth in military recruiting,
-demilitarized youth culture,
-career, educational and creative community opportunities,
-generational economic justice and more!

This morning I'm leaving for Chicago to participate in part of the second annual Yearly Kos Convention. This event is an outgrowth of the large community of progressive political bloggers that have become a significant force in new American media. The term "netroots" has been coined to describe this Internet/grassroots movement, and while the popular Daily Kos blog is at the center of this event, it's just one large star in a whole constellation of voices working for political and social change.

While preparing for my trip this morning, I've come across a thread of bloggers discussing the role of faith in politics. While many activists simply want to stop the religious right, an increasing number are looking beyond conservative Christians to see that there are many progressive people of faith working on causes that they support.