Dispatches from the Religious Left: The Future of Faith and Politics in America
So this is a heads up for anyone interested and an invitation to preorder from Amazon and be the first kid on your block to get a copy of Dispatches hot off the presses. While I think this book is unique in a market glutted with books on faith and politics, we are publishing in the middle of the deluge of a national election. Which is to say -- we can use all the help we can get! What appears below, I have adapted from the descriptive boilerplate about the book and the contributors. It is really just an introduction to the book, the cast of characters -- and a promise that we will take the conversation forward, here and wherever we can, as the book rolls out. (Not everything in the book is on topic for this site, but there is a lot that is as well.)
"If he were alive today, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would remind us that we are the leaders we have been waiting for. Consider Dispatches from the Religious Left your briefing book on how and why it is important to be a "courageous leader" in these challenging times." -- Bob Edgar, President,Common Cause, and the immediate past General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, former Member of Congress (D-PA) Dispatches is a collection of 19 essays by 22 writers, none of whom are the usual suspects. Some are are very well known, others less so -- but that may be about to change. Some of us are Talk to Action contributors: Chip Berlet, Frank Cocozzelli, Pastordan, Jeff Sharlet -- and guest front pagers Barry Lynn and Carlton Veazey. And because that is so, there is a great deal of discussion in which we sort out the differences between the Religious Right and the Religious Left, and what political lessons we might take from this formidable movement -- and which ones not to. "What the Religious Left is doing isn't working!" writes Pastordan. From that working assumption we hope to jump-start a national conversation about how to create and sustain a far more politically dynamic -- and effective -- Religious Left than exists in the U.S. today. Other contributors include include former New York Times war correspondent (and former divinity student) Chris Hedges; former top United Farm Workers organizer (and now Harvard professor) Marshall Ganz; Rev. Dr. Katherine Ragsdale and Chip Berlet, executive director and Senior Analyst, respectively, at Political Research Associates; Rev. Debra Haffner and Tim Palmer of the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing; Rev. Dr. Carlton Veazey, president of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice; Rev. Barry Lynn of American United for Separation of Church and State, Kety Esquivel, of the Institute for Progressive Chrisianity; Dr. Peter Hess of the National Center for Science Education; Rev. Peter Laarman, of Progressive Christians Uniting. Dr. Jean Hardisty, a senior scholar at Wellesley College; Deepak Bhargava of the Center for Community Change; veteran Massachusetts political organizer Leo Maley; church web site development entrepreneurs Shelby Meyerhoff and Shai Sachs; veteran Cleveland - based journalist and blogger, Anastasia Pantsios; and Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, of the historic Middle Collegiate Church in New York City. We are also graced by a stirring introduction from Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, the former General Secretary of the National Council of Churches; and a wise and energetic afterward from best selling author Jeff Sharlet. (You can find links to bios of the contributors here.) These writers question and challenge the status quo on multiple fronts, revealing what the movement needs to do in order to increase its viability and visibility. In the course of working on this, three main themes emerged:
--Religious progressives need to seriously reevaluate where they are going and where they have been in order to live up to their highest aspirations. Meanwhile, I will be tracking the progress of the book at my site, FrederickClarkson.com with frequently updated news, reviews, event and media announcements. Ig Publishing of course, will feature descriptive material and updates on its site as well. We also anticipate considerable discussion of the book at Street Prophets and Talk to Action, among others. The launch event for the book will be held on the evening of October 14th at Middle Collegiate Church in New York City and will feature the church's famous gospel choir and conversation with several of the essayists. Check in at the web sites above for details. As Joan Brown Campbell writes in her introduction, "Finally, the Religious Left has found its voice."
Dispatches from the Religious Left: The Future of Faith and Politics in America
Dispatches from the Religious Left: The Future of Faith and Politics in America | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
Dispatches from the Religious Left: The Future of Faith and Politics in America | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
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