Controversial Rabbi Michael Lerner to Speak at Spiritual Progressives Conference Nov. 3rd in the Quad Cities
By James Lee
As the Election Season closes in on the Quad Cities, people are looking at the vast challenges facing our country and questioning how individual citizens can make a difference. According to national polling, over 70% of Americans feel that our nation is on the "wrong track". Organizers of the Spiritual Progressives Conference feel the answers to many of our concerns and worries are rooted in our values, faith and spirituality.
Quad Cities Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG) in conjunction with Churches United of the Quad Cities, Democracy for America–Quad Cities, Davenport Unitarian Church, Edwards Congregational-UCC, First Congregational-UCC, Network for Spiritual Progressives, and a host of other supporters are sponsoring a Spiritual Progressives Conference on November 3, 2007. The theme of the conference is: Living our Faith: Integrating Values and Politics in the Heartland.
PURPOSE OF THE CONFERENCE
The purpose of this conference is to promote the voice of progressive
people into the national conversation on issues of values, faith and spirituality.
The conference is
designed to dig beneath the surface of controversial national issues &
public policy debates to get to the core of how we decide what makes our
society a healthy place to live.
It is our hope that the conference will help the public better understand how to more effectively integrate progressive values with political action that can create positive change in our nation.
Conference organizers assert that progressives have been the social innovators who have initiated changes in our society that have given us more freedom, liberty, and equality. Progressives believe in continually improving our society in order to assist as many people as possible to achieve a better life for themselves, their families and the community as a whole. During this time of national drift when confusion seems widespread over what America represents and truly believes, progressive people must amplify their voices in the public conversation on what we value as a nation.
We reject the tactic of using religion and spiritual traditions to be a divisive force in our nation; pitting one group of Americans against another group. We believe that ethics and morality cannot be claimed as the property of a single religion or political group, but must be understood in the context of furthering the well being of all humanity, present and future.
The conference will cover three main areas:
1) Promoting a conversation on Progressive Values, Faith & and Spirituality
2) Organizing Progressives for political action
3) Creating healthy personal & inner lives for progressive people
The key-note speaker, Rabbi Michael Lerner, will examine the question of how our values are translated into political action. Rabbi Lerner is an internationally renowned social theorist, theologian, editor of Tikkun magazine, and author of The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right. He has a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley and is the founder of the Network for Spiritual Progressives.
Faith, values, and spirituality play an important role in responding to the many challenges we face in our country today. The primary focus of this conference will be to explore how our values, faith, and spirituality can direct political action and transform our nation and our world. In so doing, this conference will be addressing the most serious issues facing our communities such as affordable, quality health care, the war, and global warming to name a few.
Conference workshops include topics such as "Challenging the Misuse of God and Religion by the Religious Right", "Global Consciousness and Ecological Sanity", "Our Common Values" and "Grounding Justice Work in Spiritual Practice".
To learn more about other workshops which will be presented at this conference,
click here. To download the flyer to print (double-sided to conserve paper) go to our home page: www.qcprogressiveaction.org.
The Conference commences at 9:30am with a spiritual reflection on the state of our world. Rabbi Michael Lerner will speak at 10:15am. Workshops will continue throughout the day. At 2:30pm Rabbi Lerner will be part of a panel discussion with local leaders on the state of values and spirituality in our nation. Lunch will be served and the conference will come to a close at 3:30pm.
This event is open to the public; seating is limited. To Register, contact PACG at 563-676-7580 or go to our website for more information: www.qcprogressiveaction.org.
Interfaith Service
The conference begins with an Interfaith Service led by Rabbi Lerner on Friday evening, November 2nd, 7pm at the Unitarian Church, 3707 Eastern Avenue, Davenport, Iowa.
Spiritual Progressives Conference
On Saturday morning, November 3rd, the Spiritual Progressive Conference will be held at the First Congregational Church-UCC, 2201 Seventh Avenue, Moline, IL 61265. Registration starts at 9:30AM.
Book Signing with Rabbi Lerner
Saturday evening, November 3rd, 5:30pm at Borders Bookstore, 4000 E 53rd St in Davenport.