Zack Exley is doing an amazing blog digging into the story, success, challenges and religion behind progressive Christian movement. He is digging into the themes and organizing inspiring crowds of people to see the progressive side of theology.
It is not just Christians that have this theme of self sacrifice, love, concern for others as opposed to the warlike zealotry that tends to define the religious to most media. Agnostics, atheists on one end of the spectrum to CNN's warriors of God are all over the spectrum. I like that Zack is digging into the movement on the ground and looking at what they are doing to engage, inspire and organize.
It is worth the RSS subscription...put it on the read list. It is weird to look to it as a political movement and critique it on those terms. Really none of that religion belongs in our political process. It belongs in our people but not in our politics and progressive or conservative I don't get my hopes up that true spiritual religious movements ever gain and long term traction if they focus on anything but connecting people to awakened spiritual experience. The minute it becomes about anything other than that spiritual goal then it feeds its own irrelevance. I am not sure how the "difference" in end goal matters but it does.
Link: Revolution in Jesusland » Almost speechless.
With governments that kill… …we will not comply.
With the theology of empire…
…we will not comply.With the business of militarism…
…we will not comply.With the hoarding of riches
…we will not comply.With the dissemination of fear
…we will not comply.But today we pledge our allegiance to the kingdom of God…
…we pledge allegiance.To the peace that is not like Rome’s…
…we pledge allegiance.To the Gospel of enemy love
…we pledge allegiance.
The question is do the pledges work? Are they any more powerful than the golden rule or the basic 10 that give these crowds the reason to be there. It is not these pledges that are interesting to me but the emerging culture of progressive theology within the heartland that might destabilize the power of the radical right.
Zack also has this riff comparing two experiences of the peace movement and progressive church experience. I am glad he wrote it. There is some good food for thought in there. I am not sure why but the analysis bugs me. Again because the goals are different.... The church is there to "save your soul" and all that jazz. The peace movement is to engage you in influencing your government and culture. I riff more on this as Zack kicks out the stories.
