[lbo-talk] Not in Search of the "Salt of the Earth" (Re: Time toGet Religion)

[Marvin Gandall]

Yoshie writes:
> Before getting to the nuts and bolts questions of practical
> organizing, which can in any case be only discussed productively in
> the context of actual organizing, the prevailing attitude on the
> secular left has to change...
============================
But first it has to be established that the prevailing attitude on the
secular left is the kind of hostility towards the religious that uou
describe. That was rarely my experience. Progressive clergy and church
people have always been an important part of the left. They are present in
significant numbers in antiwar, human rights, and other reform organizations
and have been instrumental in the formation and leadership of Western labour
and social democratic parties and movements farther to the left in
developing countries. I recall relations between the secular and religious
left as always being quite friendly and constructive, or if they were less
than that, resulting from differences over political issues of the type
which have always divided liberals and radicals, both secular or religious.

Second, if you are arguing for some kind of turn towards the religious
communities, it seems to me you have some responsibility to explain what it
broadly requires without sidestepping this as "nuts and bolts questions of
practical organizing, which can ...be only discussed productively in the
context of actual organizing."

Are you proposing that list members join their local church, mosque, or
synagogue? Many are non-believers who would balk at participating in the
religious rituals and agreeing with the substantial body of doctrine which
would be expected of them as a condition of being accepted. If they passed
these barriers, I don't doubt that there would be more and better
possibilities to intervene in the internal life of these institutions in the
same way as direct participation in a working-class party or union is always
more rewarding than standing outside of them. But what evidence is there
that receptivity to left-wing ideas in religious organizations would be
greater than in the traditional venues where working people discuss social
and political questions and issues directly affecting their living
standards?

If, on the other hand, you are simply trying to underscore that the left has
to better identify, be more understanding of, and seek ways to collaborate
with progressive groups and individuals within the churches, that's hardly
controversial. I'd say the same about the left's orientation to the
Democratic party, the other big influence on liberal wage- and
salary-earners in the US. But I think you want to see more than this,
without spelling out what it is that you want.