[lbo-talk] political surrealism--and more from Rabbi Lerner

[Sean Johnson Andrews]

[exerpt from Lerner's new book _The Left Hand of God_.  Not an endorsement, 
but judging from the interest with which his statement on Israel was 
dissected, just thought I'd throw his take on the "Kansas" problem, which is 
basically that Dems don't win b/c they don't honor the "opiate of the 
masses"--not a potshot at religion, but the way he frames it, it's this that 
speaks to their alienation.  In addition to Polanyi's explanation of the 
rise of fascism in _The Great Transformation_, it reminds me of a NATION 
article I read a few months ago about mega churches.  One of the statements 
made by an interviewee at the church was that she felt the country needed 
more religion because it was too individualistic, which I found odd in 
association with neo-libs in the White House.  Writer mentioned that the 
church was the only one spreading that message for her so, no doubt, it 
resonated.  Certainly complicates strategy, but I think Lerner's suggestions 
are...well I'm sure others will have choice words for them.  I look forward 
to those.]

 full excerpt here: http://www.alternet.org/story/32037/

<snip>

Liberals and progressives sometimes like to make fun of the Right by 
pointing out that it is precisely in the Red states of the Republican 
majority where abortions are most prevalent, where divorce is most rampant, 
where the power of corporate selfishness is most unrestrained by laws, where 
the malls have done most to uproot small businesses, and where materialism 
on the whole seems to be having its greatest field day. The same is true for 
many of the enclaves of Red-state consciousness in Blue states, such as the 
gated communities and mostly white valleys of Southern California or the 
suburban areas of many other Blue states. But that, of course, is just the 
point. It is precisely because people in the Red states are suffering most 
from the epidemic of uncontrolled me-firstism that so many residents of 
those states are so desperate to find a counterforce. They are the most 
susceptible to the appeals of a Religious Right that has become a champion 
for family values, tradition, the stability that is offered by authoritarian 
and patriarchal norms, and the real comfort that spiritual life offers 
through connection to something higher than money.

<snip>

 If we, the American people, are going to win back our country from the 
Religious Right, we are going to have to reshape the Democratic Party and 
the Greens, or create some other party, to come to grips with the depth of 
alienation from liberal politics among the many people who continue to vote, 
unenthusiastically, for the Democrats as the only way to stop the Right.
A reshaped Democratic Party, or a new party, must minimally:

  a.. Understand, acknowledge, and respond to the spiritual crisis in 
American society--and provide a progressive spiritual vision that is more 
attractive than the one currently offered by the Right.

  b.. Recognize that people hunger for a world that has meaning and love; 
for a sense of aliveness, energy, and authenticity; for a life embedded in a 
community in which they are valued

  c.. Reject the tendency to regard people who are not part of the liberal 
culture as stupid, demented, or evil.

  d.. Fight for ideals that are not yet popular and be willing to stand for 
those ideals even if that means temporarily losing some elections.

  e.. Unite secular people in a movement with "spiritual but not religious" 
people and join both of those groups with progressive religious people.

  f.. Reject and combat the religion phobia that dominates important sectors 
of liberal and progressive culture.
Only a political party that can incorporate these goals at the center of its 
agenda can hope to win a majority, which would allow it to implement the 
other peace, justice, and ecological goals of the liberal and progressive 
agenda.