We Have a Long Way to Go Baby

I went to a local meeting for strategizing on how to drum up support for Obama and the Democrats in the fall and had an incident worth mentioning on Crossleft. Obama has a religious affairs team and they sponsor a house party or small meeting party for a faith and values gathering. I want to do several of these in the small cities and towns of my area. This is a rural area that is more conservative than the more industrialized downstate areas. We usually elect Republicans or conservative Democrats. A faith based format for a small gathering would be a perfect approach in this area. When the discussion got around to money and who might get some to help in organizing I was totally shut down quickly by the person who thought they could secure some funds easily from a local wealthy Democrat. Helping me with ads, gas money, handouts, etc. wasn’t even a consideration.
We think we have came a long way as Progressive Christians but there is an old guard still in place that does not like the idea of spirituality showing up anywhere in the political arena, even if the spirituality is on their side. Thank heaven, Obama has recognized this and even has s religious affairs section. The Republicans have been kicking out butts for too long on this issue.
A local Book club from a nearby town is discussing Rabbi Michael Lerner’s “The Left Hand of God” and I attended for the first time the other night. We discussed how the Republicans had felt the pain of the people in this country with religious concerns and motivations but the Left and the Democrats in particular have ignored these cries from the masses.
We have a big job to do, Crossleft people. Not only do we have to convince conservatives of the validity of many of our positions, but we still have a long way to go with our fellow progressives,