Values

For those who don't regularily check out the Tikkun website, check this link

http://www.tikkun.org/magazine/tik0803/frontpage/phenom

then go to youtube, and watch this short video from 40 years ago. The speech with video editing speaks powerfully to the same subject as Rabbi Lerner's article. While Rabbi Lerner is careful not to endorse Obama, his personal evaluation of the appeal of his political message is important to progressive voters no matter who we support.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e51JnJPPY0E

I'm not a programer, and am new to this process, so you might have to copy and past the links into a window in your browser to make them work. There is opportunity at both sites to share your comments or send friends a copy of the article or video. If you read and watch, I would also be interested in a copy of your comments.

I find myself supporting my second choice for President -- but recognize that the situation today is critical and the choice we make will greatly impact future generations. This is the time to carefully and passionately work for a new direction in American politics that sets a priority on people, health care, and foreign policy based on justice and compassion for the worlds poor rather than agressive pursuit of their natural resources and cheap labor. America once again needs a vision and dream to draw us forward.

The Green Party promotes "10 Key Values". Two things strike me. First, they're popular. They come close to representing an American consensus on many points. They would probably poll pretty well. (As an example, in 2000, in trial heats between single pairs of candidates, in what's called "Condorcet polling", Ralph Nader beat each of the other candidates, Bush, Gore, and Buchanan.)

Second, they're not "religious", but they appear to me to be consistent with the "true religion" (or "true worship") which is described and prescribed in the Epistle of James and with the equivalent charitable love of Paul's epistles. At the very least, they provide some topics for discussion and debate, as we seek to define our identities and agendas as Progressive Christians. And they raise the issue of whose values are more Biblically defensible -- the Christian Right's or those of at least some of the secular left's?