Network of Spiritual Progressives
The Network of Spiritual Progressives (NSP) is our activist arm, and membership also provides a way for people to join and support us in our vision. The NSP has its own website, where its vision and campaigns are presented. On this page you will find articles from the magazine that are connected to the NSP in some way, often as transcripts of speeches or workshops at our conferences.
Spiritual Progressive Analysis
Nine Qualities of the Spiritual Activist
by Kabir Helminski
The most effective activism is from the soul to the outer world, so each of us must also do the work of creating spiritual coherence within our own souls
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Activism
Tikkun at 25
by Michael Lerner
Those of us who founded and shaped Tikkun for the past twenty-five years have been solidly committed to supporting the manifestation of the Spirit of God in this world. In our view that means advancing the possibilities of a world …
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Spiritual Politics
Suicidal vs. Life-Giving Religious Narratives
by Brian McLaren
I was invited to reflect here on the topic of "spiritual visions for social healing," under the general heading of "creating a caring society," but first, I'd like to turn the topic upside-down to look at religious visions for social suicide.
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Environmental Activism
Yankee Doodle Faced Big Oil
by Arthur Waskow
The human race -- not for the first time in our history -- has lost the sacred sense of self-restraint. We don't restrain ourselves. And what's the result? The earth will give forth thorns and thistles, not abundance, and you will have to work with the sweat pouring down your faces to get just barely enough to eat.
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Education
How Closed are “Closed Minds”?
by Sharon D. Welch
When I moved to the University of Missouri after having worked in Boston, I found that approaches to racial and gender equality that worked in New England were counterproductive in our work in the lower Midwest. We asked students to share what they valued in their culture, what nurtured and sustained them. We experienced the joy of expanding circles of deliberation and engagement with those we had formerly seen as prejudiced, closed-minded, and uninterested in learning
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Activism
A Politics Based on Soul Force
by Marianne Williamson
I think that if you're looking at the world today and you're not heartbroken and you're not grieving, you're not conscious. The question is, if we know that things can be done, what are we called upon to do?
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Analysis of Israel/Palestine
The New Zionist Imperative Is to Tell Israel the Truth
by Jeremy Ben-Ami
This is an extremely interesting and terrible time for the issue that I work on, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I'd like to think together about some reactions to the flotilla incident and about where we go from here—what are the policy options, the implications for our politics, and, from my perspective, the implications for the American Jewish community.
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Food/Hunger
The Race to Save Civilization
by Lester Brown
If we look at early civilizations that declined and collapsed, more often than not it was a shortage of food that brought them down. Until recently I had rejected the idea that food could be the weak link in our modern civilization; I now think it probably is.
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Climate Change
What It Will Take to Return the Globe to 350
by Bill McKibben
As much as I love the Network of Spiritual Progressives, I am not sure how much of a progressive I am. Seems to me that I spend almost all my time trying to keep things from changing, that in some deep sense I am a conservative—conserving the earth!
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Global Capitalism
Obama and a Foreign Policy of Generosity
by Keith Ellison
Our country badly needs your vision and your spiritual and moral energy to help us chart a path based on generosity, inclusion, and love. The two things I want to talk to you about are where I think we are in our country and where I think we should go.
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