I’ve heard from hundreds of Tikkun readers and Network of Spiritual Progressives (NSP) members that they are confused, depressed and de-energized. It is totally understandable that these feelings now pervade the liberal and progressive world in light of the disappointments millions feel at the disjunction between Obama’s ability to touch our highest yearnings for a world of love, generosity and kindness on the one hand and his actual policies which are best characterized as Center-Right, plus the recent Supreme Court decisions giving the corporations the ability to dump billions into our elections, plus the continuing economic hardships facing tens of millions (not just the unemployed). It is understandable. Yet I know that it is this same set of feelings that creates the space for the fundamentalist Right and the Tea Party/ Sarah Palin phony populists to become the major shapers of American politics.

We don’t have to let this happen. And we won’t. That’s why it is so important for you personally to find a way to come to our conferences either in San Francisco this Feb 15 (the Monday of President’s Day weekend) or to our conference in D.C. June 11-14. And it’s important to get everyone you know who cares about all these developments to come also (so would you please email them a link to this post as well?).

At the conferences we will discuss and try to develop a coherent strategy. It’s not about bashing Obama, but it is about figuring out what we can do now that it is sinking that Obama is not going to champion peace (unless you like the war in Afghanistan), social justice, human rights, or environmentally sound policies (unless you like off-shore drilling and nuclear energy). So it’s up to us.

We will be discussing a Constitutional Amendment for Corporate Social Responsibility that will help overturn the Supreme Court’s decision that corporations are the same as “persons” with the same rights (but not the same responsibilities) as you and your friends. We will be discussing the campaign for the Global Marshall Plan. We have dynamite speakers, but we are also wanting to involve you and other people whom you recruit to come to these conferences. You probably have friends or contacts in California or the West Coast for the first conference, and others on the East Coast or Midwest for the second conference. Please urge them to be part of this process–this is the place where serious thinking people should be to figure out how to move forward and not simply collapse to the rise of the corporate oligarchy and their pseudo-populist friends in the Tea Party grouping.

I’m including below the tentative agendas of the conferences–but beware that they are tentative, though all people listed have agreed to speak. Please register NOW and please send on this information to all your lists, put it on your blogs or websites, your twitters or your Facebook pages, etc. And please come yourself. If money is the problem, email Kay@tikkun.org and we will see what can be done. It’s most important that you be there.

P.S. in a spirit of getting the liberals and progressives to work together, these conferences are co-sponsored by The Nation magazine, YES! magazine, 350.org, Peace Action, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Code Pink, and Pace e Bene. There are dozens of other organizations that ought to be helping us, but don’t tell me what they are–please approach them yourselves in our name and ask them to be co-sponsors and agree to send out info about these events to their members. Our staff doesn’t have the ability to do that now–so you do it, please please please.

SF Tikkun/NSP Conference Feb. 15, 2010

9:30 Prayer and meditation outside the building!

10 a.m. McLaren Hall rooms 250-252 open for us

10:10 Spiritual Messages from Religious Leaders:

Rev. J. Alfred Smith Sr. Allen Temple

10:30 Medea Benjamin: How Spiritual and Political Consciousness can Blend in social Change work as we think about the Obama Administration

10:50 Keynote Address (I): Peter Gabel

11:10 People turn to another nearby and express their reactions

11:20 Speaker on Health Care

11:40 Reese Ehrlich on Iran and Afghanistan

12: 00 Riane Eisler on A Humane and Caring Economy

12:40 Lunch break

1:10 Swami Beyondananda

1:25 Rabbi Lerner gives Keynote Address on How to Best Support Obama to BE the Obama Americans Voted For

2:25 small group conversations in place

2:30 Q&A with Rabbi Lerner, Riane Eisler, and Peter Gabel

3:00 Strategy Workshops for Building a Movement in the Era of Obama:

1. Local Organizing Bill Moyer

2. Legitimating Critique of Obama’s Policies even though he is an African American and the smartest and most decent US President we’ve had in many decades-without demeaning him. Plus Getting Beyond our own Humiliation at Having Believed He would follow through on bringing significant chance. –Miki Kashtan

3. Constitutional Amendments to Limit Corporate Power: corporations are not persons and they should be subject to social responsibility requirements.

4:30- Drew Dellinger: Poetry and more.

4:45 -6:00 Summing up from workshops, plus strategic directions for a Bay Area based Network of Spiritual Progressives

D.C. Agenda as of Jan. 30, 2010

Sessions co-chaired by Rabbi Lerner and Rev. Graylan Hagler, Rev. Noemi Parrilla-Mena and Sister Joan Chittister

Friday, June 11

8 a.m.-10 a.m. Registration

9 a.m. Conference Begins

Welcome from Rev. Conrad Braaten and Rev. Graylan Hagler

Prayers and music from a variety of religious communities

9:45 a.m. Sister Joan Chittister on Repairing America’s Spiritual Crisis

10:30 a.m. Congressman Keith Ellison

11:00 a.m. Chris Hedges

11:30 a.m. Rabbi Michael Lerner

12:30 a.m. break for lunch

1:30 p.m. Symposium and Q&A with Lerner, Hedges and Christopher

2:30 Workshop Panels

1. The Legacy of Racism and How It Continues in Obama’s America

2. The Environmental Crisis Paul Wapner

3. Economic Recovery for Middle Class People and the Poor-Not just for the banks and the rich

4. America’s endless wars: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, North Korea, and what’s next?

5. Healing Israel/Palestine

6. The 2010 Elections

7. Food Policy

8. Reforming Health Care Reform

9. The Tea Party Movement and the Growth of an Indigenous American Fascism

10. Human Rights vs. the Needs of the Empire

11. Marriage Equality

12. Workshop led by Arthur Waskow–title not yet available

5 p.m. Regional Small Group Meetings

5 p.m. Simultaneous with small groups: Muslim Prayer session

6 p.m. Break for dinner

8 p.m. Evening plenary:

Speakers: Rabbi Arthur Waskow, John Dear S.J., plus women and 3rd world religious/spiritual teachers

9 p.m. 
Shabbat Celebration simultaneous with latter part of evening plenary

Saturday, June 12

9 a.m.-noon Morning Plenary on Positive Economic Alternatives: David Korten

10:15 Workshops:

1. Economic Working Group to explore issues raised by David Korten

2. Environment

3. Sexuality and Reproductive Rights

4. Aging

5. Religious Fundamentalism

6. Psycho-Spiritual Tools for Overcoming Societal Denial and Fear

7. Empowerment for Social Activists

8. Transforming the Practice of Medicine

9.  Transforming our Educational System from K-Ph.D.

10.   Transforming the media Robert McChesney and John Nichols

10 a.m.-noon Simultaneous with workshops: Shabbat Service and Torah Study 9 a.m-noon co-led by Rabbis Lerner, Waskow, Kohn and Berman

Noon-Small group meetings

12:30-1:30 Lunch break

1:30 Afternoon Plenary: Positive Alternatives

Keynote: Peter Gabel on Non-Alienated Human Relationships

2:30 Riane Eisler on thinking Beyond Capitalism and Socialism

3:30-5:00 Symposium with Riane Eisler, Peter Gabel and Michael Lerner on the strategies for Spiritual Progressives

5:00 Poetry Reading

6:00 Small Group meetings

6:30 Dinner Break

8 p.m. Evening Plenary:

Jonathan Granoff on Disarmament

Bill McKibben on Environment

Jeremy Ben Ami on Israel/Palestine

Joan Chittister on Building a Network of Spiritual Progressives

Musical Celebration
  Sunday, June 13

Sunday morning Christian Worship Services

Simultaneous plenary: On Healing Israel/Palestine

2 p.m. Afternoon: Plenary

Spiritual Visions for Social Healing

Brian McLaren and Robert Thurman

3:30 Workshops”

*Training for Congressional Sessions

*Building Spiritual Progressive Activities in Your Home Region

*The Global Marshall Plan

*Constitutional Amendments on Limiting Corprorate Power

8 p.m. Evening: Celebration of Spiritual, Religious Diversity

*Marianne Williamson speaks

Monday, June 14 Morning: Sessions with Congressional Leaders and Representatives of the Obama Administration

Afternoon: Debriefing and Training for Continuing this Work