[Not] Bringing God Into It

thenation: After the 2004 election, I met with a funder who was interested in supporting projects that could counter the growth of the right. The meeting was going well until I showed her a poster for an upcoming conference on fostering progressive spiritual activism. Her eye fell on one workshop, which was called "God and the Economy: How Can Making a Living Become Sacred Work?" "Why do you have to bring God into this?" she asked angrily.

Perhaps she forgot I was a rabbi, but what did she think a spiritual answer to the religious right would look like? Couldn't one of the twenty workshops mention God and speak to concerns of people who take their religious lives seriously?

In my research on the psychodynamics of American society I discovered that the left's hostility to religion is one of the main reasons people who otherwise might be involved with progressive politics get turned off. So it becomes important to ask why. Read more

db: 1. Erm, 'cos it's bollocks? 2. Because we, as human pond scum, have as much chance of figuring out the 'what's this all about' question as an ant has of getting to grips with rocket science, or something complicated. 3. Faith is for those who cannot face the finality of D>E>A>T>H and con-men/charlatans ['psychodynamics of American society' notwithstanding].

Note to God: That was Satan speaking through me, sorry. It always happens around 9.00 pm on a monday, as you know.