Progressive Reconstructionist
Encyclopedia
The Progressive Reconstructionist movement is a loosely-knit interfaith
community found principally at this time in the developed world. It comprises activist adherents of Reconstructionist Judaism
(and of some other Jewish Traditions
) and the Christian left
, of progressive
Hindus
, Buddhists
and Muslim
s, and of left-leaning Neopagans
, Wicca
ns, and members of other faiths, as well as of progressives who follow a spiritual practice but adhere to no particular religion or Tradition, considering themselves to be "spiritual but not religious" (among these are included even agnostics, non-theists, and secular humanists). Some of the key current proponents are Rabbi Michael Lerner
, Starhawk
, and Rev. Fr. Matthew Fox
.
Among the seminal ideas leading to Progressive Reconstructionism have been Jewish Renewal
, the Social Gospel
and Liberation Theology
, Reclaiming Wicca, and Creation Spirituality. Some of the main centers of study and organizing in this movement are the Network of Spiritual Progressives, Wisdom University, Naropa University, The Chaplaincy Institute, California Institute of Integral Studies, the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Reclaiming, Muslim WakeUp!
magazine, and the Yahoo! independent catholic
Blog (called, "The Old-Catholic Churches").
As an interfaith and progressive movement, it is not to be confused with Dominion Theology
, the so-called "Christian Reconstructionism
" and Theonomy
of such right-wing millenialists as R.J. Rushdooney
and his colleagues, North, Bahnsen, et al. Progressive Reconstructionism is also different from the Polytheistic Reconstructionist
religions, though both movements include individuals and groups who identify as Polytheists or Pagans
, and the Polytheists and the Progressives have more in common with one another than does either group with the "Christian Reconstructionists".
They propose and engage in a process of challenging what they perceive to be the misuse of religion, God and spirit by the Religious Right
. This includes educating people of faith to the understanding that a serious commitment to God, religion and spirit should manifest in social activism aimed at peace, universal disarmament, social justice with a preferential option for the needs of the poor and the oppressed, a commitment to end poverty, hunger, homelessness, inadequate education and inadequate health care all around the world, and a commitment to nuclear non-proliferation, environmental protection and repair of the damage done to the planet by 150 years of environmentally irresponsible behavior in industrializing societies.
They propose and engage in challenging the many anti-religious and anti-spiritual assumptions and behaviors that have increasingly become part of the liberal culture, while challenging as well the extremist individualism and "me-first-ism" that Progressive Reconstructionists believe permeates all parts of the global market culture. They seek to educate people in social change movements to carefully distinguish between their legitimate critiques of the Religious Right and their illegitimate generalizing of those criticisms to all religious or spiritual beliefs and practices. They endeavor to help social change activists and others in the liberal and progressive culture become more conscious of and less afraid to affirm their own inner spiritual yearnings and to reconstitute a visionary progressive social movement that incorporates the spiritual dimension, of which the loving, spiritually elevating and connecting aspects of religion has been one expression (but so has the group-in-fusion experience of the movements of the 30's and the 60's and the communitarian aspirations of many other efforts--social healing and health care, progressive summer camps, the wide appeal of service and service learning, the women's spirituality movement etc.).
Interfaith
The term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels...
community found principally at this time in the developed world. It comprises activist adherents of Reconstructionist Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism is a modern American-based Jewish movement based on the ideas of Mordecai Kaplan . The movement views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization. It originated as a branch of Conservative Judaism, before it splintered...
(and of some other Jewish Traditions
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
) and the Christian left
Christian left
The Christian left is a term originating in the United States, used to describe a spectrum of left-wing Christian political and social movements which largely embraces social justice....
, of progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
Hindus
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, Buddhists
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s, and of left-leaning Neopagans
Neopaganism
Neopaganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe...
, Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
ns, and members of other faiths, as well as of progressives who follow a spiritual practice but adhere to no particular religion or Tradition, considering themselves to be "spiritual but not religious" (among these are included even agnostics, non-theists, and secular humanists). Some of the key current proponents are Rabbi Michael Lerner
Michael Lerner (rabbi)
Michael Lerner is a political activist, the editor of Tikkun, a progressive Jewish interfaith magazine based in Berkeley, California, and the rabbi of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue of San Francisco.-Family and Education:...
, Starhawk
Starhawk
Starhawk is an American writer and activist. She is well known as a theorist of Paganism, and is one of the foremost popular voices of ecofeminism. She is a columnist for Beliefnet.com and On Faith, the Newsweek/Washington Post online forum on religion...
, and Rev. Fr. Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (priest)
Matthew Fox is an American priest and theologian. Formerly a member of the Dominican order within the Roman Catholic Church, Fox is now a member of the Episcopal Church....
.
Among the seminal ideas leading to Progressive Reconstructionism have been Jewish Renewal
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Renewal , is a recent movement in Judaism which endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with mystical, Hasidic, musical and meditative practices...
, the Social Gospel
Social Gospel
The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States and Canada...
and Liberation Theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
, Reclaiming Wicca, and Creation Spirituality. Some of the main centers of study and organizing in this movement are the Network of Spiritual Progressives, Wisdom University, Naropa University, The Chaplaincy Institute, California Institute of Integral Studies, the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Reclaiming, Muslim WakeUp!
Muslim WakeUp!
Muslim Wake Up was a website founded to promote progressive and reformist ideas within Islam. Their website was cofounded by Ahmed Nassef and Jawad Ali in January 2003. It published articles contributed from affiliated collumnists as well as guests on its main page as well as opinions on its blog...
magazine, and the Yahoo! independent catholic
Independent Catholic Churches
Independent Catholic churches are Catholic congregations that are not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church or any other churches whose sacraments are recognized by the Roman Catholic Church...
Blog (called, "The Old-Catholic Churches").
As an interfaith and progressive movement, it is not to be confused with Dominion Theology
Dominion Theology
Dominion Theology is seen by some as a subset of Dominionism, a term used by some social scientists and journalists to describe a theological form of political ideology, which they claim has broadly influenced the Christian Right in the United States, Canada, and Europe, within Protestant...
, the so-called "Christian Reconstructionism
Christian Reconstructionism
Christian Reconstructionism is a religious and theological movement within Evangelical Christianity that calls for Christians to put their faith into action in all areas of life, within the private sphere of life and the public and political sphere as well...
" and Theonomy
Theonomy
Theonomy is a theory in Christian theology that God is the sole source of human ethics. The word theonomy derives from the Greek words “theos” God, and “nomos” law. Cornelius Van Til argued that there "is no alternative but that of theonomy or autonomy"...
of such right-wing millenialists as R.J. Rushdooney
Rousas John Rushdoony
Rousas John Rushdoony was a Calvinist philosopher, historian, and theologian and is widely credited as the father of Christian Reconstructionism and an inspiration for the modern Christian homeschool movement...
and his colleagues, North, Bahnsen, et al. Progressive Reconstructionism is also different from the Polytheistic Reconstructionist
Polytheistic reconstructionism
Polytheistic reconstructionism is an approach to Neopaganism first emerging in the late 1960s to early 1970s, and gathering momentum in the 1990s to 2000s...
religions, though both movements include individuals and groups who identify as Polytheists or Pagans
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
, and the Polytheists and the Progressives have more in common with one another than does either group with the "Christian Reconstructionists".
Basic tenets
- It is an interfaithInterfaithThe term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels...
movement. - It is ecologicalEcologyEcology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
/environmentalistEnvironmentalismEnvironmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
and progressiveProgressivismProgressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
. - It is grounded in the prophetic and mystical traditions of the world's religions.
- It seeks to carry out the individual's experience of a spiritual new way of being (metanoiaMetanoiaMetanoia in the context of rhetoric is a device used to retract a statement just made, and then state it in a better way. As such, metanoia is similar to correction...
) onto a broad community level through a basic program of spirituality-in-action. - It carries forward what it views as spirituality's perpetual process of renewal.
- It seeks to bring creativity, relevance, joy, and an all-embracing awareness to spiritual practice, as a path to healing human hearts and minds, and to finding balance and wholeness (holiness).
- It seeks to revive and renew spiritual practice, ritual, ceremony, and language to enhance the inspiration of awe, inter-connection, and empowerment in both the individual and the community.
- It acts to be inclusive and welcoming and to respect all peoples.
- It seeks to help to heal the world by promoting justice, freedom, responsibility, caring for all life and for the Earth that sustains life.
Basic program of spirituality-in-action
Progressive Reconstructionists note that, in the developed world — especially in the United States, institutions and social practices are judged efficient, rational and productive to the extent that they maximize money and power. Progressive Reconstructionists advocate a new "bottom line" that these things should be judged rational, efficient and productive not only to the extent that they maximize money and power, but also to the extent that they maximize caring, ethical and ecological sensitivity and behavior, kindness and generosity, non-violence and peace, and to the extent that they enhance human capacities to respond to other human beings in a way that honors them as embodiments of the sacred, and enhances their capacities to respond to the Earth and the whole universe with awe, wonder and radical amazement — and to the extent that they maximize love.They propose and engage in a process of challenging what they perceive to be the misuse of religion, God and spirit by the Religious Right
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
. This includes educating people of faith to the understanding that a serious commitment to God, religion and spirit should manifest in social activism aimed at peace, universal disarmament, social justice with a preferential option for the needs of the poor and the oppressed, a commitment to end poverty, hunger, homelessness, inadequate education and inadequate health care all around the world, and a commitment to nuclear non-proliferation, environmental protection and repair of the damage done to the planet by 150 years of environmentally irresponsible behavior in industrializing societies.
They propose and engage in challenging the many anti-religious and anti-spiritual assumptions and behaviors that have increasingly become part of the liberal culture, while challenging as well the extremist individualism and "me-first-ism" that Progressive Reconstructionists believe permeates all parts of the global market culture. They seek to educate people in social change movements to carefully distinguish between their legitimate critiques of the Religious Right and their illegitimate generalizing of those criticisms to all religious or spiritual beliefs and practices. They endeavor to help social change activists and others in the liberal and progressive culture become more conscious of and less afraid to affirm their own inner spiritual yearnings and to reconstitute a visionary progressive social movement that incorporates the spiritual dimension, of which the loving, spiritually elevating and connecting aspects of religion has been one expression (but so has the group-in-fusion experience of the movements of the 30's and the 60's and the communitarian aspirations of many other efforts--social healing and health care, progressive summer camps, the wide appeal of service and service learning, the women's spirituality movement etc.).
External links
- The Network of Spiritual Progressives
- Wisdom University (formerly the University of Creation Spirituality)
- The Chaplaincy Institute
- Naropa University
- The California Institute of Integral Studies
- Institute of Noetic Sciences
- Reclaiming