Guest post by Omid Safi. Read the full text at Beliefnet's Progressive Revival blog.

The "p" word has had a tortured history with Muslims, as it does with many other religious communities. Ironically, it tends to work as a better marker to many non-Muslims of the social and political commitments of the Muslims who self-identify as progressive. For too many Muslims, the term progressive has often been a cover for overtly secular approaches, a tendency to operate outside the "tradition", or an insufficient grounding in the legal and spiritual traditions of Islam.

This is part of the difficulty of Muslims, like myself, who simultaneously embrace the terms progressive and religious. This was one reason that many of us came together to put together a volume titled: Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism. For us, our concern for the wellbeing of the whole of humanity, and an unrelenting commitment to emancipatory movements, arises out of our religious tradition. It is the very notions of serving as God's agents (khalifa), being held accountable for our actions, and speaking prophetically to the false gods of Market and Empire, Exclusivism and injustice, that inspire us. In another age, the false gods were made out of wood and stone. Today they are market realities and the violence of the military-industrial complex. Part of our radical monotheism is saying "no" emphatically to these false idols that ask for our ultimate commitment so that we can say "yes" to divine Unity and the oneness of humanity.

On the other hand, there is a hard secular critique from the Left that tends to distrust, fundamentally, (m)any religious voices that identify as progressive. Quite often, this center around issues of gender and sexuality. I both understand that distrust and sympathize with it, even as I point out to my secular friends the large number of emancipatory movements that have been grounded in religious traditions.

So I find that we are always moving back and forth: When speaking with our community, it is the emphasis that in fact we are and continue to be rooted in our tradition (and our community), while in speaking with more secular progressives that we are somehow legit. This going back and forth is draining, yet necessary. My concern, ultimately, is that the justifying back and forth does not take the place of what needs to be done: the doing. Ultimately love is a verb, not a sentiment. Justice is a relationship, not an ideal.

...

Read the rest of Omid's thoughtful piece at Beliefnet's Progressive Revival blog.

Labels: muslim, omid safi, progressive religious movement

Publisher's Weekly has published a good review of Progressive & Religious in its latest "Book Line" newsletter:

Much attention has been paid to the role of the religious right in American politics, but this work offers an account of religious progressives who are seeking to make their own impact on public life. Jones, a scholar at the Center for American Progress, interviewed nearly 100 leaders from the four religious groups enumerated in the subtitle and discovered a diverse and vibrant community committed to issues like social justice, inclusion and economic fairness—a pluralistic hodgepodge Jones describes as "the other religious America." The author briefly depicts the long history of religious progressivism in America, but his book concentrates on contemporary activists, such as Jewish Funds for Justice or the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. Each faith has its own distinctive theological basis for its progressive politics, yet Jones also shows common characteristics, including a relational approach to truth and a belief in the unity of all humanity. This book will cheer religious progressives who believe their voices are underrepresented in the current conversation about faith and politics in America. (Oct.)

I think the review does a good job of highlighting one of the things I tried to do in the book--show the distinctive theological approaches of each religious tradition and also identifying some common threads that hold the fabric of the new progressive religious movement together.

Labels: progressive religious movement, reviews

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I'll be on Air America's "State of Belief" program this weekend, hosted by Welton Gaddy, Director of the Interfaith Alliance. I'll be talking about the book, the emerging progressive religious movement, and how these new religious voices for justice and the common good are changing the conversation this election cycle.

You can tune in to your local Air American station, airing in most markets Saturdays at 10am ET and Sundays at 7pm ET. Or you can listen live online here.

If you miss the show this weekend, you can:

• Download the podcast of the program from iTunes for free here.
• Listen to the archive of the show on "State of Belief" here (my segment begins half way through the show at 23:25).
  

Labels: interfaith alliance, interview, progressive religious movement

The Pew Forum on Religion held a recent discussion entitled "Religion and Progressive Politics in 2008" that featured Rev. Jennifer Butler, Director of Faith in Public Life; Chris Korzen, Director of Catholics United for the Common Good; and Dr. Laura Olson, Professor of Political Science at Clemson University. It's an exceptional discussion of the current landscape.


Here's a taste of the discussion from Jennifer Butler:

Some of these [progressive religious] organizations...had been more content, I think, to be a quieter voice in their society. And I sort of laughed when I saw [Robert Wuthnow's book entitled] The Quiet Hand of God. I think it’s a very good book, and it does describe what was happening. I think what we may see coming out in the next year or two is the louder hand of God – (laughter) – because there is a rejection of this idea that [progressive] religion should remain more in the private sphere. People want to have a louder voice in their communities; and it’s a voice that respects pluralism. It may come from a particular place; it may come from a particular religion. But it’s always very respectful of other faiths, and it’s also respectful of the separation of church and state.

You can also read more about the growing progressive religious movement--which drew on interviews with leaders such as these--in my forthcoming book, Progressive & Religious: How Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist Leaders are Moving Beyond the Culture Wars and Transforming American Public Life. The book is available for pre-order from Amazon.com and will be in bookstores nationwide in August 2008.

Labels: progressive politics, progressive religion, progressive religious movement

Tired of religion being used as a political weapon?

Join us on Facebook this election year to create and amplify a new voice for religion in the public square--one that goes beyond the culture wars and partisan politics and works for justice and the common good.

We are a community of people who are politically progressive and--YES--religious. All are welcome. We represent the full spectrum of religion in America: progressive Christianity, progressive Judaism, progressive Islam, socially engaged Buddhism, unitarian universalism, B'hai, and others.

We're just getting started, but our goal is to build a strong presence between now and the election, showing the strength of progressive religious voices. Come help us be the movement we've been waiting for!

Labels: campaign, facebook, progressive religious movement