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LINKS

CORPORATE WATCH. A strong force in the emerging realm of Internet activism, with news updates and an impressive directory of avenues for change.

THE FRIENDS COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL LEGISLATION (FCNL) is the largest peace lobby in Washington, DC. Founded in 1943 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), FCNL staff and volunteers work with a nationwide network of tens of thousands of people from many different races, religions, and cultures to advocate social and economic justice, peace, and good government.

THE NETWORK OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESSIVES. A project of the Tikkun Community, this site and network propose a different kind of progressive movement—"one founded on and giving central focus to a spiritual vision--to create a real alternative to the political Right, to the fundamentalists (religious and political), and to our society’s ethos of selfishness, materialism, and cynicism."

OPEN SECRETS is sponsored by The Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics, and its effect on elections and public policy.

COMMON CAUSE is a nonpartisan nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1970 by John Gardner as a vehicle for citizens to make their voices heard in the political process and to hold their elected leaders accountable to the public interest.

MORE LINKS . . .

BOOKS

The Open Space of Democracy (New Patriotism), by Terry Tempest Williams. The questions Williams asks us are: What is the true nature of democracy and how do we support it? Can American-style democracy survive in its birthplace?

Who Will Tell the People, by William Greider. This book gains relevance as threats to our democracy increase. It shows us where the threats lie and how to combat them.

MORE BOOKS . . .

JOURNALS
True Democracy and Political Values

“Teddy Roosevelt often observed that American democracy is too sturdy to be destroyed by a foreign enemy. But, he warned, it could easily be destroyed by ‘malefactors of great wealth’ who would subvert our political institutions from within. Our greatest political icons have warned Americans against allowing corporate power to dominate our political landscape. President Dwight Eisenhower cautioned Americans about the great danger of falling under control of ‘the military-industrial complex.’ Franklin Roosevelt echoed that sentiment when he warned, ‘the liberty of democracy is not safe if people tolerate growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger that their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism.’ The American Heritage Dictionary defines fascism as ‘a system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership together with belligerent nationalism.’” Sobering words from Robert Kennedy Jr., that have been echoed by many Americans who treasure our democracy, our Constitution and our Bill of Rights.

Corporations and big money need to be out of Washington, out of state and local politics. We need to have true and fair elections instead of auctions for political office. Corporations need to act in a socially and environmentally conscious manner, and be accountable for these actions. Corporations need to respect our democracy.

Terry Tempest Williams, author of The Open Space of Democracy says, “The human heart is the first home of democracy. It is where we embrace our questions: Can we be equitable? Can we be generous? Can we listen with our whole beings, not just our minds, and offer our attention rather than our opinion? And do we have enough resolve in our hearts to act courageously, relentlessly, without giving up, trusting our fellow citizens to join us in our determined pursuit—a living democracy?”

Heart and spiritual values must be instilled in our democracy. “American politics needs the transformation that can result from the activism of religions that respect the traditions of others, and that realize that we must seek both freedom of religion and freedom from religion, because if there’s not freedom from religion there is not freedom for religion.” (The Rev. Welton Gaddy of the Interfaith Alliance)

Where are the qualities of spirit in today’s politics? Spirituality and religion are easily confused. Religion brings people together around certain beliefs, traditions and practices. Spirituality transcends politics. Spirituality transcends religion. Listening to each other, trying to understand our differing points of view, cooperating toward the common good of all, the inclusion of all, caring for each other, fairness, honesty, tolerance. These are the qualities of spirit. While the founding fathers knew the dangers of allowing religion to interfere with civil life, they said nothing about the separation of state and spirit.

We need to asks ourselves if the actions and results of our government’s policies reflect our moral and spiritual values. Do those actions and decisions make us want to support this government with our tax dollars? Do the results of our government’s decisions make us feel more confident and secure about our children’s and our nation’s future?

Our answers to those questions may be very different, but what is important is that we ask these and other questions. Debate is essential in democratic politics, which requires a public space in which individuals can argue, exercise critical judgment, and explore options. “The politics of lying at the current historical moment offers up the specter of totalitarianism as it seeks to eliminate intelligent deliberation, informed public discussions, engaged criticism, and the very possibility of freedom and a vital democratic politics. The spirit of critique must be supplemented with public debate, and a positive sense of individual and social agency capable of becoming both a witness to injustice and a force for transforming those conditions that impose silence and perpetuate human suffering.” (Henry A. Giroux)