Religious Progressivism

[GolightlyGrrl]

Not an oxymoron and could be the wave of the future.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politi ... 1#bookmark

[RachelB]

Not an oxymoron and could be the wave of the future.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politi ... 1#bookmark

Nice article-- thank you for sharing it. I'm progressive because I have always thought that the most logical answer to the question, "Am I my brother's keeper?," was, "Um, yes, you dumbshit. I kind of expected you guys to look after each other."

[GolightlyGrrl]

Nice article-- thank you for sharing it. I'm progressive because I have always thought that the most logical answer to the question, "Am I my brother's keeper?," was, "Um, yes, you dumbshit. I kind of expected you guys to look after each other."

I was raised Roman Catholic but I now attend a Unitarian church. One thing that attracted me to this church was its more progressive vibe and its commitment to social justice and volunteer work. Everyone gets involved in from young kids to our senior citizens. In fact, it's our older congregants who do most of the work probably because most of them are retired and have the most time to devote to good causes. These people are a complete 180 to the older folks I grew up with and dealt with at my church. Their attitude seemed to be "I got mine; fuck the rest of you." Then again, I did grow up in a very conservative area.

[louisa05]

I was raised Roman Catholic but I now attend a Unitarian church. One thing that attracted me to this church was its more progressive vibe and its commitment to social justice and volunteer work. Everyone gets involved in from young kids to our senior citizens. In fact, it's our older congregants who do most of the work probably because most of them are retired and have the most time to devote to good causes. These people are a complete 180 to the older folks I grew up with and dealt with at my church. Their attitude seemed to be "I got mine; fuck the rest of you." Then again, I did grow up in a very conservative area.

My Catholic parish runs the county's food pantry, sponsors & hosts a community Thanksgiving dinner open to anyone who has nowhere to go for the holiday, donates 1/2 of all fundraising money to charity (half of last year's fish fry proceeds which totaled around $5000 went to tornado relief in the south, for example--not sure it has been determined where the $6500 from this year will go), sends youth out to do service like picking up litter on the highways and helping in nursing homes and the county's Headstart program in summer, provided food for families displaced from their homes due to local flooding for nearly four months in 2011, collects offerings specifically for providing food assistance to people in the area during seasons such as summer when giving is down, provides Christmas gifts and food baskets for around 50 families in the local area every year (most of whom are not members of the parish) and sponsors a parish and school in India.

[Arete]

In my church the old ladies will hunt your ass to the ground to make sure all the service programs are running and everyone is doing their part. They'll flat out tell you anyone can be used for even the smallest increment of time for service. It is a point of pride for them that no one in the parish needs to be in funds or particularly able bodied to contribute. So we are the second largest donator to the Catholic food pantry, work with the local public schools to provide basic supplies so teachers don't have to, deliver holiday food in secret to families who are struggling, and serve meals at soup kitchens. There are other projects big and small, but those need the most hands on deck.

No of us considers it part of being progressive, just part of our minimal duty as human beings. It was the churches who were pushing conservative political ideologies who decided to divorce themselves from helping their fellow human beings, not the rest of us.