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The Sunday NEW YORKTIMEScarried - on Page One, just below the masthead - what I regard as an extremely significant article about people of faith, from the Left, getting involved, as never before since the 1960s, in our nation's politics. The catalyst, of course, is President Trump, who enjoyed overwhelming Christian evangelical support, despite his personal life.

The problem for the "Religious Left", if that's what we should call this movement: It's much, much more diverse than the Christian Right. To a point, diversity can be a strength, but it can also lead to hopeless divisions which can handicap a movement as a potent political force. Then, there's the question of whether the highly secularized Left can make common cause with those animated by spiritual concerns. [As this article notes, President Obama at least tried outreach to evangelicals; Hillary Clinton snubbed them, rejecting interview requests from evangelical media outlets.]

A powerful quotation from Reverend Jim Wallis, founder of the SOJOURNERS community and magazine: "The fact that one party has strategically used and abused religion, while the other has had a habitually allergic and negative response to religion per se, puts our side in a more difficult position in regard to political influence."

Also, surely religious liberals/progressives don't want to ape the Christian Right anyway. Younger voters are far more secular than older voters, and arguably, the Christian Right has helped drive them away. And younger people who DO believe, such as younger evangelical Christians, don't exactly fall into the orbit of the Reverend Franklin Graham, an ardent Trump supporter.

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This article touches on the continuing polarizing effect of the abortion issue. Voters who largely agree with progressives on social justice, climate change, etc., just can't vote for a party with an absolutist abortion rights position. Plus, many mainstream Democratic politicians - in part, to protect themselves from Republican attacks as being "too soft" on crime and national defense - are often indistinguishable from most Republicans in supporting capital punishment, robust military spending, etc.

This leads to a pointnotfully treated in this article: The fully consistent, pro-life, "seamless garment" position (anti-abortion, but with a generous social safety net; anti-capital punishment; anti-war, but not necessarily fully pacifist; pro-social justice; pro-environmental) is represented inneither major U.S. political party,nor in any third party. Neither a U.S. Supreme Court stacked with liberal/progressive justices,nora high court stacked with strict, conservative "constructionists", i.e., Antonin Scalia wannabes, will interpret the Constitution in this direction. Not a single Delaware statewide official,norany member of the Delaware General Assembly, has shown such an inclination. [I'm open to someone who could persuade me otherwise!] Doubtless, this reflects a hard cold assessment of what voters seem towant. But in the looming battle between religious rightists and religious liberals/progressives, a third group will remain consistently in flux in our politics, spiritually divided between Republicans and Democrats, frequently alienated from both, plus all the third parties. Political limbo on earth.

Again, from the SundayNewYorkTimes....

Read more from the original source:
Time for Religious Liberals/Progressives to break the Religious Right's Grip on the nation's "moral" agenda? - WDEL 1150AM (blog)

By Chris Kenning | CHICAGO

CHICAGO Buoyed by the British Labour Party election gains this week, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday urged a summit of progressive activists who propelled his presidential candidacy to ramp up efforts to win elections and help remake a Democratic Party he deemed a failure.

"They won those seats by standing up to the ruling class," he said, referring to the British elections and citing wins by progressive U.S. candidates in several state and local races while writing off losses as evidence liberal progressives could still be competitive even in conservative states.

But Sanders, who lost the Democratic nomination nearly a year ago to Hillary Clinton, showed little interest in a push by "Draft Bernie" activists who want him to start his own "People's Party." Many activists blame establishment Democrats for losing to President Donald Trump by failing to embrace a more populist left-leaning agenda.

Sanders headlined the three-day "People's Summit" in Chicago, attended by celebrity activists including actors Danny Glover and John Cusack, which brought together main progressive groups such as National Nurses United, Democratic Socialists of America and People for Bernie.

Many activists said they hoped to transform the momentum from recent protests such as January's Women's March in Washington into concrete plans to support a growing wave of grassroots candidates to secure electoral power.

"We could have 10,000 people marching, but if we don't have some means of translating that into winning political office and enacting a legislative progressive agenda, at the end of the day, what does it amount to?" said Nick Brana, the former staffer for theSanders campaign leading the "Draft Bernie" group.

With Trump mired in controversy over incidents such as the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, and Democrats having lost ground in statehouses and in Congress, RoseAnn Demoro, head of the nurses union, said the movement Sanders began was at a "tipping point" of broadening its support.

Leaders with the Democratic Socialists of America said their membership has bloomed from 6,000 before the election to 22,000.

Others warned that progressives dont have the fundraising firepower they need or that gains were still fledgling.

"We're closer but we're not yet winning," said activist and writer Naomi Klein.

Still, Sanders credited progressives with increasing public acceptance of proposals such as a $15 minimum wage, renegotiating trade policies and offering free college tuition. He got a standing ovation when he said the California Senate recently passed a single-payer health care plan.

(Reporting by Chris Kenning; Editing by Robert Birsel)

SAN JUAN Puerto Ricans head to the polls on Sunday to decide whether they want their struggling U.S. territory to become the 51st U.S. state, although a vote in favor would likely face an uphill battle in Congress and with President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday denied he tried to interfere with an FBI investigation, effectively accusing James Comey, the FBI's former director, of lying under oath to Congress.

The rest is here:
Bernie Sanders urges progressives to seek more electoral wins - Reuters

Audience at Van Jones speech, People's Summit 2017. National Nurses United

CHICAGO In remarks to thousands at the Peoples Summit here June 10, Van Jones said Progressives are too often absent where some of the worse pain is present.

The popular leader of the Dream Corp, now a TV personality, talked about his recent experiences backing coal miners who have been cheated out of their pensions and healthcare benefits. Most of those miners had voted for Trump.

They descended daily, miles down into these deep black holes where they knew their bodies would break but they did it because in exchange they are getting a modest paycheck to feed their families, and they expected that in their sick old age they would at least be able to afford some reasonable health care, Jones explained.

He described how the same coal companies that poison the environment then reneged on their promises to these miners taking away their pensions and healthcare.

So I took the opportunity to go to coal country to demonstrate in support of these miners, thinking that as a life long demonstrator and marcher Id have something to offer, Jones said. Ive done a lot of chanting and singing in my life, he added.

He described how he tried to start a chant: There aint no power like the power of the people cause the power of the people dont stop! He tried three times, no one picked it up, and then the wife of a miner tapped him on the elbow.

Dont feel bad Mr. Jones, it isnt you. They are glad you are here. Its them. They cant chant, they cant sing, they can hardly talk or breathe sometimes. They have black lung disease.

We have to be there for Black Lives Matter and we have to be there for Latinos in Florida when attempts to block their right to vote are underway. But we also have to be there for those miners in West Virginia. When we fought alongside of them we won back some of the healthcare and pension benefits for 20,000 of them.

I may not like how you voted but you are my brother and I dont want you to die. By sticking together all of us will win.

The hall rose to its feet in continuous and sustained applause.

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Van Jones at People's Summit: Progressives must engage Trump voters - People's World

Wall Street Journal (subscription)

The Blue State Progressives Should Be Pleased to Share Wall Street Journal (subscription) Was it just an accident that the June 8 letters all came from blue states that pay more in federal taxes than they get back? The writers complain this is unfair. Don't they see the hypocrisy of their complaint? The states that get the perks are the ...

Continued here:
The Blue State Progressives Should Be Pleased to Share - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

This desperate Conservative government will reach out to the hardline DUP. The DUPs deputy leader Nigel Dodds, leader Arlene Foster and former leader Peter Robinson. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Well, that was a shock. A Conservative majority has been toppled, a resurgent Labour party led by a emboldened leader has risen with gusto and the electoral map of Britain has been redrawn.

Progressives waking up this morning should be cheered. The number of MPs in parliament who oppose this hardline Tory government has increased, and our combined voices will be heard far louder in the next parliament.

But we face serious challenges too. This desperate Conservative government will reach out to the hardline DUP a party that denies climate change, opposes abortion and is openly homophobic. Theresa May was right to warn about a coalition of chaos her party is about to try to create one. And its a stark reminder of the inequity of our electoral system that the DUP will take 10 MPs to parliament with fewer than 300,000 votes, while my own party returns just one MP with over half a million.

Nobody knows exactly what is going to happen next, but here are the facts. Over 52% of people voted for Labour, Lib Dems, Greens, the SNP or Plaid Cymru. In numerical terms thats a progressive majority, yet were facing the Tories strong-arming their way into Downing Street. Though the Tories look likely to ask the Queen for permission to form a government, they do so in an incredibly weak position with a leader whose arrogant, negative campaign failed on its own terms.

Progressives need to be ready to offer something different by agreeing to work together wherever possible and enable a Labour minority government if such an opportunity presents itself. The Lib Dems in particular cannot sit this one out if they fail to countenance working with other progressives they will bolster the Tories.

I am proud to have been re-elected with an increased majority, and winning over half a million votes in the midst of an extreme two-party squeeze is not an insignificant achievement. Though Im deeply sad not to be joined by other Green MPs, I am truly proud that we started this campaign by looking to work with others to best beat the Tories. Its at times like these when stepping aside can be as brave a move as stepping forward. We brought issues forward in this campaign that others ignored: from the climate crisis to the positive case for free movement and a four-day working week. We looked to the future and offered a direct contrast with the Tories Little Britain.

So, what next? My first aim is to work with others to try our best to stop a lurch to the right from a Tory-DUP alliance. Ill resist a Tory government, and vote against any Queens speech it proposes. If Labour puts forward its own Queens speech, then Ill certainly be looking to influence it. I take my seat in parliament representing half a million people who voted to defend free movement, protect the environment and defend our public services I will strain every sinew to make sure those their voices are heard.

Though the rising tide of rightwing politics was defeated last night, we cannot and should not claim this as an outright victory. Instead we must consider this as a turning point, and the beginning of something, not the end. The politics of this country has been utterly transformed in the past two years. What happens next is down to all of us.

Read more:
A Labour-led government may yet emerge. We progressives must work together - The Guardian