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What’s the first rule of dinner-party etiquette? Don’t talk about religion or politics. Recently, I’ve encountered a similar taboo: don’t mention spirituality and social consciousness in the same breath. Activists don’t contemplate their navels, and mystics don’t take a stand — at least according to the current cultural meme. For the last few months, our “Letters to the Editor” column has been full of opinions about this topic. Are New Times readers marchers or mystics? The truth is, none of us can avoid being both spiritual and political — spiritual because we are self-aware, political because the choices that arise from our social consciousness do affect others, whether we like it or not. Perhaps more than any other demographic, cultural creatives have the opportunity to embody this polarity deliberately. In 2000, sociologist Paul Ray and psychologist Sherry Ruth Anderson published their groundbreaking book, The Cultural Creatives, documenting the monumental cultural shift that’s happening, almost invisibly, all around us. Approximately one quarter of the American and European populations consists of cultural creatives, progressive thinkers who are deeply concerned about issues of worldwide ecological, economic, and social sustainability and who value wholism, spirituality, diversity, and authenticity. The Cultural Creatives details many of the same “new paradigm” trends explored in Marilyn Ferguson’s 1980 manifesto, The Aquarian Conspiracy. What’s changed in two decades is the pervasiveness of these ideas, which were still frequently described as “fringe” in the early ‘80s. Today, the possibility that cultural creative values will gradually overtake mainstream values is definitely on the radar. Our numbers are big enough to be taken seriously now, and they’re still growing. One of the core issues for the emergent cultural creative community is the intersection of spirituality and politics. It’s tricky terrain, and its been navigated poorly in the past by religious zealots who wanted to use law as a weapon of social and theological oppression. Their examples alone are enough to scare some away from this delicate confluence. Yet many of us are realizing that we can’t compartmentalize such fundamental aspects of our lives. Our spirituality is the essence of our beingness, and our politics are inextricably linked to our doingness. We can’t turn either one off. This month’s cover features Marianne Williamson, one of the pioneers of the new spiritual politics. Best known as a popular spiritual teacher and writer, Marianne discusses politics the same way she discusses everything: candidly, insightfully, and undauntedly. Her willingness to “go there” is refreshing and much-needed, if unsurprising to those familiar with her provocative and transformative work. This interview is also an historic one for The New Times. Written by Abigail Lewis, the editor of Los Angeles’ Whole Life Times, it’s the first cover story we’ve ever drawn from another magazine and a perfect example of the kind of synergy our new publishing relationships are making possible (see this issue’s “From the Publisher” column). How fitting (in a quirky way) that we’re breaking new ground in the same issue that we’re revisiting the past with Cat Saunders’ “Blood on My Hands.” Cat has a long history of publishing with The New Times, and she recently unearthed this piece from our archives. First presented in these pages in 1991, it has been updated — but only slightly. Written originally at the beginning of the Gulf War, it is eerily reflective of and applicable to current world events, right down to the names of the key figures involved. The similarities were so striking, we had to polish it off and publish it all over again. I know that many of our readers are deeply concerned about the possibility of war, and I’m pleased to announce that The New Times will soon be providing a new resource for those who want to actively support the current peace movement. In cooperation with our new sister publications, we’ll be publishing a weekly e-newsletter containing information about upcoming pro-peace events. We’ll include announcements about local and national rallies, marches, prayer vigils, petitions, and other efforts. If you’d like to receive our newsletter, visit <www.newtimes.org/peace> to sign up. If you’d like to have your event listed, email me at <charles@newtimes.org>. |