Deepening
the American Dream:
Reflections on the Inner Life and Spirit of Democracy
edited by Mark Nepo
Jossey-Bass, 2005
review
by Jeffrey
Needle
Back
in 1893, a group of Unitarians, Universalists and Swedenborgians
came together with the aim of bringing the
world’s religious
bodies into dialogue and, it was hoped, some fundamental unity.
Titled “The World Parliament of Religions,” and held
in connection with the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, its assembled
scholars, divines and other representatives of the world’s
great faiths put forth their best cases for both the legitimacy
of their own schools, and for the need for unity among them.
More than a century later, the dream of the Parliament has not
been realized. Sectarian and religious divisions continue to
separate people and foster hatred, sometimes resulting in war
and death.
Deepening the American Dream is a publication of the Fetzer
Institute, whose statement of purpose includes
the following:
The Fetzer Institute's mission, to foster awareness of the power
of love and forgiveness in the emerging global community, rests
on its conviction that efforts to address the world's critical
issues must go beyond political, social, and economic strategies
to their psychological and spiritual roots.
Their goal seems to be as lofty, and perhaps as unattainable,
as that of the World Parliament of Religions. Efforts have not
abated over the years to ameliorate the divisive nature of race
and culture. Current events tell us that much more needs to be
done.
The editor offers an insight into the purpose and scope of this
book:
As a program officer for the Fetzer Institute, I have had the
privilege of working with many others around the country on a
project called Deepening the American Dream. It began six years
ago, when Rob Lehman, then president and now chair of the board
of the Fetzer Institute, wondered about the inner life of democracy,
the way that its citizens are formed, and the role of spirit
in our civic life together. (p. 1)
“The inner life of democracy” — what a thought!
Observers of the institutions of our republic are not likely
to use the word “introspective” in describing its
mechanisms and activities. The contributors to
this volume insist that there is a reservoir of spirit in our
society to be tapped,
if only its participants will look inwardly for direction and
definition.
Covering
a wide variety of subjects and approaches, the writers consider
such ideas as the need for civility in American
life (and a fascinating study of the lack of such in our history),
the weaknesses of democracy in providing a tolerant and compassionate
place for minority belief to thrive, and a wise essay by noted
historian Elaine Pagels titled “Created Equal: Exclusion
and Inclusion in the American Dream.” The
most important essay, in my opinion, is written by Charles
Gibbs, and is titled “Opening the Dream: Beyond the Limits
of Otherness.” Gibbs, an Episcopal priest and noted activist
on behalf of global health care and education, lays out the territory
very well. His concept of otherness— that
we ought to come into our humanitarian efforts with a sense of
unity and “sameness” rather than as an outsider imposing
his or her cultural values—strikes at the heart of both
contemporary missionary efforts and the foreign policies of many
nations.
Can
we meld into one symbolic whole? Can we transcend our differences
in our quest for mutual tolerance, fostering
the essential qualities of love and forgiveness worldwide?
Gibbs relates so many instances from his own life experience
that point
toward hope rather than despair. But
the road toward a cure must begin with a diagnosis,
offered so eloquently by Robert Inchausti, in his
essay “Breaking
the Cultural Trance: Insight and Vision in America":
If the history of the twentieth century has taught us nothing
else, it has made clear that human culture is not a stay against
moral erosion, a revolution in manners, or a Utopian alternative
to the violence of history. Human culture is,
as T.S. Eliot suggested, what we make of the mess we
have made of things. At its best,
it can provide a sustained resistance to the ever-changing face
of depersonalization and false authority, challenging the complacencies
of the middle class, the entitlements of the rich, and the internalized
powerlessness of the poor. The
problem isn’t that our leaders don’t know these
things, it’s just that they are not original enough
in the conclusions they draw from them or brave enough in
their
attempts to dispel the confusions.
(p. 154)
And there you have it. Will we answer the call of this volume
to come together in a context of peaceful, loving co-existence,
or will we continue down the path of hatred and destruction?
Only time will tell.
Copyright ©2006
Jeffrey Needle
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THE AMERICAN DREAM,
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