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Share Your Ideas for My Upcoming Talk at Netroots

On Aug 6, 2009 ⋅ 7 comments

Dear Friends,

I so hope this finds you well on a lovely summer day!

You know I have been a blogger just since March and now have an opportunity veterans gasp over: I am to be a speaker on a panel at Netroots Nation, the annual mecca for progressive bloggers, which is being held in my hometown, Pittsburgh, August 13-16.

The panel topic is A New Progressive Vision for Church and State: How I Came to Accept “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and Stopped Losing Elections. It fills me with joy that the Christian liberal voice is emerging from the silence (chosen or imposed) of the last 30 years. And it is awesome to be a small part of that faithful cry from our hearts.

I am writing to you now because I want to invite you to be part of the conversation, too.

The panel moderator has told us he plans to discuss how religious imagery can help establish common ground around progressive causes. My hope is to apply that idea to advancing marriage for our GLBT brothers and sisters.

If you have ideas or questions you’d like me to bring to the panel, I’d love to hear them. Please post them here so that we can all brainstorm together!

After the workshop, I’ll update you all on how it went here on Time to Embrace. You can tune in live at 1:30 p.m. ET here and a video of the workshop will also be available to you, wherever you are, here.

Thanks for checking out this conference and for supporting me in this moment with your ideas, inspiration and prayers.

Peace be with you all,
Reverend Janet

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7 Responses
  • Anne Noss on August 7, 2009

    Hi, dear —

    My comment is that I’d like to suggest that you fram your thoughts around the challenge of finding the gifts of the Holy Sprit in one another, regardless of faith, of denomination, of gender or color or creed. My take on it is that “under God” reflects an understanding and a PRACTICE of reflecting God’s all-encompassing love to EVERYONE.

    Not a new thought — not original — but a way of viewing that is not broadly discussed, at least in my hearing!

    Much love — will the More Light Board meet in SFe again? I hope to spend time together! All blessings to you and yours from your fan, Anne

  • Janet Edwards on August 7, 2009

    Dearest Anne,

    Deepest thanks for your perspective and your encouragement!

    I, too, have not heard it much in discussions about the place of religion and religious speech in the public square. I really like your placing of responsibility on us for how we behave rather than judging how the other may behave.

    I continue to lobby for Santa Fe for the MLP meetings and hope we come your way soon. Your encouragement in this new endeavor is precious to me.

    Peace be with you, Janet

  • Kerry Chaplin on August 9, 2009

    I was once involved with a project to reframe traditional Jewish symbols to create meaning for and support for LGBT Jews, and to promote interfaith dialogue.

    I’m not really one for typing the whole story, but if you like we can talk more about it, and I can put you in touch with a rabbi who presented the concept at a national gathering of Jewish professionals about 4 years ago.

    Kerry

  • Janet Edwards on August 11, 2009

    Dear Kerry,

    Thank you! I am interested. You could use my email, janetmccuneedwards@yahoo.com to send that information to me.

    Both the reframing of traditional symbols and the development of a common language for interfaith dialogue are challenging projects. When we add political debate to the mix we need to be even more sensitive to one another.

    I look forward to hearing from you again. Peace, Janet

  • Tess on August 14, 2009

    Rev. Edwards:

    Thank you for your remarks during the Netroots Nation panel. As a student of Government and Religious, I truly appreciated your thoughts. I will leave Netroots inspired to reclaim Kumbaya and explore how I can use the imagery you discussed in my future political discussions.

    Best,

    Tess

  • Janet Edwards on August 14, 2009

    Dear Tess, Deepest thanks for your quick affirmation of my presentation at Netroots Nation this afternoon!! You obviously got my point exactly which is really heartening to me. Afterward someone told me that Kumbaya is actually Creole, not African. I learned something new from him, then, too. What a lively, thought provoking discussion. It was great to be a part of it with you. Peace, Janet

  • Janet Edwards on August 14, 2009

    Dear friends, Thank you for your ideas. I look forward to sharing a full account of how it went next week with you all. Peace, Janet

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