Do we need a paradigm shift,or is the real dominant paradigm the way to go?
Posted 5 days 21 hours ago by gecannonphd

Last night I attended a book review at a regional library.
The book reviewed was American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us by Robert D. Putnam.
( http://www.amazon.com/American-Grace-Rel...).

The session was led by a Catholic priest,Richard Shaw.
It was informative and interesting.

I asked two questions.
The first described our POTUS's meeting yesterday with 20 CEO's of our nation's largest private corporations.
I asked if he would favor the POTUS holding a similiar meeting with members of the US Bishop's Council,Rabbi Michael Lerner of Tikkun,and Jim Wallis,of the Sojourners.

We are a great nation,with a laudible history,but we are in trouble.
40 million in poverty.
40 million on food stamps.
millions unemployed.
30-40 million chronically without health insurance.

The Church's social gospel has long been a message of hope;a message that does not accept the prevailing international corporate dominance.

Meeting with Lerner,Wallis,and the Catholic Bishops would be a counterweight to the corporate CEO session.

The POTUS needs to walk the talk on liberal/populist rhetoric.

Rev. Shaw skipped over this question.

My second question dealth with the decline of religious belief and practice during the 196oies.
I asked about the murder of JFK..and how this began the 1960ies alienation...the rejection of establishment religion and a belief in authority.
I asked why the Church,and American Bishops, have never strongly called for an answer to the question of why JFK,the first and only Catholic POTUS,was murdered?
The good Rev. Shaw said he was really concerned about Obama's safety.

At the end, I gave Rev. Shaw the book description of Jesuit James Douglass' JFK and the Unspeakable:Why He died and why it matters.
This book is a spirtual journey. It deals with Dallas and Dealy Plaze,but then elevates to the cosmic. It describes in detail how JFK,following the Cuban missile crisis, was working closely with Pope John and the Kremlin to end the military Cold War. This was done with small steps,day by day.
(http://www.amazon.com/JFK-Unspeakable-Wh...).

If the liberal Lerner,Wallis,and the Bishops were to meet with the POTUS, they could describe to him the real dominant paradigm that exists in the country,not necessarily with corporate CEOs

"These include: a belief in the virtues of community; a desire to be part of something greater than oneself; a reciprocal relationship with nature and life's essential resources; an aversion to open hostilities and devastating warfare; an interest in the wellbeing of others as a precondition of personal prosperity; an adherence to culturally-transcendent principles such as the Golden Rule; and a willingness to work hard in return for an equitable existence..."

http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/12097