Spiritual Activism, Integrity and Sustainability

Imagine a new type of social action movement, one that is intentionally manifested by integrative spiritual activists to significantly uplift the level of integrity, transparency and sustainable well-being in the body politic of the world in which we live . Why integrity as a focus? From the standpoint of “root cause analysis,” integrity and transparency are fundamental requirements for the transformation to ecological and societal sustainability. How might this social action movement be mobilized?

Imagine still further, that this movement would mobilize the separate interests of a number of different professional communities and activist networks, all of which can be said to be “faith-based” in the sense that each has a defining commitment regarding what can make the world a better place .

Following the philosophical categories of truth, beauty and goodness, we can distinguish the following as having a faith-based interest in different aspects of public integrity as follows:

• Scientists, journalists, educators and others whose primary faith is in the uplifting power of truth and knowledge and who want reform regarding current political distortion of scientific results and propagandistic corporate “framing” of news.

• Artists, entertainers and others whose primary faith is in the uplifting power of beauty and aesthetic inspiration and who need a more visible audience for positive visions of life and of the future.

• Religious and therapeutic practitioners and others whose primary faith is in the uplifting power of goodness and well-being , for whom spiritual integrity and/or ethical morality is a defining value.

• Compatible foundations, associations and activist movements who transparently “walk their talk” regarding integrity as a centrally important value.

• Public servants and people from all walks of life who do their best to be of service , rather than being primarily motivated by riches, power or fame, such as the “Cultural Creatives” that have been identified by authors Paul Ray and Sherry Anderson as an under-recognized but powerful force for good in our society.

How might this be done?—Especially in view of the fact that although most informed adults in our society are well aware of the treacherously low level of integrity that now characterizes public life in many sectors of the body politic, they are also deeply embedded in what Dr. Joanna Macy calls “despair and denial” about being able to do much of anything to improve things.

The daring hypothesis underlying the vision of The Integrity Project is that promising “best practices”—for intentional manifestation and social movement organizing —just might do the trick if skillfully integrated and activated by forward-looking individuals in diverse professional communities and activist networks willing to work together to make transparency and integrity a key issue in the 2008 presidential elections—as well as pursuing parallel agenda at the state and local/regional levels of government, and in other sectors of society as well. But this vision does need a recognized anchor organization whose membership would resonate with this possibility.

For more information, please see Getting Real About Integrity, an informative booklet of materials to support a pilot workshop of The Integrity Project. Links to this and recent speeches about the project can be seen at www.InwardBoundVisioning.com/IntegrityProject.html .

Contact: Oliver Markley , Ph.D.

Mobile : 512-964-6224; Email: Oliver[at]OWMarkley[dot]org