Democracy

Steering between what distinguished sociologist of religion Robert Bellah calls “Enlightenment fundamentalists” on the one hand, and religious fundamentalists on the other, this essay argues against both the common secularist view that religion should be excluded from public life and the dogmatic view that would exclude all secular and religious views except one. Instead it proposes a more moderate, nuanced, and robust role for faith and religion in the common life of America and Americans.

In a time when our country is more polarized than ever, David Abshire, former Ambassador to NATO, and a historian himself, traces the history of commitment and tolerance in an effort to revitalize the respect, listening, and dialogue that constitute civility. Nobel Peace Laureates reflect on hopes and fears "Which, then, is the true America?” he asks, “The America of division or the America of unity? The America of endless public and partisan warfare or the America of cooperation, civility, and common purpose? The America of many or the America of one?”

This essay was written by Carol S. Pearson out of concern about the great challenges facing the United States and the world today. Its purpose is to identify the strengths that can help us tap into what is best about us, and guard against our weaknesses, so we can use our power as wisely as possible and in ways that promote the common global good. To do this will take the maturing of the American dream.

In this essay the renowned religious historian Elaine Pagels provides a convincing exploration of the ways we have interpreted equality as expressed in the Declaration of Independence. More than ever, she says, we need to ask, who is included in the American dream? What do we make of this dream in a waking reality? How shall we take this vision to shape our sense of who we are — as a people, a nation, a community?

What does it mean in this day and age to explore a global dream? John Paul Lederach, professor of International Peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame, writes a rare travelogue reflecting on what it means to be fully engaged in the world. "My vocation falls somewhere between a Hopi rainmaker and VanGogh's Potato Planter,"  he writes. His travelogue carries within it many touchstones that will open your heart and mind.

As the inaugural essay in the series, Jacob Needleman asks, "Then, what of the American dream? Is it a vision or an illusion? Do we need to deepen this dream or awaken from it? Can anyone doubt the importance of this question? In one form or another, it is a question that has been gathering strength for decades, and it now stands squarely in the path not only of every American, but, such is the planetary influence of America, of every man and woman in the world. What really is America? What does America mean?”

This essay by Gerald G. May is a compelling journey to the perennial bottom of who we are, at our best and our worst, and how to use that knowledge to live together from a place of spirit and compassion.

Founder of the Wildflowers Institute and 2006 Purpose Prize Fellow Hanmin Liu writes about the often invisible strengths and resources in communities, what he calls "informal capital." Read more about the models and processes that support communities in their efforts toward realizing their goals and their dreams.