You don't know how much I've been looking forward to this.
Seventeen months and hundreds of gallons of pixels ago, I made a loud-mouthed demand: it was time to get off our asses and pull together a convention for the "fever swamps" of Daily Kos. "KosAid," I think I called it. Or something like that.
Well, in any case, once my natural organizational disabilities kicked in - about the middle of January, 2005 - Gina and Brianne and fabooj and the rest of those jackbooted thugs kicked me lovingly to the curb and took over the idea. Thanks to their ruthlessness, we'll have a convention in Las Vegas come June 9th.
But I did keep one piece for myself, and that is what I would like to talk to you about below the fold.
I honestly don't know that anyone seriously questioned the idea of holding a
Sunday morning inter-faith worship service at Yearly Kos, at least not among the planners. Given my role in kicking the project into gear, I think everyone just assumed that it would happen. And so it shall, though perhaps for not the same reasons as you may have in mind.
It's necessary to hold such a service, but not because we must honor God or faith at Yearly Kos. Certainly not because we want to demonstrate just how "faith-friendly" Democrats can be, and double-certain not because we want to pander us some conservative evangelicals. Frankly, I'd be concerned about who we might convert in a casino in Las Vegas. No, we need to have this service for the simplest of reasons: to pause before re-entry into the real world, to take a deep breath, center ourselves, connect with one another one last time, and then hit it, ready to put the pedal to the metal on the netroots revolution.
We need to remind ourselves, in other words, of the important things.
To do that, I'm pulling together simplicity itself for the service. It might actually be easier to understand what it's not before we hear what it is. It is not:
- A revival service
- A specifically Christian service
- A "Come-to-Jesus" meeting, unless your name happens to be George W. Bush or Dick Cheney
- A debate about religion, its place in society, politics, or education
- A place only for straight, white families
- A panel discussion
There won't be any experts or big-name people participating in this session, at least not to my knowledge. There won't be talking heads arguing this perspective or that on "values voters" or "religion-bashing" or James Dobson or IDC or what the hell ever. It'll be you and me, and a few of our friends. The best way to understand what progressive religion is like is to experience it, and that's what this service will be all about.
Everybody's welcome: gay, straight, any race, any religion or lack thereof. As long as you can shake my hand on the way out, you're welcome. If you can't - well, the golf courses are always open.
Here's the outline of the service, so far:
Opening Music
- Gathering
A hymn
- Confession (Admitting the ways we fall short of the mark)
- Word (I'll preach)
Another hymn
- Offering
Prayers
Collection for a charity
- Departing to Serve
One last hymn - probably "We Shall Overcome"
Closing Music
That's basically it. Like I said, pretty simple. I'd like to think I've got a pretty good sermon in mind: it's not giving away too much to say that it's about overcoming divisiveness in our nation.
One last thing before we get into the discussion. As I said above, there aren't any "big names" attached to this session. Jimmy Carter's not preaching, Barack Obama is not leading prayers, Hillary Clinton is not singing, thank God. It's just us, and that's just fine.
However, that does mean that I'll need your help. I have someone who is willing to lead the music, and I think I can get Bill in Portland Maine to come and do a blessing on our camels. But I need:
- People willing to bring greetings from their tradition - and yes, that means atheists/secularists. I do have someone for the Jewish tradition, but I'd be very interested in hearing from Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Pagans, or any other major tradition.
- One or two people willing to read scripture.
- One or two people willing to lead prayers. If Barack Obama volunteers, I'll eat my shorts.
- Any musicians willing to schlep a guitar or a keyboard to Vegas.
Anyone?
Bueller?
C'mon, people. Don't make me sell indulgences.