Inspiration-- Norman Lear Talks About The Spiritual Inspiration That We All Crave

Earlier today we looked at a kind of political inspiration I was lucky enough to experience at a People For the American Way anniversary celebration last week. It was the opening "act." The evening closed with the organization's founder-- a hero of mine-- Norman Lear. Norman offered a different kind of inspiration, inspiration for the soul and it was probably the best speech I ever heard him give. I was stunned and I hope it comes through for you in the video above. And, believe me, it was far more than just a critique of the right's bumper sticker religiosity. Let me quote a couple of paragraphs:

I can't  believe it has been 30 years since I was startled by the proliferation of TV evangelicals across radio and television--  Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, James Robison and Pat Robertson, among others, mixing politics and religion-- and reminding me when I was 9 or 10 years-- of listening to Father Coughlin on the radio-- ranting against Franklin Roosevelt, liberals, the New Deal and, in his case, Jews.
 
I decided to take them all on with a film and started writing one I called Religion-- hoping to savage these TV ministries much in the way Paddy Chayevsky savaged the Networks.
 
And then, one morning I'm watching the Reverend Jimmy Swaggart-- and I see him ask his viewers-- his TV congregation-- to pray for the "removal" of a Justice of the Supreme Court... and it scared the hell out of me.
 
I couldn't wait the 2 or more years it would take to write and make my film, so I made that TV spot you saw a bit of earlier-- the blue collar worker.
 
I paid to run it on a local TV station in DC and it caused so much talk that all three networks--there were only three at the time-ran it on their 7 o'clock news and, like an act of spontaneous combustion-- People For The American Way was born.
 
From that day to this, I haven't gotten up and read my newspapers when I didn't thank God that People For  was there.
 
I take great comfort knowing we have active members and supporters in 50 states - activists who wish for everyone the freedom to read any book or movie of their choice-- create or appreciate even the most challenging art-- who believe the government has no business telling us who or how to love-- members and supporters who truly believe in equal justice and equal opportunity under the law-- who appreciate to their toes the blessings of an independent judiciary...

 
Our government, no matter the party in power, it aches me to say, was of no help in this regard. Often quite the contrary.
 
For example, 30 years ago we had something called the Fairness Doctrine.
 
The Fairness Doctrine, enforced by the FCC, held that the media provide balance and objectivity in its news and discussion shows.
 
So, for example, when People for the American Way saw Pat Robertson espousing only one point of view on a political matter-- and on a religious broadcast at that-- we notified the FCC  and that ministry, often the entire Christian Broadcasting Network, was forced to provide us with equal time to respond. That sounds right, doesn't it? Fair and balanced news reporting?  Where have we heard that before?
 
People For used the Fairness Doctrine so effectively until it was repealed in 1987.
 
On May 13, 1982 I received this letter from the Reverend Pat Robertson, President of the Christian Broadcasting Network:

Dear Norman,

Last week, your organization challenged our program on KTLA in Los Angeles, and yesterday, the sales manager of KTLA called our headquarters and said, "If you discuss anything political on your program, next week we will take it off the air."
 
Norman, you are not merely trying to silence a member of the press, you are trying to silence a prophet of God. I warn you with all solemnity-- Norman, 'Your arms are too short to box with God.' The suppression of the voice of God's servant is a terrible thing!  God himself will fight for me against you-- and he will win. I remain, sincerely yours, Pat Robertson."

 
Unfortunately, too many of us to the left of center tend to laugh at such as this.
 
I am chilled by it.
 
With good reason.
 
On October 1, 1981, hundreds of thousands of people belonging to the Moral Majority received these words  in a newsletter from Jerry Falwell. "Dear friends, I am about to name the man that some people believe to be the greatest threat to the American family in our generation: Norman Lear!"
 
He went on to talk about the filth and sexual perversion that my shows brought into America's living room-- but calling me "the greatest threat to the American family" earned me some hate mail-- and death threats-- one so threatening that my family and partners insisted I secure protection.
 
This religiously stoked hatred threatens humanity everywhere across the globe today-- and it is very alive in our America as well-- and most threatening when it comes with a partisan political tinge. People For has stood as a bulwark against that-- in the press, in the media, and by example.
 
When we produced a two-hour special, I Love Liberty, years ago, our co-chairs were Gerald Ford and Lady Bird Johnson.
 
On the same stage we had Barry Goldwater, John Wayne and Jane Fonda, all contributing to the idea that, fight as we may over policy and ideology, we stand united when it comes to basic American principles.
 
We continue to work toward that end today. 6 weeks ago-- my People for the American way credentials quite in tact--  I accepted an invitation to accompany Nancy Reagan to the Republican debate at the Reagan Library.
 
Her husband, with whom I had a friendly, however  contentious, relationship would have been happy to see me there, I know.
 
That civility is so unlike anything we hear from the Republican candidates as they battle each other. Newt Gingrich, like the others, cloaks everything he says today in a kind of bumper sticker religiosity.
 
We on the left have ceded the God and values talk to the Right and I think it's been a big mistake. The "What's it all about, Alfie?" questions make for the best conversation going. I consider myself as much a believer-- as religious if you will, as the next guy-- but it's MY belief system. I have thanked whatever and whoever is responsible for my being alive with every wake up. Virtually every time I've bitten into a ripe peach or looked into my children's eyes or enjoyed a great laugh in a group, I've been grateful, often to the point of tears.
 
I once asked a great theologian and friend in Vermont to give me the shortest definition he could of "worship." He gave it to me in one word-- "gratitude."
 
You don't agree with that, no problem-- so long as you don't decry it. If worship for you means going to a church or a synagogue or a mosque, reading from a specific sacred text, wonderful. Or if you choose not to believe altogether... I offered my life in a war for you to believe whatever way you do.
 
But it is also my view that we humans and our faith systems are so gloriously complex that you can take any amount of people sitting in the same pews, knee to knee, every Sunday of their lives, reading and praying from the same sacred text-- and like no two snow flakes, no two thumb prints-- no two compacts with the Almighty will be the same.
 
The way we think and feel and relate to the deity is unique to each of us.
 
Our founders clearly intended that there be a level of separation between church and state.
 
I was just trying to build a wall of understanding, of common sense-- to go along with the notion that it's a poor idea to mix politics and religion-- and a good idea-- to back that caution with laws that make that clear.
 
For 30 years, I've brought my perspective to People For the American Way and linked arms and minds and spirits with people of all faiths and experiences who have brought their unique perspective to the work of the organization.
 
What unites us are the promises and guarantees of our founding documents, and the precise language with which they are expressed.
 
The majesty of words and phrases like "Endowed by their creator with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The constitutional guarantee of Equal Justice under the law and the promise of Equal opportunity for all.
 
Then there are the last words of the Declaration of Independence where the founders pledge  their "lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor."
 
"Sacred honor." Feels  antique, doesn't it?
 
We don't sense much of that today, do we? The last time I came across Sacred Honor was watching The Godfather.
 
I want to suggest we lefties start laying claim to what we see as "sacred"-- and serve it up proudly to the Religious Right-- to the James Dobson, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Karl Rove hate-mongers, sheathed in sanctity-- and to the Koch Brother types that fund them-- and use them so effectively for their own political power-grabbing purposes!
 
Over the past several decades, the power-grabbing right has built a powerful infrastructure of radio and TV networks.
 
They've built think tanks, colleges and law schools.
 
And funded political groups that prepped the way for the Supreme Court, in Citizen's United-- to grant Corporations the right to provide any amount of financial backing to a candidate or a cause just like any other average citizen.
 
And all of it carried off with an air of holier-than-thou sanctity-- no less apparent than Pat Robertson's when he told me my arms were too short to box with God.
 
And now, as frightening as it is, where do we find that holier-than-thou sanctity most apparent in politics today?
 
Among the seven candidates attempting to prove in every debate we have seen that they are the right kind of Christian to be the Republican candidate for the Presidency of the United States.
 
In light of the circumstances we liberals and progressives have succumbed to, it is hard to remember that we-- not the right-- WE are the spiritual heirs to those Americans who struggled to end slavery and segregation-- to end child labor and win safe conditions and a living wage for workers.

 And WE are the spiritual heirs to those who conceived of and fought for just about every bit of social legislation in the last century, legislation that everyone, left and right, now take for granted-- and that resulted-- until not that many years ago-- in the most flourishing, hopeful and empowered middle class in the history of nations.
 
And yet, despite being the spiritual heirs to all of that, it is the Right that presumes ownership of everything that pertains to God and to the Flag. 
 
Looking to the future, I will rely on People for the American Way and its sons and daughters in Young People For and Young Elected Officials to continue to fight for that wall of separation between government and religion.
 
I will rely on them  to insure that equal protection of the law covers all Americans no matter their race, religion or sexual orientation.
 
And I will rely on them to claim their share of God and the flag-- by acknowledging  that the God for all believers on the right is the same God  for all believers on the left as well-- and that no one side can lay sole claim to the family values, patriotism and all the other good stuff that stems from that source.

Norman's worry that the left has ceded the field to the bigots and hate-mongers has more than a few exceptions. More and more Christians who have put Jesus and his message of love first have come to politics as part of the battle for human dignity. One, Colorado state Rep. Joe Miklosi, has been endorsed by Blue America in his run for Tom Tancredo's old congressional seat in the Denver suburbs. His progressive political vision is bound up with a spiritual view very similar to Norman's.

"This theme has motivated me to pursue public policy that is more fair and just for every person. It clarifies, for example, my stance to repeal the unjust ‘Don’t Ask, Don't Tell’ law because all people should be able to serve in the United States military regardless of how they were born. The aspiration toward these goals helped to inspire my sponsorship of the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act beneficiaries are good kids, who play by the rules, earn good grades point averages and want to contribute to our society. By creating educational and workforce development opportunities for students we can energize and empower individuals and families and grow our economy for all Americans.

"In regard to Wall Street and economic reform, I respect those that take peaceful action to advocate for an economy that rewards hard work, encourages innovation and investment in education, retools Americans, and produces livable wages.
 
"We can not allow Wall Street elitists to break the rules, change the rules, and keep moving the goalpost, away from hard working families. Because of Wall Street greed and arrogance in 2008, millions of families were robbed of the dreams they worked and saved for, our nation was hobbled, and the Wall Street crowd sauntered into Washington to rewrite the rules again-- to give themselves a bailout. That’s not thrift, it’s theft.

"It is amazing to see so many inspired people-- from and for various points of view-- advocating for change and a fair financial system."

After he watched the video of Norman's speech he had a response that flows from the same spirit: "All across America, progressives and conservatives worship together. Our faith should be a source of strength and inspiration, not a foundation for conflict. In a pluralistic American society, it is important that the government celebrate the diversity of all viewpoints. The American public square is large enough for the Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, the Agnostic, the Atheist, other belief systems to coexist. 
 
"One of my favorite verses in the Bible is from Micah: seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. The Sermon on the Mount and the blessings are another powerful set of teachings that inspire. These transcend politics and political viewpoints and certainly, no one political party can lay claim to owning them. 

"In the end, be motivated by hope and love-- not fear-- especially not fear of others who hold different religious viewpoints. The former leads to a more fulfilled life. The road-map of fear leads to anger, which leads to hate, which leads to suffering. Rather, faith and hope and love teach patience and forgiveness and yes, even acceptance."  
Norman isn't running for office; Joe is-- and you can contribute to his campaign here at the Blue America Act Blue page. There's a reason his campaign slogan is "Not Your Ordinary Joe."