Engage in co-creating this movement

We are just beginning to bring people from evolutionary and activist perspectives together in a coherent evolutionary activism.  I invite you to become part of the launching of this activist branch of the conscious evolution movement — or the conscious evolutionary branch of various activist movements.  There are many things you can do; here are some initial thoughts:

1. Read the book. (buy, download)
2. Take action from this evolutionary perspective.  Begin, continue, and support efforts to change social systems, technology, or culture in ways that will serve our evolution into a sustainable, wisely self-evolving civilization.
3. Build communities and networks around evolutionary activism.  Connect with friends, colleagues and others on- and offline to support each other in learning about and living evolutionary activism.  Share this book and other sources referenced below.  Get together to explore this and related subjects.  Support one another in taking action.  My own views on what counts as evolutionary activism are spread throughout this book and my book The Tao of Democracy covers much of the political vision in far greater detail, although without framing it as evolutionary.  Develop and share your own views on this topic.  My books are only a beginning and/or a resource.
   
   If you'd like to co-organize action from this perspective, and/or share and explore your own and others' views and experiences, here are several opportunities to participate:
   • Conscious Evolutionary Activism Facebook Group is now the leading forum for discussing evolutionary activism on the web (as of March 9, 2010, until further notice)
   • Evolutionary Activism listserv
     or email EvolutionaryActivism-subscribe@groups.yahoo.com
     For discussing evolutionary action, ideas, questions, issues, current events, and more.
   • Evolutionary Spirituality wiki
     An open space for us to explore and co-organize this movement together. I'll probably also work on and invite collaboration there on a second edition of this book, or a new book especially for activists unfamiliar with the evolutionary perspective.
   • Phone conference calls and workshops
     Check back here for updates about these.  Right now we are holding monthly conference calls for people who are reading or have read REFLECTIONS ON EVOLUTIONARY ACTIVISM on the third Wednesday at 10 am, the third Friday at 2 pm, and the third Sunday at 4 pm (if none of these work for you, write me at cii@igc.org and let me know what are better times).  The number we're using is 1-712-432-3100, conference code 815256.  If and when we have more than 15 or 20 people on a call, we'll start trying out Maestro conferencing, a service which allows dozens or even hundreds of people to participate, and use their own phone key pad to vote or 'raise their hands' to speak; it also lets us create breakout groups in World Café or perhaps even Open Space formats — all on the phone.
   • Track news from me
     If you'd like to hear more from me on evolutionary activism and related subjects, follow my blog Random Communications from an Evolutionary Edge and/or my Twitter feed: @tomatlee
   • Share your news and resources with me and each other
     If you know of or create an in-person group, or a blog or social networking group (or an entire service!) that is enthusiastic about evolutionary activism, let me know at cii@ogc.org and I'll publicize it and/or join you there.  When there's exciting news from your group or blog, please let me know about that as well.  My hope is that other coordinators will emerge to facilitate the flow of information, on the Evolutionary Spirituality wiki or by other means, so that I don't become a bottleneck for our collective organizing.
   
   Join in co-creating an evolutionary activist movement!
   
   
4. Learn more about the Great Story, Big History, evolutionary spirituality, and evolutionary dynamics-and how they might apply to social systems. As a start, I recommend five books, all of which are themselves rich sources and have excellent bibliographies and/or notes to guide further reading:
   
   • Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry:  The Universe Story
   • Michael Dowd:  Thank God for Evolution (book website)
   • David Sloan Wilson: Evolution for Everyone (his blog)
   • Robert Wright:  NonZero (book website)
   • John Stewart:  Evolution's Arrow (book website)
5. Support this work financially through Evolutionary Life.

 

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If you know of other on- or offline evolutionary activist resources or activities I may add them above. Just let me know about them in a comment (below), or email them to me at cii@igc.org with "Evolutionary Activism Activities" in the Subject line.  You can also suggest them through one of the other participatory resources noted above.

 

As you educate yourself about this emerging perspective and movement, stay connected to your inner passions, longings, and dreams for the world.  Thinking about leverage is important, but it is only the rational twin of a more powerful source of energy and guidance, your own sense of calling.  As best as you can, pursue your own current best answer to, "Where do my gifts and passions meet the world's evolutionary need at this time?"  Your answer will evolve as you learn about evolution, observe what's happening in the world, participate in evolutionary activist networks, and stay grounded in what calls you from the inside, which is connected to the Whole, the Creative Power of the Universe.

Blessings on the Journey.

So happy to find you - and connect with this amazing movement in this way. I've been aware of and involved in evolutionary spirituality for some time, and my book, The Everything Seed - A Story of Beginnings, is based upon the work of Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme, which I encountered over a decade ago as a religious educator. My passions: to invent new metaphors and mythologies that excite the religious imagination and speak to the expanding worldview of our eco-era; to learn to live as a co-creator of change; to broadcast seeds of inspiration and enroll others in the shift to an evolutionary consciousness.

  --Reverend Carole Martignacco (Not signed in).....Wed Mar 10 06:40:02 -0800 2010