Progressive Faith Blog Con

I realize that the whole 20th century practice of meeting other human beings in the flesh flies in the face our way of life, but nonetheless there’s a neat event coming up in New Jersey for those of us who blog about religion and spirituality and who are on the Left.

It’s the Progressive Faith Blog Con being held at Montclair State University in the Garden State July 14-16.

Shabana and I would love to attend, but its proximity to our exodus from bondage in DC at the beginning of August makes that a daunting undertaking, especially with Raihana in tow, but who knows.

Here’s the event’s mission statement:

Faith and politics have the capacity to profoundly divide, or to profoundly connect. The first annual Progressive Faith Blog Con is a chance for progressive bloggers of faith to meet one another, talk with one another, and learn from one another.

Our progressive politics are rooted in our theologies, and our theological stances inform our politics; why not celebrate them together? During this weekend gathering we’ll break bread together, talk about the subjects that fire our passions, and put faces with the names on our blogrolls.

During the first annual Progressive Faith Blog Con we’ll talk about the intersection of religion and politics; the roots and branches of our faith traditions; ecumenical and interfaith blogging engagement; and the challenges and blesssings of pluralism. We’ll have breakout sessions around faith-tradition, and around meditation, liturgy, and scripture. We’ll talk about justice and poverty, about progressive faith activism, and about the religious right. The conference will be led by and for our community, and it will be shaped by each of us who attends. Join us for a weekend of learning, connection, and conversation!

Any of you faceless but dear comrades-in-arms out in the Blogosphere who live in the vicinity of Montclair State University and are open to swapping a place to crash in exchange for some opinionated conversation and/or bitter rants about the state of the world should feel free to drop me a line at the email here.  (If you really have a swank setup, we might even let you play with the baby a bit.)  Am open to making the trek, but this whole paying for a hotel room thing is for the birds.  I’d much prefer to mooch off a kindred spirit.

BTW, Muslim readers shouldn’t let the p-word scare them.  The Progressive Muslim Union did not invent (or copyright) the notion of "progressive Islam".  In fact, despite its monopolization of the label for a time, I’d argue that the organization never got the concept, at least not collectively.