I playfully tossed together this list of Top Ten Spiritual Left Exemplars :
- Jesus.
- Buddha.
- Gandhi.
- St. Francis.
- Mohammed.
- St. Paul.
- Martin Luther.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Dorothy Day.
- The Dalai Lama.
I put Jesus on top, because within his historical context, he was a religious revolutionary. He advocated pacifism, feminism and radical egalitarianism (all relative to the norms of his day). He criticized eatablished religious traditions and the “church” hierarchy. Buddha and Mohammed are in there for similar reasons. Today they are all co-opted by conservatives and progressives alike.
Bonus - Mormon Lefties:
- Hugh B. Brown
- Lowell Bennion
- Possibly Joseph Smith. He defies easy classification.
Feel free to suggest changes and additions. Who’d I miss? Who should be taken off?
3 responses so far ↓
1 Rich // Jun 17, 2006 at 1:45 pm
Hugh Nibley, despite also being known as a Mo Apologist, was definitly a leftie. He routinely made a lot of “orthodox” Mo’s very uncomfortable.
2 Deborah // Jun 17, 2006 at 5:35 pm
Kwan Yin
Margaret Fuller
Lucretia Mott
3 Johnny // Jun 17, 2006 at 10:26 pm
I agree with Rich on adding ol’ Hugh Nibley to the Mormon list, Approaching Zion is a spirited call to Mormon leftism. As far as the other list goes, one of my favorites is Oscar Romero. He stood with the poor alienating himself from his peers and ultimately losing his life. His assassination while consecrating the Eucharist is a powerful symbol.
One more thought…what about contemporary resources to religious leftism? One of my favorites is Sojourners. Their web address is http://www.sojo.net.
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