Conversations with leaders who bring people from all sides together in purposeful dialogue so we can develop a shared vision of the world we want to live in.
Steve Bhaerman and Michael Maxsenti conduct interviews that will work to deepen and expand our understandings.
These conversations will get us off the political battlefields and onto cooperative playing fields. There we can create the new story that our hearts know is possible.
Part 1 – From Separation and Domination to Kinship and Reverence
“There are no sides, only angles. And if we see things from the right angle, we’re all on the same side.” -- Swami Beyondananda
Three months ago, amidst very little fanfare, we – Michael Maxsenti and Steve Bhaerman – launched a podcast to bring awakening individuals from all sides “front and center” to get off the political battlefields, and on to the cooperative playing fields, so that we could write humanity’s new story together.
At a time when the news “out there” emphasizes division and conflict, we recognized that the new story begins “in here” with an emerging desire to work together in fruitful collaboration, rather than waste our precious energy in fruitless battle. Our intention has been to spark a sane and sacred community that serves as a beacon for those ready to “create the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.”
We lifted that phrase from Charles Eisenstein’s book of the same name, and we chose Charles as our first guest to share his unifying vision, in contrast to the division currently dominating our public discourse. We had no idea where this first conversation would lead, and now after our first seven guests, we are both humbled and amazed how the new narrative has unfolded.
We’ve created two summary videos where our first guests help lead us “out of the bewilderness” by seeing both where we are coming from, and how we can get where we want to go. We’re hoping they will lift you off the battlefield, and motivate you to get onto the playing field we’re helping create. Build it, and they will come. Well, here it is …and welcome!
Please enjoy both of these, and we hope you’re as inspired as we were.
Part 1 – From Separation and Domination to Kinship and Reverence
We begin with author and philosopher Charles Eisenstein, pointing us toward a healing, unifying vision, and acknowledging the opposing force – the learned habits of separation. Next, Charles Randall Paul, founder of “Religious Diplomacy” shows how we can use our differences constructively so that “enemies” become “trusted rivals.” Then, long-time activist Bobby Austin shares how “public kinship” can bring diverse viewpoints together, so we can have unity without uniformity. Finally, visionary and teacher Shawna Bluestar Newcomb brings her Native American tradition into the conversation, showing how we can evolve from the “doctrine of domination” to what she calls “the reverence code” that connects us to the web of life, and web of love.
Scroll down here on Locals to watch:
Part 2 – How the “Lost People” Can Find Themselves by Finding One Another
Where Do We Go From Here?
As we look at the current political conversations based on “divide-and-conquer” we recognize the remedy – unite and prevail. We also see the sacred purpose of the United States of America, and its gift to the world – unity AND diversity, individual freedom in the context of sacred community. Please join us on our journey of reunion to turn the ideal into the real deal.
Here's how you can participate and contribute:
Become a Member – it’s FREE. You’ll become part of our “sane and sacred community” on Locals.com, a place where we can share ideas free of censorship – and trolls.
Become a Supporter. Your one-time or ongoing monthly support will help us do our work, and build our community of collaborators, cooperators and connectors. You’ll also be able to post on our site to share your own work, as well as other information and resources. We will also be doing livestream programs in 2022 that you’ll be able to participate in directly.
Watch the Full Interviews on our YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChidFRSUUwJIzrHZF2biwNQ
We are creating a presence on YouTube as well so that more awakening folks can watch our conversations and share them with others.
The journey we are on today will determine the future of our species. Currently, we are threatened by a confluence of crises, and fomented fear seems to have us on course toward a “Hunger Games”-style dystopia. No external force or savior will save us. Only by waking and working together can we create this more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.
Please join us on this journey!
Steve Bhaerman
Michael Maxsenti
December 1, 2021
“If a speech falls freely in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, is it still free speech?” – Swami Beyondananda
In 1974, the satirical troupe, Firesign Theatre, put out a comedy record, Everything You Know Is Wrong.
Now, 50 years later …looks like they were right.
When we think of censorship, we think of overt repression of views, like book banning, or even book-burning. But in these times, where so much of what we think we “know” comes from digital sources, the censorship is so silent and stealthy that we haven’t a clue how the information we receive has already been filtered and focused by someone unknown to us. And how we are convinced we are “thinking our own thoughts” but are in fact parroting planted narratives.
On this episode of Front and Center, Michael and I review and unpack an eye-opening interview with psychologist and journalist Dr. Robert Epstein, on what he calls the Search Engine Manipulation Effect (SEME). Epstein, a former editor of Psychology Today, has ...
“It’s not vicious lies they are looking to censor.
It’s those vicious truths they’re worried about.”
– Swami Beyondananda
Last week I wrote a post suggesting that free speech censorship was the gravest existential threat to democracy. I was heartened by the positive response, although I found something very curious about the few pushback emails I got. Not one of them objected to any of my points about free speech, or even addressed them. All of the negative feedback boiled down to: “Donald Trump is worse!”
That’s the problem with “lesser evil-ism.” We accentuate and amplify the evil on the other side (in this week’s podcast you can view the contrast between what mainstream media said that Trump said and what he actually said), while refusing to acknowledge the lies and contradictions on our own side.
That’s how evil prevails.
So I want to try a thought experiment.
Imagine there’s no Donald Trump.
(Imagine there’s no Donald …
It’s easy if you try …
No red-hat wearing MAGA’s
The red team runs another guy ...
“The best way to overgrow the ‘deep state’ is by cultivating a deeper state.”
-- Swami Beyondananda
Here is the oxymoronic political contradiction of our times. We seem more polarized than ever, and yet the vast majority of us long to work together for mutual benefit. Perhaps the resolution of this seemingly impossible “shituation” can be found in the “real” American dream of our founders: individual freedom AND collective wellbeing.
The accentuated polarization of our times has put these two universal aspirations in conflict with one another. But what if they need to co-evolve together? Is there a way to transform these dueling dualities into dynamic-duo dance partners?
Our guest this week on Front and Center, Foster Gamble (www.freetothrive.com), has spent his adult lifetime seeking what he calls a “universal morality” that is not imposed from the top down, but realized from the individual on up. Growing up in privilege – he’s a Gamble as in Proctor & Gamble – ...
An Interview With Pioneering Black Journalist Glen Ford
“It’s time to move past identity issues and focus on the IDENTICAL issues we all face – clean air, clean water, clean food, and clean government.”
-- Swami Beyondananda
Bamboozlement. Isn’t that a great word?
According to Wiki Politiki guest Glen Ford, pioneering black journalist, that was a term Malcolm X used to describe how the power structure has used race politics – most recently the #BlackLivesMatter movement -- to keep folks from poking around the real issues.
The son of famed disc jockey Rudy “The Deuce” Rutherford, who was the first Black man to host a non-gospel television show in the Deep South – Columbus, Georgia, 1958 – Glen was reading newswire copy on-the-air at age eleven. Glen’s first full-time broadcast news job was at James Brown’s Augusta, Georgia radio station WRDW, in 1970 – where ‘The Godfather of Soul” shortened Glen’s surname to “Ford.”
Sadly, Mr. Ford passed away ...
An Interview With Pioneering Black Journalist Glen Ford
“It’s time to move past identity issues and focus on the IDENTICAL issues we all face – clean air, clean water, clean food, and clean government.”
-- Swami Beyondananda
Bamboozlement. Isn’t that a great word?
According to Wiki Politiki guest Glen Ford, pioneering black journalist, that was a term Malcolm X used to describe how the power structure has used race politics – most recently the #BlackLivesMatter movement -- to keep folks from poking around the real issues.
The son of famed disc jockey Rudy “The Deuce” Rutherford, who was the first Black man to host a non-gospel television show in the Deep South – Columbus, Georgia, 1958 – Glen was reading newswire copy on-the-air at age eleven. Glen’s first full-time broadcast news job was at James Brown’s Augusta, Georgia radio station WRDW, in 1970 – where ‘The Godfather of Soul” shortened Glen’s surname to “Ford.”
Sadly, Mr. Ford passed away this ...
“There are no sides, only angles. And when we see it from the right angle, we’re all on the same side.”
-- Swami Beyondananda
Part 1 of 2
Here is an “irony supplement” to munch on.
America is in the midst of the most politically polarizing times since the Civil War … and yet, a 2018 Pew Research Center poll found that nearly 80 percent of Americans in each party believe it’s important for Republicans and Democrats to work together on issues.
Huh? How could that be?
Are we that schizophrenic … or, is there a deep longing to find our sane and sacred center at the heart and soul of who we are?
On August 25, 2020 Wiki Politiki interviewed family therapist and author Bill Doherty, co-founder of Braver Angels, an organization dedicated to bringing the polarized sides together to find a new angle – where instead of dehumanizing the other side, we re-humanize the other.
In December 2016, Braver Angels co-founders David Blankenhorn, Bill Doherty, and David Lapp brought ...
“Truth lives in our hearts. Beliefs lie in our heads.”
– Swami Beyondananda
Some years ago I wrote an article for a progressive publication about Fox News and their propensity for spreading outright lies. I called the article “Come On Baby, Fight My Liar,” and I ended it by saying that conservatives obviously like being lied to – whereas progressives prefer lying to themselves.
Needless to say, I got some pushback on the piece – and also some knowing nods of “yes, I know exactly what you mean.”
What did I mean?
Well, I had just been with a group of people where someone brought up the idea that the 911 Twin Tower attacks might have been an inside job. In response, one woman said – with a completely straight face – “Oh, no. If it had been an inside job I would have heard about it on NPR.”
I think back over the past couple of decades when I presented some inconvenient truth that was outside the comfort zone of some of the spiritually-inclined folks I knew. They would put up their hand and say, “I don’t want to ...
“When you find yourself on a vicious cycle, for goodness sake, stop pedaling and get off.”
-- Swami Beyondananda
From Steve Bhaerman:
One of the biggest challenges for me in the wake of the election results has been speaking into the field of grief, anger, profound disappointment, hopelessness and despair so many of my progressive co-hearts have been experiencing.
And …I’ve been watching this slow-motion train wreck for nearly four years, so I was not surprised.
I began this election day by taking my own advice and following my conscience. I abstained from voting for President. My choice was neither of the above. My prayer was for the American people to make the wisest choice possible – and I let it be with that.
I went about my business peacefully, spent time in nature, watched inspiring, entertaining and educational programs Tuesday night and went to bed without following the “hearse-race.”
In sharp contrast to my rage and horror when it happened in 2016, I...
Since the election, I have been thinking and praying about what was the most important contribution I could make to help MAHA and MAGA succeed.
Last week, after receiving Kelly’s support, I decided to get in the arena…I am running for the House of Representatives in the CA Congressional District #47.
I’m committed to representing you and everyone in our district as a common sense Republican. Together, we can work to get the government on the side of the people and out of the hands of the uniparty Democrats and status quo Republicans.
🙏😎
