You clicked the button which is supposed to be clicked by those who consider themselves "left-wingers." My experience has been that people who click that button fall into two groups: Those that consider themselves "left-wingers," and those that are actually "right-wing extremists" who despise "left-wingers." Only a few are truly "left-wingers" innocently thinking that I have some kind of message for them. Most politically-oriented net surfers are trying to find out my "hidden agenda."
So this paragraph is directed to both left- and right-wingers who want to know my hidden agenda: First, I don't like the left-right dichotomy, and put no stock in it. Second, I do believe there was once some meaning to it, and I generally agree with the assessment of the left-right framework described by Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn in his book, Leftism. Third, I genuinely and sincerely believe there is much good in both "left" and "right." I have been a part of both the extreme "left" and extreme "right," and I believe both "sides" can benefit from the materials on this web site.
I think the political "powers that be" benefit from the left-right dichotomy. Both the extreme "left" and extreme "right" have deep questions about the ability of the Messianic State to make us all "good people." But the "right" and the "left" never get together because they have been trained to be more questioning about what the "other side" is saying than what the State is saying. So while left and right argue with each other, the State grows more and more tyrannical.
In other words, you will be making a mistake if you stop reading because you are "left" and I am "right," or you are "right" and I am "left." IMHO.
Now, what follows is my word to "leftists." If you're a "right-winger" spying here, that's fine. But don't stop reading here. Be sure to click the "right-winger" jump and read what I say there.
Go to "right-winger" page.
I have been working on a book for some time. Most of the writing is now complete, but I would like to get some opinions from others. Someday I'll either send it off to a publisher or publish it myself. I have found over the years that I benefit more from criticism than compliments, so don't be afraid to be honest with me about my proposed book.
I trust that if you are a "left-winger" you are familiar with the Catholic Worker Movement. The movement can be credited with the rise of the anti-war movement of the '60's, notably finding the Berrigan brothers in its ranks. If anything makes this book interesting, it might be the fact that I have been living in the Santa Ana Catholic Worker since 1988, yet before that I was a member of the "Christian Reconstruction" movement. If you are a "left-winger," you are probably not familiar with that movement. Bill Moyers, who interviewed Dorothy Day (co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement) for Public Television, also interviewed R. J. Rushdoony, the "Patriarch" of the "Christian Reconstruction" movement. Very few people are aware of Rushdoony's influence. The "Religious Right" would not exist today were it not for Rushdoony and his Chalcedon Foundation. I was a "Chalcedon Scholar" and used to have a regular column in his Chalcedon Report.
For many years I considered myself a right-wing extremist, and I was attracted to the Catholic Worker because its founders billed the movement as a right-wing anti-communist movement. But I moved so far to the "right" that it seems somehow I crossed over to the "left."
Nowadays, because the movement is much more "liberal," it sometimes seems as though there are no "entrance requirements" into the Catholic Worker. Nevertheless, I feel a need to justify myself, because, to use a phrase from the McCarthy era, "I am not now, nor have I ever been, a card-carrying member of the Roman Catholic Party." Still, I feel some kinship with Catholicism because I was formally tried and excommunicated from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church for calling the Protestant Reformers "fascists."
It wasn't just an emotional outburst. It was a well-thought-out conclusion drawn after years of study. I was a fanatical student of the theology of John Calvin. I still am. But then I studied the economics and politics of Calvin (and Luther, and Zwingli) and was less enthusiastic. In fact, I began publicly singing the praises of the Anabaptists, the "Radical Reformers." My study of their persecution by both Protestants and Catholics led me to become a pacifist and an anarchist. That jeopardized my standing in the "Christian Reconstruction" movement, and culminated in my ejection from Protestantism.
While perusing a computer database on "Anarchist" movements, I discovered the Catholic Worker movement. I subscribed to the N.Y newspaper. They published a list of all the Houses across the country. I visited the Catholic Worker "Hippie Kitchen" in L.A. and was hooked. When I visited the House in Orange County, and met the Parfrey family serving the homeless in their family dining room, I fell in love and moved in. That was 1988. I've been there ever since.
I only expected to "check out" the Worker for a year, then leave (shades of Stanley Vishniewski!) and return to my work -- starting a movement of my own. I had been working on it off and on since the late 1970's. I incorporated a non-profit charitable organization in 1982. Its name and theme come from the Prophet Micah. I have been writing about the theme for nearly 20 years. I once called this book Vine & Fig Tree: Christianity for the Third Millennium. Now, having been a part of the CW, I can speak of it equally well in terms of the "Catholic Workers' Paradise."
For an outline of "Vine & Fig Tree" thinking, please jump to the V&FT Home Page and take the jump to the Vine & Fig Tree FAQ.