TOWARDS A SEASON OF MORAL REPAIR...
Welcome to the Marianne Williamson for President Campaign. Mine is an agenda for a politics of conscience, in which we will harness the power of American decency in service to the healing of our country.
The pillars of this politics will alter the prevailing political, social and economic patterns within our society, returning us to our deepest democratic roots and humanitarian principles.
They are:
1. An agenda for economic justice with which we will repair the damage done by trickle-down economics;
2. A Department of Children and Youth with which we will address the trauma of millions of American children;
4. Marianne Williamson, as President, will work with the Congress to create a cabinet-level U.S. Department of Peace.
5. Reparations, with which we will pay our historic debts and help right historic wrongs toward black Americans and Native Americans.
6. The Whole Health Plan with which we will transform our health care system into a model for both disease prevention and integrative treatment.
We will transition from an economic to a humanitarian bottom line, making this question the core principle of all public policy: What is it that would help people thrive? Thus we will pave the way to greater peace and prosperity for all.
Turning love into a political force is not a pipe dream; it is simply a choice. These are extraordinary times and we have it within us to respond to them in extraordinary ways.
As your president, I will make sure we do.
Where I Come From
I was born in Houston, Texas in 1952. My mother was a traditional housewife and my father was an immigration lawyer. My parents were world travelers, taking my brother Peter, my late sister Jane and me traveling with them around the world when we were children. The fact that I traveled internationally at such a young age made me a different person than I would otherwise have become. I learned very early, with the clarity of a child, that everyone deep down is the same.
While I didn't realize it growing up, as an adult I have come to recognize the impeccable ethics and values that were demonstrated to me as a child.
Growing up in Texas in a liberal household, I was made deeply aware of issues of social justice. My father had grown up in poverty; he was insistent that we be aware of how fortunate we were, and always attendant to the needs of those who were not. All four of my grandparents were immigrants from Eastern Europe, and had found in this country the freedom they longed for while living in oppressive circumstances. From the time I was a child I was taught the importance of America's promise, and the moral responsibility that each of us has to keep it alive and bequeath it to others. Where I saw something wrong, I was taught it’s my responsibility to make it right.
I went to public schools in Houston, and as the Sixties Revolution burst onto the scene I was eager to be part of it. From the cultural and spiritual revolution of that time, to the anti-war protests and political activism that marked the era, I was every bit a child of my generation. I spent two years at Pomona College in Claremont, California, and from there went on to experience pretty much every outwardly insignificant thing and every inwardly profound thing that’s possible.
The most consistent thing about my early Twenties was a search for spiritual understanding. I had a voracious appetite for topics of comparative religion and philosophy, and in my mid-20's I began reading a set of books called A Course in Miracles. The Course is not a religion, but rather a self-study program of spiritual psychotherapy based on universal spiritual themes. There is no dogma or doctrine; it is simply a book on how to forgive. I had no idea at the time that my study of The Course, plus writing and speaking about it, would turn into a 35-year career.
How My Career Began
In the early 1980’s, there was no professional niche involving non-denominational spirituality. Since I didn’t see myself becoming clergy or a religious academic or a traditional psychotherapist, I thought my speaking about A Course in Miracles to small groups was simply an avocation. I threw myself into teaching, counseling, and writing based on the teachings of the Course.
When I began speaking to small groups about the Course at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles in 1983, the strange and horrifying AIDS epidemic burst onto the scene. Los Angeles was hit particularly hard by the disease, and many of its victims found their way to my talks. I became deeply involved in the crisis, facilitating counseling and support groups; non-profit organizations in Los Angeles and New York to provide non-medical support to people living with life-challenging illnesses; and the creation of Project Angel Food, a meals-on-wheels service to homebound people with AIDS that has now served over 11 million meals to people in the Los Angeles area. In a very real sense, my life's work emerged from that experience.
Also in the 1980’s, I began lecturing in New York and other cities as well, including talks and seminars in Europe. In 1992, I published my first book, A RETURN TO LOVE: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles. Little did I know, as an unknown first-time author, the power of a call from Oprah. She invited me to be a guest on the Oprah Show, and on the program, she gave away a thousand copies of the book. From there it went on to become the 5th largest selling book in America that year.
I have since published 12 other books, the fourth of which, published in 1997, was called Healing the Soul of America. Four of my books have been #1 New York Times bestsellers. I have written a book called A Politics of Love: Handbook for a New American Revolution, which will be published this Spring. After my experience with the AIDS crisis, I had become deeply aware of the larger personal, economic and social problems faced by people throughout our country and the world. The political convictions of my family of origin, combined with my own in-depth experience of people’s everyday problems over a period of many years, created within me an ever-increasing realization of the depth of our problems in this country as well as of God’s unlimited capacity to solve them. Spiritual audiences haven't always been happy with my political activism, and political audiences haven't always been happy with my spiritual convictions, but the combination of the two is who I am.
My career has not been a traditional one, but it has been successful. I have been a teacher of transformational wisdom, a successful businesswoman, and a political activist. I have counseled leaders ranging from business to culture to politics. I have been blessed to participate in many non-profit activities, including co-founding THE PEACE ALLIANCE working on the Board of RESULTS, and speaking for various charitable causes over the years. I produced and hosted four SISTER GIANT Conferences, facilitating the connection of thousands of women to progressive activism and electoral politics. In 2014, I ran for Congress in Los Angeles and came in 4th out of a field of 16 in a jungle primary. LA District 33 ended up with the venerable Ted Lieu in that position, so I consider it an all’s-well-that-ends-well experience in my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment