The Interspirit Foundation is a new 501c3 organization concerned with issues involving spirit and civic life. We are considering questions regarding the character and quality of our national political conversation, particularly involving the interactions of the US Congress and other political leadership.

We have been looking into these issues for some time, and are now beginning an activist development of this work, extending in a variety of interrelated directions, as we explore how it might be possible to beneficially impact the tone and value of our national dialogue. We agree with those voices who have been saying that our politics is “broken” and in serious need of repair and reformation.

Today, in the context of our current economic crisis, this call for reform is louder than ever. How did our situation become so precarious? We are supposing that our inability to repair this ongoing “brokenness” has left our government weakened and compromised – and that something new and profoundly authentic is needed now. Some elements of our approach:

1. Develop a liaison among interfaith, religious and spiritual organizations, interested in beneficially influencing the tone and quality of our national conversation
2. Build connectivity with secular and political organizations and invite their participation
3. Directly involve the input and interaction of our political leaders, inviting them into a cocreative and constructive process that supports a transformation of the spirit of dialogue
4. Begin to develop inclusive and holistic approaches to broadly interconnected problems

Taking an approach like this, we can begin to weave a national network of concerned individuals, agencies and political leaders, in an ongoing conversation that reviews the weaknesses that are wounding our nation, and develops constructive solutions that draw on the full range of creative talent available in our society. By building this project in a spirit of constructive support, we can engage participation from all sectors, avoid the finger-pointing of blame and anger, and create a powerful new approach to collective problem-solving.

We can develop this work in a way that is fully consistent with our greatest national traditions, and requires no legislation to enact. Our leaders can find themselves supported rather than attacked, sectors of society that today regard one another with deep suspicion and mistrust can begin to understand one another, and the quality of our collective self-governance can begin to recover the greatness that is inherent in our national identity.

We began exploring issues relevant to the "Spirit of Democracy" in 2006, as we began collecting books and articles, and sensing the growing need for a beingin spiritual influence in our national politics.

In the immediate context of our current national eonomic crisis, we are now beginning a network development initiative, intended to contact groups and individuals interested in working together to define this project, and who want to begin developing points of influence within the communications grid of our national conversation.

We do have a basic website for the project, running on our "Network of Circles" interface:
http://networkofcircles.net/democracy.cfm

Some initial articles are available in Word format. This information is all current as of September 2008:

1. THE SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY - ONE PAGE INTRODUCTION
   http://interspirit.net/democracy/documents/spiritofdemocracy1.doc

2. THE INTERSPIRIT FOUNDATION - OVERVIEW
   http://interspirit.net/democracy/documents/InterspiritFoundationOverview3A.doc

3. INTRODUCTORY LETTER TO CONGRESSWOMAN LOIS CAPPS (DEMOCRAT, SANTA BARBARA)
   http://interspirit.net/democracy/documents/ToLoisCapps1.doc

4. REP. LOIS CAPPS - BIO
   http://interspirit.net/democracy/cappsbio.cfm

5. SPIRIT AND NATURE - KEYNOTE SPEECH BY CONGRESSWOMAN LOIS CAPPS
   http://interspirit.net/democracy/documents/LoisCappsSpiritAndNature.doc

6. WHY I SUPPORT BARACK OBAMA - STATEMENT BY LOIS CAPPS, HUFFINGTON POST, APRIL 2008
   http://interspirit.net/democracy/documents/4.100942LoisCappsSupportBarackObama.doc

7. THE SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY - NETWORK OF CIRCLES - PROPOSAL FOR SEN. BARACK OBAMA - JANUARY 2007
   http://interspirit.net/democracy/documents/1.100906Obamaproposal.doc

8. DRAFT PROPOSAL FOR A CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS ON TRANSPARTISAN AND INTEGRAL POLITICS - FOR REP. LOIS CAPPS
   http://interspirit.net/democracy/cappsproposal1.cfm