In alignment with her ongoing personal commitment to enable responsible social and global change through personal self-empowerment, filmmaker Betsy Chasse will be speaking – along with such luminaries as Robert Kennedy, Jr. and Jean Houston - at the upcoming May, 2006 Sacred Activism Conference sponsored by the Wisdom University in Seattle, WA. 
In a time where there is much confusion about how to bridge ingrained dogmas about spiritual “allowing” with actually getting out there to make a difference in the world, Betsy – well known for her “Stop Bitching and Start a Revolution” – type columns, makes it clear that exploring the topic of Sacred Activism is vitally important. Why? In the words of Wisdom University President, Jim Garrison:
“Sacred activism takes on specific urgency when we realize that we are living in an extraordinary period in which theological apocalypticism –the belief shared by tens of millions of American evangelical Christians, for example, that we are living in the end times – is conflating with secular apocalypticism – the fact that at any time weapons of mass destruction, ecological devastation or economic collapse could, indeed, end the world as we know it,” says WU President Jim Garrison. “Even as the end of the world and the coming of Jesus is preached from evangelical pulpits, scientists around the world are predicting dire repercussions from our collective refusal to deal seriously with global warming and other serious challenges.
“In the midst of this there is something each and every one of us can do. We must deepen our spiritual awareness and refine our social commitments in an integrated act of faith and service. In a time of crisis, spirituality without activism is arid intellectualism. Activism without spirituality has effect but little depth or compassion. What is needed is a radical fusion of the two. This is why, in addition to granting degrees, Wisdom University is developing leadership training in sacred activism. Integrated as a single movement of soul and service, sacred activism can transform lives and help change the world.”
The purpose of The Sacred Activist Conference is to take a stand for progressive values and to galvanize a deeper connection between spiritual practice and social action. Social demographics expert (and conference presenter) Paul Ray has written that there are 50,000,000 ‘cultural creatives’ hidden from each other somewhere in the US today. This conference is part of a wave that will allow the influence of this incredible group to emerge.
At The Sacred Activist Conference Robert Kennedy Jr., Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council will speak on “Environment, Race and the Future of America.” Caroline Myss and Andrew Harvey will hold a one day intensive entitled “Sacred Activist as Mystic, Warrior and Healer.” Marianne Williamson will speak on “Sacred Activism in a World Where Little is Held Sacred.” Jean Houston will talk about “Re-Imagining the Future,” and do an all day intensive entitled “The Divine Feminine at the Gateway to the Wisdom Civilization.” There will also be interactive singing, yoga, liturgical dancing, art, and poetry, time reflection and networking.
For those interested in finding out more about the Wisdom University and the Sacred Activism Conference go to: http://www.wisdomuniversity.org/home.htm
