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The Spiritual Roots of Change

A President’s Letter.

Deepak Bhargava, a longtime organizer and the President of the Freedom Together Foundation, a charitable foundation that supports people who have been denied power to build it and create a more democratic, inclusive, and sustainable society. Bhargava regularly shares his reflections and analysis on the challenges and opportunities facing democracy, social movements, and philanthropy in his President’s Letters. In this edition, he explores the role of faith and spirituality in social change and what these traditions can teach us about sustaining hope, courage, and collective action in difficult times. For more information and to sign up to receive President’s Letters, visit www.freedomtogether.org.

When Freedom Together announced a new focus on “Faith, Bridging, and Belonging” in 2024, I got some raised eyebrows. I’ve noticed that people who are otherwise welcoming of differences get visibly uncomfortable when others speak about their connection to the sacred. In some settings, I have found that it can be easier to come out as a gay man than as a person of faith.

Some of this resistance derives from real and painful experiences with religious institutions. That pain shouldn’t be minimized. And I also believe there can be no transformational social change across this country without two key components: engagement and leadership from diverse communities of faith and tapping into the power of spirit.

I have felt the power of faith in my own journey. One of my most powerful memories is of my grandmother taking me to temple as a child—and being captivated by the sound, the color, and the smells, even as I understood little of what was happening. Later, I asked puzzled classmates who usually didn’t want to go to church to take me to their family’s religious services, and felt awe in the presence of the sacred, regardless of the faith tradition.

I was moved to deepen my own spiritual practice decades ago. When the heartbreak of this work felt like too much to bear, the sacred became an essential refuge, helping me hold the raucous energies of grief and frustration. What I’ve come to recognize over the years is that this connection to the sacred is also the taproot of social change—the fundamental, infinite source of energy, wisdom, and commitment that powers the work of justice.

I now see three reasons faith is integral to social justice work.

First, faith and spirituality are the deepest sources of motivation.

Policy and organizing work too often treats people as calculating economic agents driven by material self-interest. But we are also moved by deeper longings—to be good, to be fully seen, to give and receive care in community, and to live rightly according to our vision of the sacred.

The worldwide authoritarian turn is a response to the collapse of neoliberalism, a system that ordered society for 50-plus years while widening inequality and tearing the social fabric. Authoritarian movements have succeeded not because of their policies, but because they are rousing powerful, misguided energies of fear and hatred in response and using those emotions to........

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