Original Politics: America’s Sacred Purpose and Untold Story
Channel: Front and Center with Steve and Michael
Date: 2021-11-07

A Conversation with Author and Eco-psychologist Glenn Aparicio Parry

“When we shift our’ c-ing from fear to love, we move from scared to sacred.”
-- Swami Beyondananda

Sacred purpose?

Given the current political polarization and deep division, we see a lot more scared than we do sacred.  And yet, that “sacred purpose” embedded in the untold story of how Native Americans and English settlers lived in relative harmony for 150 years, may hold the key to healing our body politic in these challenging times.

Our guest on Front and Center this week, Glenn Aparicio Parry, author of Original Politics:  America’s Sacred Purpose, offers an enlightening glimpse into how the Native peoples influenced the colonists’ cultural, spiritual and political views, and how this cultural exchange shaped what was to become “the American.”

For example, did you know the first Native American visitor to the Plymouth settlement in 1621 … spoke English?  That the Iroquois Nation’s Great Law of Peace became the foundation of our own Constitution?  That Benjamin Franklin’s meeting with Onandoga chief Canasatego on JULY 4TH (1744) led to our creating our own confederacy?

Then, there were the sacred aspects of Native American awareness that got ignored by our Founders – like the Council of Grandmothers who brought feminine wisdom to issues like going to war or impeaching a chief – and the reverence for the natural world as the source of wellbeing.

And now, as we write our new story together, Aparicio Parry says, we must reintegrate the feminine, and sacred respect for nature as we embody America’s sacred purpose – unity and diversity.  Not just diverse colors and genders, but diverse beliefs and worldviews.  And if we think of political polarities as incompatible as “oil and water”, Aparicio Parry offers the example of “sacred mayonnaise” where both oil and water can exist in a stable suspension.  By “suspending” our judgments of one another, we can bring forth the most functional aspects of “progressive” and “conservative”, as we ask, “How do we want to progress?” and “What would we like to conserve?”

Glenn Aparicio Parry, PhD, is a writer, educational consultant, international speaker, and entrepreneur with a vision to reform thinking and education into a coherent, cohesive whole. From 1999-2011, he organized and participated in the groundbreaking Language of Spirit Conferences, bringing together Native and Western scientists in dialogue. The founder and past president of the SEED Institute, he currently runs a think tank and regularly moderates dialogues. In addition to his current book, “Original Politics: Making America Sacred Again”, he is the author of the Nautilus award-winning Original Thinking: A Radical Revisioning of Time, Humanity and Nature. He lives in northern New Mexico.

If you’re ready for a meta-view of how we can establish the heart and soul of who we really are at a time of toxic polarization, please tune in.

Live transcript: https://otter.ai/u/_nGItnPxWt-flaGWCp7FfhEAm1o

To learn more of Glenn Aparicio Parry’s work visit www.originalpolitics.us

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