According to the New York Times (free registration required), the Ted Haggard's New Life Church is having money troubles. Donations have fallen off almost half a million dollars in the last four months, forcing layoffs. Attendance has fallen as well.

"We are in a position where the reality of our financial situation is causing us to look at how we can be more efficient," [Rob Brendle, associate pastor] said, "and we spent a lot of time thinking and analyzing how best to do that. These are difficult times, and these have been difficult decisions. But the floor of this church has not fallen out."

Why the hard times? If we believe the church leaders, Ted Haggard was the one "bad apple" in the bunch, and without him the Church is free of sin and able to go about its mission without interference. So why the drop in attendance and donations? I see two possible reasons:

First, perhaps New Life was only about Ted Haggard. Haggard was New Life's center. He founded the church out of his basement in 1984 and perhaps without his leadership and charisma the money has stopped rolling in. If so, New Life is nothing more than a cult of personality built around Haggard. The drop in attendance and donations says to me that Ted's evangelical message wasn't the main driving force, it was Ted himself. Thou shalt not worship false Idols right?

Second, perhaps the ensuing scandal drove people away. If this is the case, I think those former New Life parishioners and givers still aren't quite getting the message. Why back away from a church if the head pastor is involved in scandal? If the weakness is removed from the leadership, why stop giving? Are the evangelicals in Colorado so unforgiving that they can't stand to even be loosely associated with Haggard? Or are these Christians so scared of "sin" that they can't be near something they consider tainted? As I argued when Haggard was first outed and then "cured", the New Life Church seems to be missing a classic Christian opportunity. With all the publicity this scandal has brought they are in a prime position to spread their message of love and hope and show the world what true Christians they are. Instead, they ask Haggard to leave his church, suggest it would be better for him to move far away, and stop contributing money or attending services. It seems to me they only want what's pure and are unwilling to get their hands duty and do some real spiritual work, namely saving the souls of those imperfect men among us.

The recent John Edwards blogger debacle, which some are already calling "bloggergate," is a perfect example of the kind of struggle the spiritual left continuously runs into. Below is a basic rundown of the controversy:

At the end of January, in an aggressive sign of willingness to take the netroots seriously, Edwards hired Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwen, both of whom are highly respected liberal bloggers. What Edwards may or may not have realized, is that Marcotte and McEwen had written a few things in the past, on their personal blogs, that could be considered offensive to some.

The alliance that brought Bush to power can be described as the collusion of business, social conservatives, and religious groups. Now, as my colleagues have argued, many religious groups are beginning to question the wisdom of their Republican allegiance, as Bush's agenda has not exactly furthered the causes of good will, social justice, charity, and tolerance in the world arena.

The Bush administration's mistakes are many and widely known, and there is little point in hashing over them here. But the reaction the Right's failings have caused among many formerly staunch supporters, especially among religious people, gives me hope that we may soon see the beginnings of a change in how Americans think about their nation and its relationship with the outside world. The main issue that keeps rattling around in my skull these days is consumer culture, which was spawned in the United States and is rapidly spreading all over the globe.

A maxim of the moribund Shaker faith, that any and every action should be a reflection of one's religion, bears itself in the craftsmanship displayed in their furniture produced. Their meticulous production of understated boxes, baskets, chairs and sundry others consistently garners upwards of $60,000 at auction. Though the current American marketplace rarely displays such dedication to quality product, shoppers seem to have inherited something of the belief.

In a recent article, run by The Economist, organic foods were treated as a prime example of the way consumers are now expressing politics in even their most mundane of actions. In a capitalist society, the argument goes, everything is undertaken within the marketplace, and everything is, or soon will become, a commodity. As such, the sum of your choices as a consumer, can, and should be, the measure of your personality, your morality, your politics. When you buy organic, locally-grown produce, you are supporting regional farming and enterprise. You simultaneously reject the environmental costs of shipping foods from afar. When you opt for the free-range chicken you are ensuring the chickens lived with some modicum of dignity. When you buy products with the FairTrade label, you are helping farmers climb out of poverty, ensuring equitable trade conditions as well as supporting community development and environmental sustainability.

Seeds of the "Spiritual Left"

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Call to Renewal is "a faith-based movement to overcome poverty." Its sister organization, Sojourners, seeks to "articulate the biblical call to social justice, inspiring hope and building a movement to transform individuals, communities, the church, and the world." Under the leadership of Jim Wallis, author of God's Politics and a sought-after public speaker whose talks address themes such as "Practicing a Faith That Does Justice," these two groups campaign to combat poverty, raise the minimum wage, end the genocide in Darfur, pressure corporations like McDonald's to treat workers fairly, and resolve conflicts in the Middle East through diplomatic rather than military means.

It takes but a casual glance at Fortune Magazine’s list of the 500 biggest corporations to discover some disturbing trends. Exxon Mobil, generously considered at the very bottom of socially and environmentally conscious oil companies, and amidst soaring oil prices at home and an extravagant oil war abroad, somehow managed to set an American record with its $39.5 billion in pure profit in 2006. And Wal-Mart, despite being both staffed and sustained by America’s financially challenged, and facing negative publicity last year over training employees on how to collect their welfare checks, still managed to rank #2 in global profits. Both of these companies have annual revenues that exceed all but the world’s 20 largest national economies.

To understand such unprecedented wealth accumulation amidst such deplorable citizenship requires delving into the structure and legal history of corporations. By definition corporations are, in essence, legal entities formed and owned by individuals whose legal existence is distinct from that of the corporation itself.

Here at The Seminal we try to stay distinctive among online publications and within the media world generally. A blog we are, certainly - but also a professional-quality journal in the sense that we:

1. Exhibit professionalism in our respectful treatment of all persons and viewpoints, including those our authors disagree with vehemently.
2. Maintain impeccable standards of spelling and grammar (except through the deliberate use of slang to better communicate meaning).
3. Use sources responsibly.
4. Not only report current events to our readership, but also reflect on the meaning and historical context of these events.

Through our professionalism, we're trying to hold the media to a higher standard. You'll find no hysteria here, nor Bush-bashing, nor hype and propaganda. Rather, you'll find authors thinking through issues and presenting their analyses in a clear, well-reasoned, and informative manner.

In that spirit, we bring you, tomorrow, our debut issue for 2007.

Revolving around the theme of the "spiritual left" - the idea that religion and morality are just as much the province of liberals as conservatives - the articles in our February issue explore themes such as organizations and changing constituencies, politics of consumption, and the religious issues involved with the spread of American consumer culture throughout the world. Finally, a related article addresses the frightening power of "corporate personhood," a legal fiction that underlies the power of large corporations in American public and private life. All in all, the February issue offers food for thought not just on 'what is going on' in American politics today, but also on the structures and cultural shifts that lie just beneath the surface of American politics.

We hope you enjoy our February issue and find the articles informative and provocative. Frequent posting on a variety of topics will continue throughout the month, and we'll see you for our next issue in March.