0:00:00.736,0:00:02.270
I bring you greetings

0:00:02.294,0:00:04.626
from the 52nd-freest nation on earth.

0:00:06.084,0:00:10.769
As an American, it irritates me[br]that my nation keeps sinking

0:00:10.793,0:00:13.643
in the annual rankings[br]published by Freedom House.

0:00:13.667,0:00:15.399
I'm the son of immigrants.

0:00:15.423,0:00:18.762
My parents were born in China[br]during war and revolution,

0:00:18.786,0:00:21.762
went to Taiwan and then came[br]to the United States,

0:00:21.786,0:00:23.336
which means all my life,

0:00:23.360,0:00:28.286
I've been acutely aware just how fragile[br]an inheritance freedom truly is.

0:00:29.364,0:00:33.871
That's why I spend my time teaching,[br]preaching and practicing democracy.

0:00:34.760,0:00:36.602
I have no illusions.

0:00:36.626,0:00:37.888
All around the world now,

0:00:37.912,0:00:40.538
people are doubting[br]whether democracy can deliver.

0:00:41.276,0:00:43.714
Autocrats and demagogues seem emboldened,

0:00:43.738,0:00:45.237
even cocky.

0:00:45.261,0:00:47.189
The free world feels leaderless.

0:00:48.086,0:00:50.435
And yet, I remain hopeful.

0:00:51.406,0:00:53.369
I don't mean optimistic.

0:00:53.393,0:00:55.491
Optimism is for spectators.

0:00:55.515,0:00:57.952
Hope implies agency.

0:00:57.976,0:01:00.277
It says I have a hand in the outcome.

0:01:00.301,0:01:02.738
Democratic hope requires faith

0:01:02.762,0:01:06.054
not in a strongman or a charismatic savior

0:01:06.078,0:01:08.057
but in each other,

0:01:08.081,0:01:12.652
and it forces us to ask:[br]How can we become worthy of such faith?

0:01:14.885,0:01:18.003
I believe we are at a moment[br]of moral awakening,

0:01:18.027,0:01:20.836
the kind that comes[br]when old certainties collapse.

0:01:21.496,0:01:25.416
At the heart of that awakening[br]is what I call "civic religion."

0:01:26.310,0:01:30.325
And today, I want to talk about[br]what civic religion is,

0:01:30.349,0:01:31.952
how we practice it,

0:01:31.976,0:01:34.436
and why it matters now more than ever.

0:01:34.460,0:01:35.983
Let me start with the what.

0:01:36.932,0:01:42.101
I define civic religion as a system[br]of shared beliefs and collective practices

0:01:42.125,0:01:45.812
by which the members[br]of a self-governing community

0:01:45.836,0:01:47.693
choose to live like citizens.

0:01:48.643,0:01:52.263
Now, when I say "citizen" here,[br]I'm not referring to papers or passports.

0:01:52.287,0:01:55.504
I'm talking about a deeper,[br]broader, ethical conception

0:01:55.528,0:01:58.670
of being a contributor to community,[br]a member of the body.

0:02:00.120,0:02:04.104
To speak of civic religion as religion[br]is not poetic license.

0:02:04.626,0:02:05.777
That's because democracy

0:02:05.801,0:02:08.990
is one of the most faith-fueled[br]human activities there is.

0:02:09.840,0:02:13.968
Democracy works only when enough of us[br]believe democracy works.

0:02:14.611,0:02:17.348
It is at once a gamble and a miracle.

0:02:18.437,0:02:23.450
Its legitimacy comes not from[br]the outer frame of constitutional rules,

0:02:23.474,0:02:26.108
but from the inner workings[br]of civic spirit.

0:02:27.633,0:02:30.006
Civic religion, like any religion,

0:02:30.030,0:02:34.153
contains a sacred creed,[br]sacred deeds and sacred rituals.

0:02:35.055,0:02:39.804
My creed includes words like[br]"equal protection of the laws"

0:02:39.828,0:02:41.689
and "we the people."

0:02:41.713,0:02:46.246
My roll call of hallowed deeds[br]includes abolition, women's suffrage,

0:02:46.270,0:02:47.870
the civil rights movement,

0:02:47.894,0:02:50.208
the Allied landing at Normandy,

0:02:50.232,0:02:51.585
the fall of the Berlin Wall.

0:02:52.655,0:02:56.043
And I have a new civic ritual[br]that I'll tell you about in a moment.

0:02:57.337,0:02:59.201
Wherever on earth you're from,

0:02:59.225,0:03:03.709
you can find or make[br]your own set of creed, deed and ritual.

0:03:04.423,0:03:08.673
The practice of civic religion[br]is not about worship of the state

0:03:08.697,0:03:11.079
or obedience to a ruling party.

0:03:11.103,0:03:12.933
It is about commitment to one another

0:03:12.957,0:03:14.300
and our common ideals.

0:03:14.943,0:03:19.633
And the sacredness of civic religion[br]is not about divinity or the supernatural.

0:03:20.572,0:03:23.318
It is about a group of unlike people

0:03:23.342,0:03:26.440
speaking into being our alikeness,

0:03:26.464,0:03:27.842
our groupness.

0:03:29.293,0:03:31.329
Perhaps now you're getting[br]a little worried

0:03:31.353,0:03:33.479
that I'm trying to sell you on a cult.

0:03:33.503,0:03:35.048
Relax, I'm not.

0:03:35.381,0:03:37.148
I don't need to sell you.

0:03:37.172,0:03:40.864
As a human, you are always[br]in the market for a cult,

0:03:40.888,0:03:43.711
for some variety of religious experience.

0:03:43.735,0:03:47.072
We are wired to seek[br]cosmological explanations,

0:03:47.096,0:03:50.738
to sacralize beliefs[br]that unite us in transcendent purpose.

0:03:51.556,0:03:54.563
Humans make religion[br]because humans make groups.

0:03:55.262,0:03:59.036
The only choice we have is whether[br]to activate that groupness for good.

0:04:00.204,0:04:03.270
If you are a devout person, you know this.

0:04:03.294,0:04:04.926
If you are not,

0:04:04.950,0:04:06.792
if you no longer go to prayer services

0:04:06.816,0:04:08.480
or never did,

0:04:08.504,0:04:12.279
then perhaps you'll say[br]that yoga is your religion,

0:04:12.303,0:04:14.839
or Premier League football,

0:04:14.863,0:04:17.696
or knitting, or coding or TED Talks.

0:04:18.950,0:04:23.439
But whether you believe in a God[br]or in the absence of gods,

0:04:23.463,0:04:27.241
civic religion does not require you[br]to renounce your beliefs.

0:04:27.265,0:04:30.184
It requires you only[br]to show up as a citizen.

0:04:31.578,0:04:34.075
And that brings me to my second topic:

0:04:34.099,0:04:37.023
how we can practice[br]civic religion productively.

0:04:38.293,0:04:40.953
Let me tell you now[br]about that new civic ritual.

0:04:40.977,0:04:42.898
It's called "Civic Saturday,"

0:04:42.922,0:04:45.700
and it follows the arc[br]of a faith gathering.

0:04:45.724,0:04:47.065
We sing together,

0:04:47.089,0:04:51.056
we turn to the strangers next to us[br]to discuss a common question,

0:04:52.199,0:04:54.342
we hear poetry and scripture,

0:04:54.366,0:04:57.176
there's a sermon that ties those texts

0:04:57.200,0:04:59.850
to the ethical choices[br]and controversies of our time,

0:05:00.889,0:05:03.381
but the song and scripture and the sermon

0:05:03.405,0:05:06.058
are not from church[br]or synagogue or mosque.

0:05:06.082,0:05:07.454
They are civic,

0:05:07.478,0:05:09.632
drawn from our shared civic ideals

0:05:09.656,0:05:14.145
and a shared history of claiming[br]and contesting those ideals.

0:05:15.016,0:05:20.533
Afterwards, we form up in circles[br]to organize rallies, register voters,

0:05:20.557,0:05:22.619
join new clubs, make new friends.

0:05:24.243,0:05:27.077
My colleagues and I[br]started organizing Civic Saturdays

0:05:27.101,0:05:29.401
in Seattle in 2016.

0:05:29.425,0:05:32.291
Since then, they have spread[br]across the continent.

0:05:32.315,0:05:35.557
Sometimes hundreds attend,[br]sometimes dozens.

0:05:35.581,0:05:38.260
They happen in libraries[br]and community centers

0:05:38.284,0:05:39.634
and coworking spaces,

0:05:39.658,0:05:42.203
under festive tents[br]and inside great halls.

0:05:43.114,0:05:46.542
There's nothing high-tech[br]about this social technology.

0:05:47.115,0:05:51.446
It speaks to a basic human yearning[br]for face-to-face fellowship.

0:05:52.374,0:05:55.927
It draws young and old, left and right,

0:05:55.951,0:05:58.753
poor and rich, churched and unchurched,

0:05:58.777,0:06:00.101
of all races.

0:06:01.130,0:06:06.078
When you come to a Civic Saturday[br]and are invited to discuss a question

0:06:06.102,0:06:08.305
like "Who are you responsible for?"

0:06:08.329,0:06:14.395
or "What are you willing to risk[br]or to give up for your community?"

0:06:15.363,0:06:17.403
When that happens, something moves.

0:06:17.427,0:06:19.274
You are moved.

0:06:19.298,0:06:21.096
You start telling your story.

0:06:21.120,0:06:23.806
We start actually seeing one another.

0:06:23.830,0:06:28.111
You realize that homelessness,[br]gun violence, gentrification,

0:06:28.135,0:06:31.593
terrible traffic, mistrust[br]of newcomers, fake news --

0:06:31.617,0:06:34.024
these things[br]aren't someone else's problem,

0:06:34.048,0:06:37.571
they are the aggregation[br]of your own habits and omissions.

0:06:38.319,0:06:40.603
Society becomes how you behave.

0:06:43.484,0:06:48.086
We are never asked to reflect[br]on the content of our citizenship.

0:06:49.244,0:06:54.944
Most of us are never invited[br]to do more or to be more,

0:06:54.968,0:06:59.094
and most of us have no idea[br]how much we crave that invitation.

0:07:01.014,0:07:03.310
We've since created a civic seminary

0:07:03.334,0:07:07.103
to start training people from all over[br]to lead Civic Saturday gatherings

0:07:07.127,0:07:08.881
on their own, in their own towns.

0:07:09.865,0:07:12.227
In the community of Athens, Tennessee,

0:07:12.251,0:07:14.832
a feisty leader named Whitney Kimball Coe

0:07:14.856,0:07:17.309
leads hers in an art and framing shop

0:07:17.333,0:07:19.794
with a youth choir[br]and lots of little flags.

0:07:20.205,0:07:22.415
A young activist named Berto Aguayo

0:07:22.439,0:07:24.884
led his Civic Saturday on a street corner

0:07:24.908,0:07:27.871
in the Back of the Yards[br]neighborhood of Chicago.

0:07:27.895,0:07:30.162
Berto was once involved with gangs.

0:07:30.186,0:07:32.678
Now, he's keeping the peace

0:07:32.702,0:07:34.559
and organizing political campaigns.

0:07:35.705,0:07:38.501
In Honolulu, Rafael Bergstrom,

0:07:38.525,0:07:43.164
a former pro baseball player[br]turned photographer and conservationist,

0:07:43.188,0:07:45.997
leads his under the banner[br]"Civics IS Sexy."

0:07:46.793,0:07:47.944
It is.

0:07:47.968,0:07:50.591
(Laughter)

0:07:50.615,0:07:53.006
Sometimes I'm asked,[br]even by our seminarians:

0:07:53.030,0:07:55.954
"Isn't it dangerous[br]to use religious language?

0:07:55.978,0:08:00.358
Won't that just make our politics[br]even more dogmatic and self-righteous?"

0:08:00.382,0:08:04.278
But this view assumes that all religion[br]is fanatical fundamentalism.

0:08:04.990,0:08:06.140
It is not.

0:08:06.767,0:08:10.601
Religion is also moral discernment,

0:08:10.625,0:08:12.557
an embrace of doubt,

0:08:12.581,0:08:16.094
a commitment to detach from self[br]and serve others,

0:08:16.118,0:08:18.283
a challenge to repair the world.

0:08:19.057,0:08:23.358
In this sense, politics could stand[br]to be a little more like religion,

0:08:23.382,0:08:24.557
not less.

0:08:25.747,0:08:28.296
Thus, my final topic today:

0:08:28.320,0:08:30.359
why civic religion matters now.

0:08:31.544,0:08:33.469
I want to offer two reasons.

0:08:33.493,0:08:37.010
One is to counter the culture[br]of hyperindividualism.

0:08:38.193,0:08:41.376
Every message we get[br]from every screen and surface

0:08:41.400,0:08:43.238
of the modern marketplace

0:08:43.262,0:08:45.043
is that each of us is on our own,

0:08:45.067,0:08:46.621
a free agent,

0:08:46.645,0:08:48.885
free to manage our own brands,

0:08:48.909,0:08:50.234
free to live under bridges,

0:08:50.941,0:08:52.937
free to have side hustles,

0:08:52.961,0:08:54.996
free to die alone without insurance.

0:08:56.027,0:09:00.005
Market liberalism tells us[br]we are masters beholden to none,

0:09:00.029,0:09:03.139
but then it enslaves us

0:09:03.163,0:09:06.687
in the awful isolation[br]of consumerism and status anxiety.

0:09:07.005,0:09:08.187
(Audience) Yeah!

0:09:08.211,0:09:11.221
Millions of us are on to the con now.

0:09:11.245,0:09:14.224
We are realizing now

0:09:14.248,0:09:17.753
that a free-for-all is not the same[br]as freedom for all.

0:09:17.777,0:09:23.647
(Applause)

0:09:23.671,0:09:26.408
What truly makes us free[br]is being bound to others

0:09:26.432,0:09:28.516
in mutual aid and obligation,

0:09:28.540,0:09:32.917
having to work things out the best we can[br]in our neighborhoods and towns,

0:09:32.941,0:09:35.036
as if our fates were entwined --

0:09:35.060,0:09:36.446
because they are --

0:09:36.470,0:09:39.043
as if we could not secede[br]from one another,

0:09:39.067,0:09:40.988
because, in the end, we cannot.

0:09:41.793,0:09:45.150
Binding ourselves this way[br]actually liberates us.

0:09:45.640,0:09:49.033
It reveals that we are equal in dignity.

0:09:49.057,0:09:51.983
It reminds us that rights[br]come with responsibilities.

0:09:53.201,0:09:54.717
It reminds us, in fact,

0:09:54.741,0:09:58.836
that rights properly understood[br]are responsibilities.

0:10:00.130,0:10:03.242
The second reason[br]why civic religion matters now

0:10:03.266,0:10:07.504
is that it offers the healthiest[br]possible story of us and them.

0:10:08.536,0:10:14.861
We talk about identity politics today[br]as if it were something new,

0:10:14.885,0:10:17.014
but it's not.

0:10:17.038,0:10:19.143
All politics is identity politics,

0:10:19.167,0:10:22.625
a never-ending struggle[br]to define who truly belongs.

0:10:23.379,0:10:28.776
Instead of noxious myths of blood and soil[br]that mark some as forever outsiders,

0:10:28.800,0:10:32.545
civic religion offers everyone[br]a path to belonging

0:10:32.569,0:10:37.274
based only a universal creed[br]of contribution, participation,

0:10:37.298,0:10:38.448
inclusion.

0:10:39.079,0:10:43.994
In civic religion, the "us"[br]is those who wish to serve,

0:10:44.018,0:10:48.000
volunteer, vote, listen, learn,[br]empathize, argue better,

0:10:48.024,0:10:50.764
circulate power rather than hoard it.

0:10:50.788,0:10:52.938
The "them" is those who don't.

0:10:54.250,0:10:57.400
It is possible to judge the them harshly,

0:10:57.424,0:10:59.376
but it isn't necessary,

0:10:59.400,0:11:03.949
for at any time, one of them[br]can become one of us,

0:11:03.973,0:11:06.631
simply by choosing to live like a citizen.

0:11:07.836,0:11:09.377
So let's welcome them in.

0:11:10.027,0:11:13.643
Whitney and Berto and Rafael[br]are gifted welcomers.

0:11:14.598,0:11:17.692
Each has a distinctive, locally rooted way

0:11:17.716,0:11:20.930
to make faith in democracy[br]relatable to others.

0:11:21.494,0:11:25.045
Their slang might be Appalachian[br]or South Side or Hawaiian.

0:11:25.069,0:11:26.950
Their message is the same:

0:11:26.974,0:11:31.061
civic love, civic spirit,[br]civic responsibility.

0:11:32.822,0:11:35.395
Now you might think[br]that all this civic religion stuff

0:11:35.419,0:11:38.728
is just for overzealous[br]second-generation Americans like me.

0:11:40.045,0:11:42.832
But actually, it is for anyone, anywhere,

0:11:42.856,0:11:45.114
who wants to kindle the bonds of trust,

0:11:45.138,0:11:47.714
affection and joint action

0:11:47.738,0:11:49.722
needed to govern ourselves in freedom.

0:11:50.851,0:11:53.392
Now maybe Civic Saturdays aren't for you.

0:11:53.416,0:11:54.841
That's OK.

0:11:54.865,0:11:58.805
Find your own ways to foster[br]civic habits of the heart.

0:12:00.360,0:12:03.591
Many forms of beloved[br]civic community are thriving now,

0:12:03.615,0:12:05.417
in this age of awakening.

0:12:05.441,0:12:07.939
Groups like Community Organizing Japan,

0:12:07.963,0:12:11.289
which uses creative performative[br]rituals of storytelling

0:12:11.313,0:12:13.372
to promote equality for women.

0:12:14.075,0:12:16.750
In Iceland, civil confirmations,

0:12:16.774,0:12:18.771
where young people are led by an elder

0:12:18.795,0:12:22.124
to learn the history[br]and civic traditions of their society,

0:12:22.148,0:12:25.024
culminating in a rite-of-passage ceremony

0:12:25.048,0:12:26.611
akin to church confirmation.

0:12:27.984,0:12:30.414
Ben Franklin Circles in the United States,

0:12:30.438,0:12:32.404
where friends meet monthly

0:12:32.428,0:12:35.993
to discuss and reflect upon the virtues[br]that Franklin codified

0:12:36.017,0:12:37.927
in his autobiography,

0:12:37.951,0:12:41.549
like justice and gratitude[br]and forgiveness.

0:12:43.394,0:12:45.879
I know civic religion is not enough

0:12:45.903,0:12:48.529
to remedy the radical[br]inequities of our age.

0:12:49.022,0:12:50.827
We need power for that.

0:12:51.323,0:12:55.108
But power without character[br]is a cure worse than the disease.

0:12:56.393,0:12:59.616
I know civic religion alone[br]can't fix corrupt institutions,

0:13:01.243,0:13:05.543
but institutional reforms[br]without new norms will not last.

0:13:06.375,0:13:08.495
Culture is upstream of law.

0:13:08.519,0:13:10.977
Spirit is upstream of policy.

0:13:11.001,0:13:13.947
The soul is upstream of the state.

0:13:13.971,0:13:18.567
We cannot unpollute our politics[br]if we clean only downstream.

0:13:18.591,0:13:20.091
We must get to the source.

0:13:20.846,0:13:22.607
The source is our values,

0:13:23.752,0:13:28.085
and on the topic of values,[br]my advice is simple: have some.

0:13:28.556,0:13:30.975
(Laughter)

0:13:30.999,0:13:35.504
(Applause)

0:13:35.528,0:13:37.956
Make sure those values are prosocial.

0:13:37.980,0:13:39.646
Put them into practice,

0:13:39.670,0:13:41.878
and do so in the company of others,

0:13:41.902,0:13:45.720
with a structure of creed,[br]deed and joyful ritual

0:13:45.744,0:13:47.656
that'll keep all of you coming back.

0:13:49.067,0:13:52.887
Those of us who believe in democracy[br]and believe it is still possible,

0:13:52.911,0:13:55.238
we have the burden of proving it.

0:13:55.262,0:13:58.399
But remember, it is no burden at all

0:13:58.423,0:14:01.769
to be in a community[br]where you are seen as fully human,

0:14:01.793,0:14:04.217
where you have a say[br]in the things that affect you,

0:14:04.241,0:14:06.898
where you don't need[br]to be connected to be respected.

0:14:07.884,0:14:09.392
That is called a blessing,

0:14:10.171,0:14:12.503
and it is available to all who believe.

0:14:13.434,0:14:14.585
Thank you.

0:14:14.609,0:14:20.642
(Applause)