What is Spiritual Democracy?

Spiritual refers to the sacredness and interdependence of all life. It is the freedom of the human spirit expressed through its connection to the Divine.

Democracy is a system of governance that is based on the principles of equality and freedom and that is OF the people.

What happens when you put them together?

Spiritual Democracy is a system of governance that honors the sacred unity and inter-dependence of all life. It is built upon the principles of equality, accountability, responsibility, compassion, forgiveness, reciprocity and service.

THE MODEL FOR SPIRITUAL DEMOCRACY is an operating system that is alive and growing as each individual contributes their gifts to the model and to the expression of the vision of Spiritual Democracy.

At the heart of the system is the WE that is necessary for it to operate. It is adaptable to the individual values, ideas and dreams of the people, communities and organizations that are creating it, while maintaining the integrity of the vision and a commitment to the essential components and principles of the model listed below.

It is a circular, inclusive and collaborative system and not a hierarchal/top down system. At the center of the circle is the vision of Spiritual Democracy.
Therefore, the initial blueprint for designing the model that will build Spiritual Democracy has certain key elements that must be present.
They are as follows:

1. BALANCED & EQUAL PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN IN ALL DECISION-MAKING POLICIES.
2. SEVENTH-GENERATION DECISION-MAKING TO PROTECT AND HONOR THE CHILDREN OF FUTURE GENERATIONS.
3. MODELING A DEEP RESPECT FOR THE ENVIRONMENT THROUGH ACTIONS THAT AFFIRM THE SACREDNESS OF ALL LIFE.

An important aspect to the model is that it can be overlaid on any operating system as the components and principles remain the same.

The Iroquois Great Law of Peace provides an example of a system of governance that included all of these components and principles and that embodied Spiritual Democracy while being one of the longest ongoing democracies in the history of the world. It was a model that worked for centuries and therefore our task is to design an operating system in response to the needs of the 21st century; combining Indigenous wisdom and the best of western science and technology.