As persons who have visited this blog before may note I have again changed the name of this blog. It is now entitled “Thinking From the Margins.” The reason for the change is that the earlier themes on which I initially wished to write have been too narrowly focused for any effective audience to be built. The first title “God’s justice and kingdom” while certainly central to my thinking simply does not communicate much that is meaningful to most of the people. Regrettably “God, Socialism, and Other things” has the same problem. Yes I feel good about my articles on the issues of God and Socialism. However there is no ideological market for socialism within the United States. The minute market that does exist is saturated by the writings of the many Marxist Leninist and Social Democratic sects that do exist. Most socialists themselves read only the purely secular literature from these party sites.
So where did that leave me? It leaves me with the option of developing a blog in which the full extent to my personal interests in socialism, practical politics, theology, the origins of early Israel and biblical monotheism, Christianity, Islam, Isis, Marianism, and in fact most of the subjects that interest me can be discussed. That blog will be “Thinking from the Margins.” Why however that title? Well it is descriptive of both what I think about and my life. I am a marginal person, a person who lives at the borders of things, and though most of my life I have always taken the positions and ideas that are out of the mainstream that in fact have little popularity or of little interest to most people. I am in fact so marginal in most situations that I am marginal even to the marginal. For example at this time of my life I tend to see my self as having a Christian identity. However the fact is that I hold many beliefs that are simply not regarded as properly Christian. Those ideas such as my belief in the Goddess clearly place me to some extent within the range of the Neopagan community. On the other hand I have too much interest in and sympathy for Christianity and the Bible to fit in that marginal movement either. The same of course applies to my political stance which can reasonably be described as a form of conservative socialism. Thus on the issue of a socialist vision I am more radical than most. However on a practical political level I tend to be a supporter of moderately progressive Democrats such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. On the level of practical politics the winning of political power and getting things done is more valuable to me than the grand eloquent statement which will ensure defeat. Thus in many ways I live as a sort of spiritual and political platypus neither fully mammal nor fowl, a person whose basic instinct is to combine things that most people believe are simply incompatible. So in regards to religion, politics, and in so many other ways the state of being marginal and of thinking from the margins describes well my existence. Therefore I might as well take what is a disadvantage and attempt to make something positive out of it.
Glenn King
