About this site
God Bless the Whole World is a free online educational resource that provides tools for personal and social transformation. The site feature hundreds of videos, audio files, articles and courses on social justice, spiritual activism, counter oppression, environmentalism and self care among many others. We bring you the voices, ideas and insights from today's leading spiritual teachers, activists, religious leaders and change makers. While our name uses spiritual language we are welcoming to humanist, agnostic and atheist perspectives. We recognize that the critical change needed cannot be limited to any single religious or political group. This site is as equally dedicated to promoting spiritual values such as love, generosity and compassion as it is to ending systems of domination such as patriarchy, capitalism and racism. And we strive to include diverse perspectives on methods for social change as we recognize there are many differing ideas which all have something to contribute. Most important is our foundational mission of empowerment through education. The world is becoming increasingly complex and accessible information is crucial if we are going to heal and transform the planet. Whether it is a course on nonviolence, a short interview about global warming, a meditation lesson or an article on white privilege we hope that there is something here for everyone regardless of what point of this journey they are on.
About the Founder
Robert James Scofield, "Be" formerly "BJ" is a San Francisco based activist working to combine spirituality with anti-racism and social justice. He holds a B.A. in Psychology/Philosophy from Warren Wilson College, has done graduate coursework in Postcolonial Anthropology and is currently pursuing a Master's of Divinity at Starr King School for the Ministry in the Unitarian Universalist tradition with an emphasis in women’s studies and counter oppression. He has participated in numerous internships, campaigns and movements for social justice and led groups on white privilege and institutional racism. Be is the producer of "Dr. King: In His Own Words - War, Peace & Poverty" an audio CD with selections from Dr. King's speeches/sermons on war, capitalism, imperialism, nonviolence and economic exploitation. The noted historian Howard Zinn called the cd "Quite wonderful and truly inspiring." He has been published in Tikkun Magazine, and currently blogs for them.
Be's journey toward spiritual activism began in Immokalee, FL - an immigrant farmworking town 45-min east of his hometown of Naples, Fl. The everyday reality of injustice and poverty in Immokalee awakened him to the need for social change. Over the course of two years he volunteered for a few social services agencies and later with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. While living in Naples he ran a small recording studio while working in a DJ/music store and attended community college part time. He made electronic dance music under the name "MC2000," produced four vinyl records and worked with Scott Weiser of Dynamix II and travelled to L.A. to work with Omar Santana.
Transferring to the small work college Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC in 2003 Be discovered himself through the close community, relationships with the faculty/staff and the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of which the campus was nestled into. It was here that he realized his passion for education, pouring himself into his studies in psychology, philosophy, peace studies and global studies. In 2006 he graduated first in his class receiving the Alton P. Pfaff cup for the all around outstanding student, the service award for most volunteer hours and an academic achievement award for the top 5% of the graduating class.
He moved to San Francisco in 2006 to pursue an M.A. in cultural anthropology. Despite the program's commitment to social justice and revolutionary ideology he was searching for something more spiritual. In the fall of 2008 he entered Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley and is currently pursuing a Master's of Divinity in the Unitarian Universalist tradition. The program is rooted in counter oppression, social justice and interfaith understanding.
Since his awakening in Immokalee Be has committed himself to numerous campaigns for social justice. While at Warren Wilson College (WWC) he worked with a small group of ten Asheville citizens that successfully stopped a 180,000 square foot Wal-Mart from displacing immigrant families. At WWC that he served on the Peace and Justice Crew and organized trips to protests such as the School of Americas, gave lectures on Gandhi, Dr. King and Farmworkers and organized community events. He has also worked on anti-war issues, serving on the steering committee of the San Francisco chapter of the Iraq Moratorium and participating in many actions with CODEPINK and other peace groups. In October of 2008 he spent a week living on the streets of San Francisco with no food, money or shelter with the Faithful Fools, a Tenderloin based homelessness street ministry group. Together they explored the question “What keeps us separate?” You can read the blog about the experience here.
His activism has been heavily influenced by three summer internships. In 2004 he interned with CooperRiis a healing farm community for people with mental illness. Working and living closely with the residents of the program his views on mental illness were transformed and he realized the power of an an integral approach to recovery that included arts, activities, healing modalities, and community. In the summer of 2005 he participated in the Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) internship and was placed at the Beloved Community Center (BCC) an organization made up of the survivors of the Greensboro Massacre such as Rev. Nelson Johnson and Signe Waller. After a week of training with IWJ founder Kim Bobo and other labor and religious leaders he traveled to Greensboro, NC and spent the summer working on a number of issues including race, homelessness, class, labor organizing and most significantly the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the United States. In the summer of 2007 Be was one of ten students selected to participate in Michael Nagler’s Metta Mentors Nonviolence Internship in Berkeley, CA. The internship was an opportunity to experiment with nonviolence in social change organizations, as the interns were each placed in unique non-profits who were committed to serving the community. In addition to his placement with Michael Lerner's Tikkun Magazine/Network of Spiritual Progressive's Be spent one day a week with the other interns exploring the relationship between nonviolence and counter-oppression, communication, leadership, self-care, organizing among other topics.
