By Associated Press

BERKELEY - Liberals say it’s time to show that spirituality isn’t just for evangelical Christian conservatives.
More than 1,000 people attended the opening of a conference on “Spiritual Activism” at the University of California, Berkeley, beginning Wednesday.
Organizers want to create a “spiritual politics” caucus in both the Democratic and Green parties in the coming years.
Organizers hope the fourday conference will create a spirituality-based platform to counter the religious right and help participants to connect with “religio-phobic” liberals.
“This is not an attempt to put spiritual words on the old liberal agenda,” said conference organizer Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of the Tikkun magazine in Berkeley.
“This is about transforming the society away from materialism and selfishness.”