Liberals of faith speak up

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=258075&Category=23

Tuesday, December 13, 2005 BY PAUL M. KRAWZAK COPLEY WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

WASHINGTON - Recent religious-based protests against congressional budget cuts show that liberal and moderate church activists are starting to make themselves heard in a political climate long dominated by conservative Christians, religious leaders and political observers alike say.

“The monologue of the religious right is finally over and a new dialogue has begun,” said the Rev. Jim Wallis, a progressive evangelical Protestant minister.

Wallis is one of the organizers of a massive prayer vigil and budget cut protest expected to draw some 300 religious activists to the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

The strength of the liberal resurgence varies across the country and does not appear to be strong in Ohio...

I am very happy to see this happening. It's been about time.

...there are TONS of mainstream and liberal Christian denominational organizations, fellowships, websites, etc., working very hard indeed to present their faith-based advocacy and viewpoints in the public policy arena.

Heck, Quakers alone have four or five large, visible, national/international organizations dedicated to such advocacy.

Unfortunately, they're mostly ordinary people saying kind, thoughtful, ordinary things. Which doesn't merit a whole lot of media coverage these days.

MUCH more fun to report the latest hate speech from Pat Robertson or "Rev." Fred Phelps, et al.

exasperatedly,
Bright

spirituality what AAR did for left politics. We need a home for a vast array of open-minded and insightful voices from many faith paths, like these: http://www.hostdiva.com/liberalchristians/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=100&Itemid=35

I saw Jim Wallis on The Daily Show and I think he also got a segment on The News Hour. By contrast, I see William Donahue of the Catholic League on the evening news on every major network a few times a month, spouting some lunacy about how embattled rich white men are, and how imperiled their privileged status is.

I guess I don't hear enough or research enough. Still, I'm very happy to hear this.

...it's hardly surprising that you haven't seen what's systematically ignored in every form of commercial media.

Please don't take my exasperation with THEM as a thwap at YOU.

apologetically,
Bright

i love the quaker service organizations
funny how they dont bring attention to themselves with outrageous words or acts (ha)

just quietly serving humankind in the many depths that governments around the world ignore

Jr's ratings (and the neo-con congress contingent) would likely take a well-deserved dive if there were more vocal protests and more MSM coverage instead of the damn same ol same ol. We've heard too much, already, from the self-righteous...

Praise be.

And, although I'm no longer a Christian, I will happily stand with Christians on these moral and imperative issues.

We need our own ariwaves!

http://www.hostdiva.com/liberalchristians/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=100&Itemid=35&limit=1&limitstart=4

and go to www.interfaithalliance.org I'm sure this organization will be supporting the prayer vigil as well.

They have a very impressive Board of Directors/Members.

He could add the much needed balance to the fundie spin.

Rev. Cheesehead.

he head Riverside Baptist in NY. I enjoy his viewpoint and I'm a lasped Catholic.

and support him. He is an asset to the board of the Interfaith Alliance... a natural. The Wall Street Journal once asked him, "How do you imagine the Deity?" He replied, "As a force field of positive energy."

He described God as ...A FORCE FIELD OF POSITIVE ENERGY"..now that is a statement that can pull everyone into the fold! I can accept that one. There is more information about Rev. Forbes at www.interfaithalliance.org

(I know...I know... , but I REALLY think this organization can help promote religious freedom in America. Freedom to worship, or not worship, according to one's own belief system.)

I, as a Religious Scientist, DO believe that God is a "force field of positive energy," and that is something most of us could agree on, in my humble opinion.

Citing their faith-based belief in protecting society's most vulnerable citizens, religious leaders voiced opposition Wednesday to plans to cut billions of federal dollars from myriad programs for the poor, sick and elderly.

"Every society is judged by how we treat the most vulnerable," Rabbi Russell Fox of Emanuel Synagogue said. "It needs to provide and secure that safety net for the most disadvantaged."

.......

Pam Maisano, legislative liaison for the Oklahoma Conference of Churches, said religious leaders are dismayed by the proposals and believe it is not right "to balance the federal budget on the backs of the poorest."

"They have become pawns to be used to pay off whatever debts this country has incurred," Maisano said.

Congress is voting on the budget-cut plan at the same time it is considering tax cuts that critics say will benefit only the richest Americans.

"The inconsistency of this is just mind-boggling," said Maisano, whose group represents 17 religious denominations. "It is the responsibility of the strong to take care of the weak, not the weak to be sacrificed for the strong."


http://newsok.com/article/1705268/

I once made a post of all the christian organizations actively working on issues of social and economic justice and standing up to the fanatical right -- when prinited out the list of links to organizations spanned over 10 pages.

True Christianity has been here for a long time. The problem has been that a true message of openness and understanding and compassion is nowhere near as sexy as a religious nutball zealot saying outrageous things like we should assassinate leaders of other countries. Godhatesfags.com gets national attention. The Religious Coalilition for Reproductive Choice does not.

The media demands sensationalism, thus every religious nutball in America gets airtime. Meanwhile, there are scores and scores of devoted christans and people from all faiths working desperately hard to fight for justice. They rarely, if ever, can get a spot in any major media program, publication or outlet of any sort.

The only reason there is a slow, creeping trend towards more media recognition of "liberal" christians is because of the media's own manufacturing of this radical christian right majority. I don't even believe it is the majority, but we have the media to thank for giving it such a perception of power. That, and the fact that the radical right is exceptionally good at political influence and manipulation. It's hard to compete with that when you're on the religious left, and one of your major beliefs is that there should be a clear separation between church and state.

It's a very difficult position to be in.

so obsessed with sex, and what do the media like better than someone talking about sex, either positively or negatively?

Mainstream Christians talking about hunger in America literally isn't as sexy as Pat Robertson railing against gays.

A Religious Protest Largely From the Left
Conservative Christians Say Fighting Cuts in Poverty Programs Is Not a Priority

By Jonathan Weisman and Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, December 14, 2005; Page A08

When hundreds of religious activists try to get arrested today to protest cutting programs for the poor, prominent conservatives such as James Dobson, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell will not be among them.

That is a great relief to Republican leaders, who have dismissed the burgeoning protests as the work of liberals. But it raises the question: Why in recent years have conservative Christians asserted their influence on efforts to relieve Third World debt, AIDS in Africa, strife in Sudan and international sex trafficking -- but remained on the sidelines while liberal Christians protest domestic spending cuts?

Conservative Christian groups such as Focus on the Family say it is a matter of priorities, and their priorities are abortion, same-sex marriage and seating judges who will back their position against those practices.

"It's not a question of the poor not being important or that meeting their needs is not important," said Paul Hetrick, a spokesman for Focus on the Family, Dobson's influential, Colorado-based Christian organization. "But whether or not a baby is killed in the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy, that is less important than help for the poor? We would respectfully disagree with that."

Rest of article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/13/AR2005121301764.html?referrer=email&referrer=email&referrer=email

...not realize that lack of opportunity and poverty are major contributing factors to abortion? Why cure the symptoms when you can cure the cause of the affliction? Jesus didn't just hand a cane to the blind man and say, "Here, try this, I've got blastocysts to go rescue."

It's so emblematic of the whole "love the fetus, hate the child" syndrome that these fundies exhibit. They stop caring about the child once they are born.

What's more, Tony Perkins says that the Government doesn't have an obligation to the poor. It's not Biblical that the government has this obligation.

I am covering all of this on my blog tonight:

http://progressiveminds.bloghi.com/2005/12/14/conservative-christians-poverty-not-their-issue.html

i wanted to post a comment but what is a url? how do i find mine in order to post?

It's http://progressiveminds.bloghi.com

Thank you, and look forward to seeing you post!! :)

the poor can go to hell!

(there they go again, loving the fetus & hating the child. aren't they all special!)

These people are the true people of faith, ALL faiths, in spotlighting the Bush agenda to penalize the poor to help the rich. They are the true heroes.

of course it's them, xtians are getting all the fed "faith based" money!!!