Minister Becomes Force on 'Religious Left'

.....(Rev. James A. Forbes Jr) has emerged as a key figure in a movement to rally religious liberals and challenge evangelical Christians to reconsider issues of poverty and social justice, an effort to shape the debate of the 2006 elections much as the religious right did two years ago.

But he is also the product of a conservative, evangelical upbringing in country churches in the Deep South in the 1940s.....

.....Forbes has become more outspoken and active. In 2004 he joined other religious progressives on a bus tour through several swing states to make poverty a greater issue in the elections.

This year, he is part of an effort to recruit and train preachers to answer conservatives in the media. On July 22, Forbes will begin hosting a weekly radio show called "The Time is Now," on Air America, which he says will offer a "countervailing voice to the religious right."

All the while, the Riverside Church has become a rallying point for anti-war activists as Forbes has led interfaith services for peace. Often, he echoes the speech King gave in 1968.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/15/AR2006071500413_pf.html

love that man - great preacher, great leftist, great motivator for peace and justice.

And just a really, really nice guy.