Good news from a red (deep red) state!

Mr. juslikagrzly and I have started a grassroots org to work toward reclaiming faith and religion from the "christian" right. We had our first meeting tonight and 70 people showed up. Mind you, this is in the heart of the bible belt in one of the reddest states around, and in a relatively small city. Many people emailed or called saying they couldn't attend (teaching, leaving for thanksgiving, etc.), but definitely want to come to the next meeting.

Hallelujah, WE ARE NOT ALONE!

Organizations like this could be an excellent long-term strategy, I think.

Glad you were able to find like-minded people.

You can begin to feel incredibly isolated when you live in the heart of jesusland! While our group was all white (which isn't surprising considering where we live) we did have good representation otherwise--lots of different faith traditions, lesbians/gays, ministers, young folks (a couple of middle schoolers) and older folks.

We're excited. The energy was high and no one wants to sit around and complain. We all agreed we want to DO!

I'll keep ya'll posted!

you may be at the forefront of something... MAJOR....

:-)

out that being Christian is taking care of the needy, insuring our poor, and uplifting all of us.

eom

and pull in people from other faith traditions also. If we were focusing just on christianity, I'm sure my minister mr. juslikagrzly would agree with you. He thinks Paul was sort of a nut--very conflicted.

eom

This type of group reaction to the hijacking of Christianity in this age is LONG overdue.
I suggest that you encourage each other to speak out in your various places of worship. Crack through the group speak. Be brave.

And to cover their own asses.

Matthew 7:20

On His earthly mission to the world Jesus spoke most often about:

A) The importance of preventing gay marriage.

B) The importance of tax cuts to stimulate economic growth.

C) The importance of striking your enemy first to preempt attack.

D) Helping the poor and needy.



As a little add-on and clue. He actually ever spoke about only one of these four topics.

thanks for doing this

good luck!

This is the type of stuff we need to be doing for the next 4, 8, 12 years and more. And, not just in the Deep South - we need to get out there into black and Hispanic churches, as well as other Catholic churches.

Get out there and show people what true Christian values are, none of this 'Supply Side Jesus' malarky.

Best of luck to you and please keep us posted on your progress.

Assume that you will stabilize at maybe 100 Organize yourselves as a charity. Have each member donate (at least) $10.00 for a year's "dues"...

Then set out to "adopt a local family"..

A group I belonged to did this every year, and it was a great thing.

Churches can often give you names of needy families or ask a trusted teacher, not for the name, but you could ask her to intervene and have the family contact YOU..

At a get-together, vote on the family you will adopt..

That small amount of money CAN help a lot..

What we did was:

The traditional "Holiday grocery shopping" baskets

We got them a small Christmas tree

Our family was a single Mom so we took the kids shopping for MothersDay and Mom's birthday..

Gave Mom gift certificates for Target for birthday gifts for her kids..(we told the manager, and he kicked in $50 to our group)

Bought school supplies for the kids

Got each kid a back to school outfit and a pair of shoes

One of our members' husband had an auto shop, and he fixed her poor old car..(he donated his time..we paid for parts)

Anyway.. it won't be long, until your group gets "noticed" and then you have the perfect platform to announce that while "some" people talk the talk... you are walking the walk..

By making a difference for ONE family for a year, you can really impact their lives.. "Our" Mom was actually hired by one of our members, when his receptionist went on maternity leave. The skills she picked up there helped her get an entry-level job with the school district a year later..

:bounce: