Helen Thomas asks 'where are the religious leaders'?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/05/04/EDGDOIJGLQ1.DTL


Where are all the leaders of faith?

WHERE ARE the activist priests and ministers who took strong stands during the Vietnam War and hit the streets with their protests?

Three years into the war against Iraq, the silence of the clergy is deafening, despite U.S. abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and a reported American policy of shipping detainees to secret prisons abroad where, presumably, they can be tortured.

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But here at home, the clergy seems to be in the same boat as the news media and most members of Congress: They are victims of the post-Sept. 11 syndrome that equates any criticism of U.S. policy with lack of patriotism.

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During the Vietnam War, the clergy were vocal leaders of the peace movement and they picked up and marched.

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well Helen, they are all in their 'holy' places counting all that faith based grant money coming from the bushmilhousegang.

Funny. They used to.

was a pretty good representation of what we have these days. I suppose that was the point Mr. Scott was making (obviously).

(except for the Quakers, Unitarians, Reform Jews, UCC, and AME Zion). Maybe that's what happened - their flock moved over to the Quaker, Unitarian, Reforom Jewish, United Church of Christ, and AME Zion churches.

here in my area we have Cecil Williams and Michael Lerner. But back in my birth town - Father Charles Owens Rice died last fall, and nobody stepped forward to replace him.

...they are strongly pro-war. i've seen them admit this on cable TV many times.

I have no idea where they learned their stuff but it has almost no actual Christianity in it - pro war, pro death penalty, pro torture - it is an odd, odd thing.

....complacency, Humanity's first and last nail in our coffin.

who were in the March on the Pentagon? Where are the famous doctors like Dr. Spock or the big time lawyers like William Kunstler? Where are the international figures like Bertrand Russell or Jean-Paul Sartre? What has happened that they have had no successors? And where are the student leaders of this generation, the Tom Haydens or Mario Savios?

nt

we have some outspoken novelists and poets. Their voices are not hitting the national scene. Maybe the national media prevents that? :shrug:


The musicians seem to be doing a better job of making a dent. Neil Young, Steve Earle, the Dixie Chicks.

Iris Dement sang about a lot of the same problems we have today - 10 years ago. And is still singing.

I've said it on this board before, and it bears repeating. The Bishops of the United Methodist Church, the denomination that both * and the dick belong to, issued a letter around Christmas time denouncing the war in the strongest possible terms. As a body, the Methodists never supported the war or any of the corporatist policies of the administration. Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners, based in Washington, DC, has been travelling around the country for months exhorting the real followers of the Prince of Peace to become more visible and vocal. Rev. Rich Lang, a Seattle pastor, has spoken and written articulately against what he calls "Christian Fascism" and its hold on the American Empire.

Sadly, as with everything else, the media has decided for us what Christianity is about. They have designated the power-mad, money-hungry, bloodlusting fundamentalists the face of American Christianity.

barbie and ken doll cable script and talking point readers beware