Progressive Christians speaking up

[rainbow4321]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/071705dnnatprog.18a0913.html


When pundits dubbed conservative Christians "values voters" last year, churchgoers on the losing side took notice – and offense. "Those of us on the left looked at each other and said, 'We're values voters. We love Jesus Christ,' " said the Rev. Tim Simpson, a Florida minister.

They are preaching tolerance and a focus on helping the poor. And they want conservatives to know it's possible to believe in abortion rights, gay rights and God. Long outgunned by the religious right's political machine, progressives are proclaiming that fundamentalism isn't the only brand of Christianity, with new grass-roots groups and Web sites such as www.iamachristiantoo.org.

Conservative Christians, though, aren't particularly concerned about the emergence of progressives. They say that it's not their place to judge who is a Christian – but that there's only one way to interpret the Bible, and it's theirs. "They are misinterpreting the Scripture," said Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition, one of the largest conservative political groups. "If they read the same Bible, I don't know where they're coming from."

<snip>

These groups, which prefer the progressive label, describe themselves as tolerant and open to diverse viewpoints; conservatives call them liberals out of step with mainstream voters. Since progressive Christians haven't been highly organized in recent elections, pollsters haven't really tracked them or tried to quantify how many there might be.

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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/071705dnnatproside.189ed4e.html

Left-leaning Christians are preparing to take on the religious right.
They have formed groups, appealed for members and announced their presence in the political arena. Their goal: to advance a different view of Christianity.


For the new alliance, the to-do list is long. The group is signing up field organizers in cities across the country, organizing e-mail lists and communicating its message on a Web log.

The idea, organizers said, is to build a network of active and well-informed progressives. Then, when an issue comes to the fore, the structure will already be in place, allowing people to communicate with lawmakers and to speak with one voice.

The fact that these new groups are being built from the ground up is a good sign, said Glenn Smith, a Texas political consultant and an organizer of the Freedom and Faith Forum, an umbrella group for progressive organizations.



Christian Alliance for Progress
www.christianalliance.org

The Center for Progressive Christianity
www.tcpc.org

[Mythsaje]

1. They should start out by saying

"We follow Christ--we don't know who YOU are following."

[DanCa]

2. Styxx said it best

My god is stronger than your god, jk. we progressive christians rule!!!

[WhiteTara]

37. And Gaia always bats last eom

[peace frog]

3. If our Dem leaders

would join with these progressive Christians, they would be a force with which to counter the RW "Jesus-is-a-Republican" spin machine. They pay it lip service only at this time... get cracking, ladies and gentlemen of the Democratic party!

[jayctravis]

10. Then you'd see some right wing howling about

separation of church and state!

[peace frog]

23. LOL

Well in that event, it will be easy enough to call them on that one, won't it?

[Lefta Dissenter]

4. I'm not a Christian,

but I've gotten a lot out of the Sojourner's website www.sojo.org

It helped me to formulate my arguments that convinced my Christian brother-in-law-former-bush-supporter to vote for Wes Clark in the primaries and then Kerry in the General. :hi:

[gaia_gardener]

13. Sojourners is a great mag

I've thought about buying it for my fundy parents, but I'm not sure how it would go over.

[napi21]

5. This is good news!

I have a cousin who is a Minister, and he, his wife and I constantly complain about how terrible ShrubCo is, and how it's not Christian like at all. Not long ago, his wife told me how much she HATES it when people bash "Christians" and call them crazy!

I'm going to send them a link to this new organization. I think it would be a good thing if the Christians on DU would check it out too! Not just because they could help Dems win, but becaue if they get large enough and organized enough, they can be a real challanger to the RW fundies!

[JanusAscending]

33. Christian Libs

Hi! You are so right on. I've already signed up on their website. I too am offended at being called names because of my faith ! My own son told me before the election that all Dems are "baby killers"!! It's his right wing conservitive Churches teaching!! I thought my heart would break! I love my son, but don't like him very much sometimes. I have a friend who is a Congregational Minister in Richmond Ma. She is my longtime best friend, and is completly disgusted with * ! I, like she, believe in the Golden Rule, and especially the quote "Ye are know by your deeds" etc. etc. I think when Jesus said "feed my sheep" these guys got it mixed up to mean "fool my sheep"!!!:shrug:

[greekspeak]

6. Rev. Tim Simpson....I assisted a Tim Simpson here in FL in a New Test.

class. Wonder if it is the same Tim Simpson? I am pretty sure he was a reverand of some sort, but he taught all sorts of different religion classes at various Florida colleges.

[LiberalFighter]

7. What is Roberta Combs expertise on religion?

Has she read the bible?
Has she received a degree in the field of religion?

[depakid]

8. Roberta Combs typifies the far right

They seem to have an unlimited capacity for cognitive dissonance as well as astounding poor reading comprehension.

She needs to take a long hard look in the mirror-

"They are misinterpreting the Scripture," said Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition, one of the largest conservative political groups. "If they read the same Bible, I don't know where they're coming from."

How these people can square their actions with the teaching of Jesus in the New Testament is truly worthy of scientific inquiry.

[gratuitous]

9. And Progressive Christians will be out 7/20 in Salem, Oregon

Supporting Basic Rights Oregon and their call on the Oregon House to vote on the same sex civil unions bill. Details here:

http://www.basicrights.org/events/event.asp?ID=64

BRO has made a special appeal to people of faith in Oregon to be in the state capitol to rally along with their usual supporters.

[bluestateguy]

11. I had a friend who quit her church 2 years ago

After the pastor said AT THE PULPIT that "God chose President Bush to lead this nation in its time of crisis". She just up and walked out, and after some church shopping, found a congregation that she is now happy to be a member of.

[gaia_gardener]

14. That's a good first step

but we need to take it further. When they outright endorse a candidate, they should be brought to the attention of the IRS and have their tax-exempt status removed.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. Good post. Nominated for Greatest. . . . nt

[Alpharetta]

15. The media enjoys mischaracterizing MAINSTREAM christianity

Did you see anything in the paper about the National Council of Churches demanding a better solution to the conflict in Iraq?

It has become clear that the rationale for invasion was at best a tragic mistake, at worst a clever deception.

link

[54anickel]

25. Those teevee preachers are always putting down the NCC, calling

them and some of the Interfaith groups the false prophets the Bible warns us about. :eyes: Oh and the ACLU is a tool of the devil as well, that's why they back such groups as Liberty Council.

All I can do is shake my head in disbelief when I watch "church teevee". Then I tremble with fear as I channel surf and see just how many stations they have now. Theocracy seems to be the goal.

[Alpharetta]

28. NCC: Methodist, Presby, etc.

Rightwingers hijack Christianity and suicide bombers hijack Islam.

Too bad we can't let them go duke it out on another planet and leave us alone.

[GoneOffShore]

16. This is good news

It's time that people of faith with progressive views stand up and let the RW christofascists know that they cannot define who is or who is not a Christian.
Even though I'm a lapsed Unitarian (Nice avatar, by the way), I don't fail to address the issue when confronted by someone spouting RW religious hate speech.

[really annoyed]

17. Eh...

I'm not that thrilled about the "religious left" either.

[donco6]

19. Me neither. eom

[Voltaire99]

32. It's all doctrinal squabbling.

And of no bloody use to anyone but Christians.

It's not as if evangelicals will be moved by the remonstrances of those they consider to be Christian-lite.

In fact, it's lousy for the future of secular society that so many "progressive" believers want to inject their spin on ol' Jesus into the mix. Word, people: there's already too much religion in our politics.

[hippywife]

36. Relax will ya.

It's not like progressive Christians are a cause for concern. Most people, except those who knew us personally, hadn't a clue we even existed. So it's not like we've been around shoving our beliefs down anyone's throats. Most of us are trying to get and keep religion out of politics.

[rateyes]

18. Well, Ms. Roberta Combs...

I do read the same Bible you do...and, you are the one misinterpreting the scriptures. And, I do know where you are coming from, because I've been there--and, I can tell you from personal experience--fundamentalism is "sick religion," whether you are a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew or any other faith. Read the book "When Religion Becomes Evil, and learn a lesson from it.

[54anickel]

26. Excellent book!!! Got a few members at our church to read it when

it first came out for our BookTalk meeting. Ahead of it's time for most in our congregation to see the parallels to the RW fundies at first. Guess it's taken out of the library quite often now though.

[Al-CIAda]

20. Well, its about fucking time. Put a check on your lunatic brethren. n/t

[Endangered Specie]

21. More power to them...

Ive spoken with many "progressive christians", it took me a while to figure out the Christian part. For the most part, they keep it private (as I believe the Bible instructs). They are for the most part good people and are tired of the Christian 'right' ruining the name of their religion.

[nannah]

22. grab being christians, the heck with a qualifier. be christians,

rather than progressive christians. let them be fundamentalists, or conservative, or what ever, let they qualify themselves. take the word and run with it....i could never understand why non fundamental christians allowed themselves to be lumped into a group with the more radical, fundamental christian groups. I think many people of christian faith are not happy with what is being done in their name; they need a way to stay with their faith but ease away from the more radical believers; they need to be able to remain christians without becoming progressive christians because they remain christians with conservative perspective. I say this because I work with a fair number of people who fit into this category...Take back the word Christian... don't take a qualifier.

[Wheezy]

24. you're right...

...but it's not always easy or fast.

All I can say is we're working on it. And James Dobson makes me sick. Shame on us for letting him get away with it.

[Oversea Visitor]

27. Bush

The Uniter :rofl:

[mvd]

29. I think this is a good idea

Not because I want progressive religion rammed down our throats, but because an alternative can be given to the voters. If we run away from religion, all people will hear is the fundy message. When progressive Christians do their speaking up, they will mention what their faith/religion means to them instead of what the religion should mean to you.

[oxbow]

30. Hell yea

the christian Alliance is a great little group that is defnitely going to become a force for good. If Jesus was alive today, he would definitely NOT be a republican. More like they would call him a bleeding heart liberal and tell him to cut his dirty hippy hair.

[LeftHander]

31. Liberal and Progressive religion has been talking all along...

No one wanted to listen....too busy waving the flag and plotting to destroy homosexuality.

[hippywife]

35. I agree.

Interfaith Alliance has been at this for 10 years.

http://www.interfaithalliance.org/site/pp.asp?c=8dJIIWMCE&b=447561

[Robbie Michaels]

34. Sojourners

They have a great magazine, and the God's Politics book is a must read.