Lutheran Pastor's Open Letter To Christian Conservatives

[Kanary]

This post isn't for those who are angry with *all* Christians. It's a reminder that there are clergy who are working along side us.
***********************
REV. ALLEN BRILL
It's No Sin to Vote

It's not a sin to vote for a Democrat. Nor is it a sin to vote for a Republican.

As a pastor, I believe that the pulpit is not the place to tell people how to vote. Nowhere in the ancient scriptures that guide my religious tradition (Lutheran Christianity) do I find any indication of God's party affiliation, and in my experience, sincere people of faith have a variety of political beliefs ranging from quite liberal to very conservative.

I do have opinions, however, shaped by my faith and political beliefs, that move me to support particular ideas and candidates. If you ask me, you might find that I hold quite strong opinions on issues like:

• the wisdom and morality of the war in Iraq;

• how well we are doing as stewards of the environment;

• whether we are fulfilling the call to care for the least among us; and

• how we can hold our leaders accountable for the consequences of their actions.

You might also find me working for a candidate, sporting campaign bumper stickers on my car, or erecting candidates' signs in my yard, and I encourage you to get involved as well.

But I will never, ever tell you that you are a less faithful Christian, Jew or Muslim if you happen to disagree with me.

Above all, I believe that my faith compels me to be a staunch advocate for civil discussion and mutual respect among political opponents as well as adherents of different religions. On Sept. 11, 2001, our nation received its most recent reminder of the horror that can be brought about by fanatics who believe that those who disagree with them are condemned by God. My prayer is that our nation can engage in spirited and substantive debate during this election season while retaining our sense that we remain one nation united by respect and care for one another.

Rev. Allen H. Brill is a Lutheran pastor (ELCA) and member of the bar in South Carolina and co-founder of "Why Not, South Carolina?", an organization supporting the work of South Carolina progressives. Email [e-mail].

[rsmith6621]

1. Thank You For Sharing That

Christians who are voting for Shrub only because of the FAITH issue are very much miss-directed.

Its time to FIRE the Clown

[freetobegay]

2. Just one of the reasons I am of the Lutheran faith.

[Selwynn]

3. There are MANY out there - but its not "sensational" so therefore...

...it gets less national attention. What makes headlines is every dumbass fanatic. And they are certainly out there. What never makes headlines is the work of groups like Sojourners or Progressive Christians Uniting or the Center for Progressive Christianity or the Center for Process Studies which is very politically active. The virtual wealth of writings from progressive theologians and open-minded good hearted compassionate liberals in the church are usually totally ignored. Why? Because a message of peace, compassion, fairness and openness don't "sell." It's not "extreme" or "shocking." It doesn't get anyone pissed off our riled up.

But it's there, it's strong and its only getting stronger.

[Kanary]

4. In that (perverse) way, Selwyn, the RW fundies have helped the mainstream

Christians. The fundies have captured the news, as you said, and have been obnoxious and made all Christians suspect in the minds of some, so it has served to bring more traditional Christians out of the woodwork. It has served to push people to really examine what their faith means to them. It has served to push more people to activism.

For a long time, there was so much fear that if pastors spoke out, they would lose their congregations, and hence, the money. Things with the fundies have gone to such an extreme that it has served to reduce that fear greatly.

As I said: perverse. :)

Kanary

[sangh0]

11. You are absolutely right about that,

and that is the main source of my hope. We can watch as our nation finally wakes up and realizes what is going on. I've always known it would be their arrogance that would bring them down.

And thank you for posting this.

[jwirr]

5. I wish that the Lutheran

ministers in the LCMS would find their way back to the old understanding of faith and church that this minister has. He has touched the pain in my soul that our LCMS churches cause by allowing politics and political groups within the church to overshadow the true message of salvation for all. I think it is their lose because I still have my belief but I wonder if they have forgotten theirs in their rush to judgment?

[bringiton]

6. Thats why I choose to be an ELCA Lutheran

I do not know the political leanings of my pastor.
He has wonderful sermons that challenge both Republicans
and Democrats.

[charlie]

7. There is a national organization

begun last month to unite sane believers against the Fundie Right. Founded by Albert Pennybacker, a Kentucky preacher -- "God is Not a Right Wing Zealot" -- it's reported to have already accrued 1000 clergy in its membership. I hope some of you will check it out and maybe add your voices to the movement, help this frazzled atheist rest easier about the fate of the nation.

Clergy Leadership Network

CLN Mission Statement

As clergy--pastors, rabbis, imams, and other religious leaders, both men and women--we are deeply concerned about the well being of our country, we are committed to sweeping changes--changes in faltering political leadership and its increasing lack of credibility and rejection of public policies increasingly seen as not only failing but actually destructive of the quality of current life and America's future.

Alarmed by what we are seeing, we believe we are called to active leadership for change through our nation's democratic processes.

As religious leaders we will pursue a public role of influence for change in our voting communities. We will engage public issues and clearly voice our understandings as rooted in our faith commitments. We will lead our religious communities to embrace political participation as a spiritual mandate. With full respect for constitutional restraints, we will guide our religious communities toward fair and positive involvement in electoral processes. We will work collaboratively with all those who share our commitments to change in leadership and public policy. We affirm with others both the model and the practice of the recovery of civility in political discourse.

We welcome all clergy and other religious leaders who share our commitments to become a part of this movement: Clergy Network for National Leadership Change.

THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATION STATEMENT

The Clergy Network is a national interfaith movement of clergy and faith leaders grounded in religious convictions. Out of shared spiritual values and moral teachings we seek to promote a responsible understanding of God's relationship to this nation, condemning all attempts to interpret God's blessings as partisan. We worship a God of inclusion and compassion, and in service to God we band together to work for peace, stewardship of the environment, economic justice especially for the poor, and basic human rights.

[m berst]

8. fundamentalist against Bush

A fundamentalist who wants to stay anonymous contacted me a couple of months ago. She has been on a one woman crusade to mail a letter to as many Pastors in the country as she can before the election.

Here is an excerpt -

God loves his church and his people and he knows of their great love for him. He asks that you please wake up to the reality that George W. Bush is no Christian. Think on this and you will see the truth. Outside of the fact that he “says so” there is nothing that can be pointed to that he acts anything like Christ. Remember, by their fruits ye shall know them. W started an unnecessary war that is slaughtering tens of thousands of innocents and our soldiers are dying needlessly for his own and his administration’s personal financial gain. Make no mistake, this is not some wild conspiracy theory, this is fact. That W’s father, our previous President sat on the Board of the Caryle Group with the Bin Laden family is fact. That the Caryle Group’s function is deal in and profit on weapons and war. Our Vice President is still making money from his oil company, Halliburton, who received all the no-bid contracts in Iraq, received the contract to serve meals to our soldiers and built Guatanmo Bay. This is very clearly a major conflict of interest in the matter of something as serious as going to war.

It has been said that war destroys a man’s soul, and this is truth. Even those soldiers who make it back will be forever marred over the things they were made to do by their supposed Commander in Chief. Believe next to nothing that you hear on the news as it is all controlled by the very same people who have an interest in W remaining in office. All media is now owned exclusively by only 6 corporations. Please believe that with W as President, we will be mired in nothing but war until the end of time. God cannot tolerate this. If you believe as I do that we are truly in the “end times” and we are, time is very short indeed. We have a very limited opportunity to take America back, stop the war, stop the killing, stop the bloodshed and choose Jesus’ teachings of love and peace. God knows this administration has filled his people up with nothing but fear and hatred, which is the exact opposite of what Jesus’ teachings. A vote for W is NOT a vote for God, in fact, it is a vote for the opposite and the Lord has asked that this message be made clear.

One only has to look at the change in America the past 3 years to know that this Nation is no longer a Nation Under God. We have started a pre-emptive war when we had not been attacked and were not threatened, the Treasury has been looted, the poor and middle class suffer more each and every day as jobs are sent overseas (along with a big nice tax cut for doing so), little or no health care benefits, large corporations are escaping taxation, and fraud has been allowed to run rampant, our soldiers are raping women and children in Iraq, we have for the first time in American history people, human beings being held in Guatanamo Bay Cuba without a right to their families or lawyers, many children, many innocent. What has America become? All of this done BECAUSE of September 11, which should have never happened. Does this sound like a Nation Under God to you? Where have our allies gone? One answer, they’ve seen this before with Nazi Germany and they know what is up. Where has the compassion gone, where has the good will gone, where has the love for one another gone? It left when W stepped into the White House. If you’re honest with yourself, you will realize the truth of this.

I wish I could sit down and discuss with you all that I know and would love to share, but the climate is very dangerous and will continually get worse. This is not science fiction or crazy talk, I wish it were. It is all too real.

WHATEVER you do, please I beg of you, and many of us are begging you - DO NOT vote for George W. Bush or encourage your congregation to do so.

entire letter - http://www.thegeneralconversation.com/pastor.htm

[DeepModem Mom]

9. Thanks for posting --

[Piperay]

10. I am on Sojourners

E-Mail list, they seem to be a really good group they promote ... "God is not a Republican or a Democrat." They lean Democratic the reason you can tell is because they aren't puffed up pompous hypocrites the way the repuke 'christians' always are. x(

[Kanary]

12. I have a lot of respect for Jim Wallis and Sojourners.

Many years ago, I took part in their Ground Zero project with the White Train (nuclear train.) I bet Wallis can even pronounce "nuclear". :)

Kanary