Is it time for the 99% of us to look toward men and women of faith...

[WCGreen]

People like Reverend Jim Wallis who are working toward Social Justice.

I know it is a very hard thing to do, work toward political change with liberal people of true faith because they absolutely believe in a non political stance unlike those in Evangelical communities who are drunk with temporal political power and, of course, cash...

We tried to do something like that here in Cleveland back in the 90's when there was a great upheaval going on in the distressed communities in North East Ohio. I was at the table as a representative for the Democratic Party and they were so against any political action that I was made to feel really unwanted...

There were dozens of agendas and hundred of enclaves of power which meant nothing could realistically get done.

At the time I was also on the board of my Unitarian Church, probably the most liberal denomination.

I brought up at one time that it would be great if we started to invest our endowment in socially responsible companies. I noticed that we were heavily invested in GE, which is a major supplier of Military goods.

You should have seen the uproar. I was made to feel really uncomfortable and decided that I really didn't want to pull back the curtain and see what was going on behind the scene.

There are thousands of local liberal issues that people have invested much time and effort to combat.

On the right, there is really nothing more than "no taxes, put god into politics and all will be well and keep your hands off my gun."

That is proven true to me because these people consistently vote against their own best interests.

That is what we are truly against, an agenda that is concise but vague so that grand statements of belief take everything in.

On our side, we want to address everything and anything all at once. This is because I believe we have been shut out of the process for so long that all this injustice is bubbling right below the surface.

So, if you got this far you realize I am kind of wavering a little from my original statement.

But what I want to make clear is we need to fight for social justice so that the simple vision that all men are created equal should be the starting point and that birth or circumstance should not dictate a person fate.

We live in a highly complex society that has not been seen since the Roman Empire. And like the Roman Empire we have not see so much power concentrated in so few people.

Rambling, I know, but I was just sitting thinking about all that I have seen happened and what I see is that they stay in power because they keep us fighting amongst ourselves.

And that my friends, is a recipe for disaster.

Have at it.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. They keep us fighting amongst ourselves. There is the core truth.

It's like herding cats, trying to get Democrats to come together to unite against those who would hurt us or steal from us.

Somehow, we must have a charismatic leader or some such to help us see what the opposition is doing...

And to help us unite against that opposition.

I do think, though, that the Republicans are supplying us with plenty of ammo so that many citizens are beginning to see just how harmful their policies are.

They see the intransigence of the Congressional Republicans, and this will help us in the coming 2012 election.

That's what I'm seeing...

K&R

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Peggy the way things are going

the intramural games in DC will soon not matter much... things are well beyond the normal political games.

Just an observation.

[Fumesucker]

3. Obama is nothing if not charismatic..

He radiates charisma like a blue giant star.

[lbrtbell]

4. I always thought he was too dull to be charismatic

I only supported him because I felt he was better than Hillary.

[Fumesucker]

7. I've sure watched a bunch of crowds go absolutely ga ga over him..

And over there in GD:P they sure lurves them some Barack..

[cherokeeprogressive]

13. Dull? The hell you say! He's as sharp as mud! n/t

[laconicsax]

5. Jim Wallis is a homophobic bigot. n/t

[WCGreen]

6. Just no of him from what I have read about him and from one of his

books...

[laconicsax]

8. Maybe do your homework next time. n/t

[WCGreen]

16. I really don't vet every person I have ever read....

And from my one reading of his work I diserned no hint of homophobia so there was no reason for me to dig deeper into his works.

[laconicsax]

20. Maybe you should have before you heralded him as a paragon of virtue.

[WCGreen]

22. Well, I guess that makes me homophobic as well...

I guess what your really saying...

And I also gather that you saw Jim Wallace and didn't read the rest of the post...

[LeftyMom]

10. And no great defender of women, either.

[cherokeeprogressive]

9. President Barack Hussein Obama is a Man of Faith. According to him, he prays EVERY NIGHT.

Although I don't ever remember the question coming up in a public setting, I'd bet the answer would be "Of course We're raising our daughters to be good practitioners of the Christian Faith.

Do DU's Atheists and Agnostics look up to him, and given his oft professed belief in the Flying Spaghetti Monster, should they?

If so, why?

If not, why not?

Lastly, are the the DU'ers who scream his greatness from the rooftops, but denigrate people of faith in other threads hypocrites? In a word, YES.

[napoleon_in_rags]

11. Wallis is a bigot! Atheists are bigots! Quick, let's all start fighting among ourselves!

When I read your post, the Bjork line came to mind "I thought I could organize freedom. How Scandinavian of me". We really don't need to go to Wallis or anybody like that for any kind of political reasons, faith is an open door of somebody is looking for personal SPIRITUAL reasons. That's really what should define the Democratic view on faith to me, we don't politicize it, except to block religious takeovers of government. (Gods that need government bailouts to be worshiped NOT welcome here!) So this side is where your faith, or lack thereof, can blossom from your personal journey, not be pushed on you. That should really be our goal I think. :)

[WCGreen]

18. I don't practice any faith and don't really believe...

I was thinking back to a time in 1995 when there was a reaction to the take over of Congress in 94 by the republicans.

I was at a position to deal with a lot of different angst that was growing among the traditional political base of the party. The African American pastors are extremely influential with in the community and they were willing to come together and discuss social justice issues.

I watched that energy be sucked out because everyones agenda was so important to them that they couldn't bear to have it diminished.

Anyway, I had no idea Wallis is a homophobic bigot, just read his one book called the Soul of Politics and thought it was a good place to start.

It's awfully exhausting to try and keep up with every person who has fallen from favor in the liberal community.

[napoleon_in_rags]

23. I hear you. Wallis is probably fine.

Basically the Brujaha comes from him turning down an ad which had lesbians bringing a child into church, so far as I can tell. As a LGBT supporter, I don't care. Why? Because he takes an active stance against dominionism, the idea that Christian ideals should be enforced on the people by the government. I don't care if members of a church consider gay lifestyles a sin, so long as they don't enforce it on me. Just like I don't care if Hindus consider meat eating a sin, until they start talking about taking over the country and punishing everybody who does it. The coalition is about freedom. We need it, even if the cost is people doing things with it that I personally think are dumb.

The larger issue you bring up is about energy being sucked out because of people's personal agendas. The horrible truth is that the vast majority of it just doesn't matter. It may be anathema to the spirit of DU for me to say this, but its true. Consider for example the whole thing in the middle east, the parapolitical forces driving the military entanglements there, the resource shortages, the intractable economic dilemmas which make global warming unstoppable, etc. What kind of a movement can stop this? None. What nation can stop it? None. Yet a single inventor, who put forth a viable fusion reactor for energy production would transform geopolitics overnight. The world would be greening up, redirecting fossil fuels toward plastics in a heartbeat, the middle east entanglements would be drawn down, the global economy would boom etc. The whole trajectory of the human race would change because that one inventor did what a multi-million person movement could not.

So what I'm trying to say is, take heart. You will never get everybody on the same side in a free society, but the good news is you don't need to, its a waste of time to try. One individual like you working on a good cause can change the world!

PEace!
Nir

[ruggerson]

12. I don't think embracing evangelical homophobia is the answer for the Democratic party

Unless of course, Obama and Co. want to lose in a landslide.

[WCGreen]

14. I only read his one book and was really impressed by his idea of

social justice..

Alas, in that particular tome I found no seed or mention of homophobia...

That must have come along much later in life...

[Douglas Carpenter]

15. obviously, if one want to build a progressive majority - it is impossible without including people

of faith.

[chollybocker]

17. Is this post for real?

Jim Wallis is a Christian Dominionist Whack-Job of the highest order.

The Occupation is a-religious, if not Athiestic.

"Have at it", means you already know you need some professional help.

This is a joke, right?

[WCGreen]

19. It's not a joke...

I read his Book the Soul of Politics and it was all about working toward social justice.

There was nothing in that particular book, which was published in the early 90's, that led me to believe he was as awful as he seems to be now.

[Douglas Carpenter]

21. what is your basis for describing Jim Wallis as "a Christian Dominionist Whack-job of the highest

order."?

This is the website for Sojourners which he founded and leads:

http://www.sojo.net/

This is the website for Sojourners Magazine:

http://www.sojo.net/magazine

What I find from this website and from writings by Rev. Wallis is a very left-wing Evangelical movement. It wouldn't surprise me if he wasn't a bit conservative on some social issues in the same way that the vast majority of working class Americans are somewhat conservative on some social issues. But certainly on issues of wealth disparity, economics and foreign policy he is well to the left of the current Democratic Party leadership and would be well within the mainstream of the OWS/99% movement. It is ludicrous to the point of insulting intelligence to suggest a movement can claim to speak for 99% of the people while excluding the 90% of the people who do hold some degree of religious faith.

[surrealAmerican]

24. Why?

Even religious people have secular interests: there is no need to try to appeal to them as a religious group. Can't they do what's right without being lead by preachers? I'd prefer they be treated with the same respect as anybody else.