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Friday, June 29, 2007
 That Stephen Colbert is dishing it out again... Because many of my friends know I'm a dumpster diver, or "freegan," I heard from multiple sources that Colbert was making fun of my ilk on his show this week, saying, "I'm not going to stand by and let these human rats live off our waste." Since I don't have cable, I didn't see the segment until I watched it online today over a tasty lunch that included smoked trout and chevre (goat cheese, that is—I had been eating lobster bisque all week and was kind of tired of it) all courtesy—you guessed it—of my nocturnal scavenings. And yes, the irony was also delicious.
But I haven't been so outraged since Colbert mocked our presidential candidates forum. And by outraged, I mean gratified by the free satirical publicity—which is second only to imitation as the sincerest form of flattery.
Now, as a person who gets 95 percent of my groceries from dumpster diving, I'm used to misunderstandings about the safety and legality of this lifestyle, but Colbert cut right to the heart of the matter, citing a recent New York Times article and taking issue with those who are "living off consumer waste in an effort to minimize their support of corporations and their impact on the planet." (Sorry, you can't read the article for free online anymore—maybe you can find it in your neighbor's recycling bin.)
Colbert may mock our efforts to "stick it to the man," but maybe he'd be more sympathetic if he read my article in last year's Sojourners special issue on food. In it, I cite Jesus' teachings on simple living as one of the motivators behind my dumpster diet. Is Colbert going to argue with Jesus? Actually, I'd like to see that.
And Stephen, there's still plenty of smoked trout in the freezer, and you're always welcome to come over for dinner ... if you dare.
Ryan Rodrick Beiler is the web editor for Sojourners/Call to Renewal.
Too often, unions are portrayed in our culture as products of a bygone era, better suited for the days of nine-to-five industrial jobs than the more complicated global economic realities of the 21st century. It's certainly true that organized labor has declined in recent decades—a smaller share of America's workers belong to a labor union today than in any period since the 1930s.
But that's not for lack of trying: Workers who organize to seek a voice at work are threatened, intimidated, and fired with increasing frequency. As writer Harold Meyerson explained in a recent article:
Firing employees for endeavoring to form unions has been illegal since 1935 under the National Labor Relations Act, but beginning in the 1970s, employers have preferred to violate the law—the penalties are negligible—rather than have their workers unionize. Today, employer violations rank somewhere between routine and de rigueur. Over half—51 percent—of employers illegally threaten workers with the specter of plant closings if employees choose to unionize (1 percent actually go through with this threat, according to Cornell University professor Kate Bronfenbrenner).
It's outrageous enough that the world's wealthiest nation fails so miserably to enforce its own labor laws (not to mention the Universal Declaration of Human Rights), but the consequences of a declining labor movement go far beyond lofty ideals. The fate of the labor movement—which has lifted millions of working families out of poverty and into the middle class—is closely bound to the condition of "the least of these" in our society.
This makes it all the more troubling that the United States Senate missed an opportunity this week to give workers a free and fair chance to join a union by failing to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. (Click here to see how your senators voted.)
The legislation would have fixed the broken and unfair process through which workers currently form unions—in which employers are free to wage campaigns of fear and intimidation with impunity—in favor of simply requiring employers to recognize a union whenever a majority of eligible workers sign a card indicating their support. It also would have prevented employers from endlessly delaying contract negotiations, and dramatically increased the penalties they pay for breaking the law.
The good news is that the Employee Free Choice Act got further this year than ever before, passing the House and winning a 51-49 majority in the Senate (fewer than the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster), and that it is virtually certain to come back in the next Congress.
In the mean time, every 23 minutes someone in the United States will be continue to be fired or discriminated against simply for seeking to join with their fellow workers in seeking dignity and justice on the job.
Michael Sherrard is the online organizer for Sojourners/Call to Renewal. For more about the Employee Free Choice Act, check out Kim Bobo's article, "Justice at Work," in the July issue of Sojourners, or visit American Rights at Work on the Web.
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The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery; they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the alien without redress. And I sought for anyone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.
- Ezekiel 22:29-30
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Thursday, June 28, 2007
The most recent challenge to Bush’s Faith-Based and Community Initiatives was rejected by the Supreme Court (5-4) this week, not on the basis of merit, but on the basis that the Freedom from Religion Foundation didn’t have standing to sue the Bush Administration to halt the expenditures of the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives. For those of us working with faith-based community initiatives in the trenches, we are unmoved by this ongoing church and state debate. Rather, we see the cruel impact of the constant cutting back of funds to help deal with the impact of low wages, lack of health care, and the use of prisons as a housing program.
At issue, in the narrow scope, was the 39-year-old exception (Flast vs. Cohen) to the general rule that taxpayers do not have standing to challenge spending on programs that they believe promote religion. The Court’s ruling, in Judge Alito’s opinion, leaves Flast “as it is,” but narrows the application.
The separation of church and state groups have vowed to continue. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, is quoted in a Washington Times article saying, “the legal assault on the constitutionality of the faith-based programs will continue.”
Some of the barriers applied by the government that made it difficult to incorporate one’s faith motivations have been removed, but so have most of the federal funds for the programs that would make a difference. So it is a cruel hoax to spend so much money running conferences encouraging faith-based groups to apply for federal funds that are not there. Energy should be spent instead on changing priorities to promoting “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for all Americans.
 Mary Nelson is president emeritus of Bethel New Life, a faith-based community development corporation on the west side of Chicago. She is also a board member of Sojourners/Call to Renewal.
Sadly, the Senate Immigration Bill failed a cloture vote yesterday morning (46/53—it needed 60 votes) and is now dead. This means the House will not be taking up the legislation and it isn’t likely to come back until at least 2009.
There is still much work to be done—holding our policymakers accountable for their lack of courage and leadership on this issue, making sure it remains part of the debate in presidential campaigns, and of course, more education work with faith communities and leaders about this critical issue.
Unfortunately, the workplace raids will continue and families will continue to be torn apart, making our collaboration with the New Sanctuary Movement all the more important. Please keep the millions of our country’s undocumented immigrants in your prayers in the coming month as they go on living in fear. May we not lose hope, but instead may this setback give us more strength and focus to grow the movement for inclusion and justice in this country.
And, thanks for all your support of our immigration work thus far. It has meant, and will continue to mean, a lot.
Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform has released a statement that reads:
It is a sad day in America when partisan politics can sideline one of the most important pieces of legislation to reach the U.S. Congress in years. Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform joins immigrant rights’ supporters around the country to express our extreme disappointment at the defeat of Senate immigration bill S 1639. What we saw in the United States Senate reinforces the polarization of our political system and condones xenophobia both in our country’s policies and rhetoric. We saw the defeat of reason, compromise and reconciliation.
As a result of these political games, the 12 million immigrants living in the shadows of our nation will continue in limbo, living in fear of deportation and separation from family. The legislation may have been defeated, but the issue is far from dead. Families are still in jeopardy, workers are still being exploited and the border is far from secure. As Christian churches, organizations and leaders, we are more committed than ever to holding our politicians accountable to the values they profess of family integrity and economic progress. We will continue our work in serving the needs of immigrant families and are merely beginning our campaign to appeal to the hearts and minds of Americans to do as Jesus instructed us, to welcome the stranger in our midst.
Patty Kupfer is the Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform campaign coordinator at Sojourners/Call to Renewal.
 I want to introduce you to someone. His name is Gordon Brown, and he just became Britain's new Prime Minister. You have probably been hearing and reading the news about the transition from Tony Blair to Brown.
Among other things, Brown is a voracious reader, and reads many American books about politics, including those that focus on moral values and politics. That’s how I first met Gordon Brown: I was speaking in Britain and got a call from the office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer (his former position) saying that Brown wanted to get together that evening, if I was available. So I went over to his office at the Treasury, and he told me that he had read my books and had many questions for me. So we put our feet up and began talking, and have been doing so now for a number of years.
I’ve done several interviews recently with British newspapers and television networks about what kind of man Gordon Brown is. One asked me the word I would use to best describe him, and I said “passion.” That’s in sharp contrast to some of the British press, who refer to the new Prime Minister as “dour,” as one Guardian columnist did this morning on National Public Radio. But that is simply not the man that I have come to know and whose friendship I deeply value. I have taken American heads of churches and development agencies to visit with Brown, and they have been universally and amazingly impressed with his deep understanding of the issues of globalization and his personal commitment to tackling the moral challenge of inequality. I believe that Gordon Brown has more passion (and knowledge) about the issues of global poverty and social justice than any other Western leader today. And I believe his leadership could make a great difference. He is somebody you should know and follow closely.
Gordon Brown is the son of a Church of Scotland pastor and grew up in a manse where the biblical vision of justice seems to have found its place in his heart. Quotes from Isaiah and Jeremiah pepper his speeches about the kind of global economy we must be working for, and as I said in God’s Politics, Brown’s words often remind me of the prophet Micah, who knew that true security requires that “all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid.”
Let me share a few of his words from his speech this week on his transition to the new post of Labor Party Leader and Prime Minister.
First on his values and moral compass:
All I believe and all I try to do comes from the values that I grew up with: duty, honesty, hard work, family, and respect for others.
And this is what my parents taught me and will never leave me: that each and everyone of us has a talent, each and everyone of us should have the chance to develop their talent, and that each of us should use whatever talents we have to enable people least able to help themselves.
And so I say honestly: I am a conviction politician. My conviction that everyone deserves a fair chance in life. My conviction that each of us has a responsibility to each other. And my conviction that when the strong help the weak, it makes us all stronger. Call it ‘the driving power of social conscience,’ call it 'the better angels of our nature,’ call it ‘our moral sense,’ call it a belief in ‘civic duty.’
I joined this party as a teenager because I believed in these values. They guide my work, they are my moral compass. This is who I am. And because these are the values of our party, too, the party I lead must have more than a set of policies – we must have a soul.
On children in poverty:
... let me say also that in the fourth richest country in the world it is simply wrong – wrong that any child should grow up in poverty. To address this poverty of income and to address also the poverty of aspirations by better parenting, better schools, and more one-to-one support, I want to bring together all the forces of compassion – charities, voluntary sector, local councils, so that at the heart of building a better Britain is the cause of ending child poverty.
On foreign policy:
Our foreign policy in years ahead will reflect the truth that to isolate and defeat terrorist extremism now involves more than military force – it is also a struggle of ideas and ideals that in the coming years will be waged and won for hearts and minds here at home and round the world. And an essential contribution to this will be what becomes daily more urgent – a Middle East settlement upholding a two state solution, that protects the security of Israel and the legitimate enduring desire for a Palestinian state.
Because we all want to address the roots of injustice, I can tell you today that we will strengthen and enhance the work of the department of international development and align aid, debt relief and trade policies to wage an unremitting battle against the poverty, illiteracy, disease and environmental degradation that it has fallen to our generation to eradicate.
Gordon Brown is one of a new kind of political leader who seeks to practice moral politics. He has already worked very closely with the community of faith and seeks a vital partnership. He knows that even politicians like him need to be challenged and held accountable by social movements with spiritual foundations. He once told me that without Jubilee 2000, the church-based movement to cancel Third World debt, the Labor government would have never done so. He encouraged me to keep building such movements because the world of politics needs them.
So pay attention to what Gordon Brown does now and please pray for him. I believe he could become the kind of international leader who really helps to change things. I watched his remarks on the BBC, just before he and his wife walked through the door of #10 Downing Street to spend his first night as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. I’m glad he is there.
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The church has only two alternatives in its confrontation with the world: either it adapts itself to the world and betrays the gospel, or it responds to the gospel and enters into conflict with the world.
- Rene Padilla
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Wednesday, June 27, 2007
 I participated in the National Religious Campaign Against Torture rally and press conference held on Capitol Hill yesterday. Here are some excerpts from two very short talks I gave. The first asserts that it is "an unconditional aspect of Christian faith that torture is always immoral."
The biblical injunction to love our enemies, the fact that our bearing the image of God requires that the dignity of every human person be taken seriously, and the recognition of our own fallibility provide basic theological underpinnings for why Christians must not fall prey to the temptation to try to justify the use of torture. There are some behaviors that, quite simply, are never justifiable, and we must recapture the realization that torture is one of those morally unjustifiable practices.
The second asks, "On what basis are we normally assured that torture of detainees is an acceptable practice?"
If a detainee has information that might make it possible to prevent a terrorist act that would cause pain or death to a great many, then we may use any means we deem necessary to extract that data—including torture. You have all heard the argument, right? But does this justification really work? Does the scenario wherein we have captured a bad guy that we know has relevant information really fit with experience?
Sadly, in our entertainment-oriented society, we find that telling stories where this scenario is dramatically portrayed is particularly effective for drawing high ratings. Even more sadly, one member of the Supreme Court of the United States recently responded to the torture question not by appealing to hard fact, but rather by asking what jury would convict Jack Bauer. Thereby, this Supreme Court justice conflated reality and drama in such a way as to create the illusion that a scenario from the hit TV series “24” was an accurate representation of the world in which torture is used. Every torturer, then, is justified because the payoff will be the same as we see on TV. But is this really the case? As best we can tell, the answer is no, for at least three reasons.
Read the full post about those three reasons, including this quote from South African Bishop Peter Storey:
There is a price to be paid for the right to be called a civilized nation. That price can be paid in only one currency—the currency of human rights. ... The rule of law says that cruel and inhuman punishment is beneath the dignity of a civilized state. ... We send a message to the jailers, interrogators, and those who make such practices possible and permissible: "Power is a fleeting thing. One day your souls will be required of you."
Chuck Gutenson is a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary and blogs at www.imitatiochristi.blogs.com
 What intruders took from our church office in Bogotá: two computers.
What they apparently wanted—given what they left behind—was highly sensitive information on victims of violent human rights abuses, those who document the cases, and local churches courageously working for peace.
In the early morning hours of June 14, intruders entered through the roof, disabled the alarm system, and stole two central processing units (CPUs) from the office of the justice and peace ministry of the Colombian Mennonite Church, Justapaz. They left behind other computers, a fax machine, and the office safe. Soon after the break-in, night watchmen from a hotel and a clinic a block from our office observed policemen stop two men with a CPU, but the policemen didn’t arrest them or report the incident. The Justapaz break-in was at least the sixth in a series of political robberies targeting the information of nongovernmental organizations, but it was the first time a church organization was attacked in this way.
The attack chilled me to the core. It reflected intimate knowledge of our organizational workings. It ripped from our staff the ability to protect the subjects and collectors of the sacred stories shared with us in strictest confidence. It shredded our desperate desire to believe that doing nonpartisan truth-telling could continue unmolested, even as the world began to pay attention and ask, “What can we do?”
Stories like Manuel’s, a lay leader and lawyer, fill my mind. “I trembled,” he confessed when the armed group responsible for the atrocity he had just documented stopped him at a roadblock. His wife took his hand and said calmly, “We’re doing the right thing.” The soldiers who searched Manuel didn’t find the notes hidden in his shoe.
On the Sunday after the attack, a persecuted widow with five children sought me out after church. She was on the stolen lists because she had documented her horrific story of loss and continued persecution. The widow (I’ll call her Maria) cried as she clung to me, choking on her fear that her whole family was now going to be killed, just as her husband had been a few years ago.
Many others across the country, like this widow, had told me that our program was their only hope for release of their deepest pain and grief. It takes personal, face-to-face interviews to record meaningful testimony because phone lines may be tapped and e-mail is not secure. For many, the government’s formal procedure for receiving testimonies of human rights abuses is neither trustworthy nor safe. Maria’s fears are founded in the repeated attacks on survivors and the reprisals experienced by witnesses who dare to speak their truth.
Especially targeted are those demanding the return of lands stolen by the paramilitary, which is a militia group that is currently engaged in a questionable disarmament and peace deal with the government. The government is unable or unwilling to guarantee the safety of witnesses who speak out.
One colleague reflected on the attack on our offices saying, “Yes, these are the consequences of following Christ in an insecure environment.” Those who “lift the veil of silence” may increase their risk of being the next victim. But the “extreme scandal of the cross,” in the words of Miroslav Volf, comes when “radical obedience,” leads to pain. Yet those who steal and kill enjoy impunity for their crimes, and the power of the perpetrator is strengthened. In the face of violent attack, personal sacrifice to stop these cycles of death becomes a “cry before the dark face of God.”
What these brazen thefts created in me, however, was a new appreciation of the power of two things: the strategic use of fear as a political tool, and the power of the Holy Spirit within transformed believers to deny fear its victory.
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He strikes them for their wickedness while others look on, because they turned aside from following him, and had no regard for any of his ways, so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him, and he heard the cry of the afflicted—When he is quiet, who can condemn? When he hides his face, who can behold him, whether it be a nation or an individual?—so that the godless should not reign, or those who ensnare the people.
- Job 34:26-30
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Tuesday, June 26, 2007
 A month before the war in Iraq began, I took a delegation of religious leaders to meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street, to urge that he find a better alternative. We met with Mr. Blair for nearly an hour, and along with Iraq, the critical need for a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict figured prominently in our discussions. The Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, Riah Abu El-As, told Prime Minister Blair, "The road to Baghdad leads through Jerusalem." Even then, the British government was making the critical connection between peace in the Middle East and the problem of terrorism and Iraq, much more than the U.S. government. The Middle East “Roadmap” to peace was one of his priorities, and he thought he could secure a strong commitment from President Bush. But the war in Iraq became the Bush administration's almost-sole priority.
Tomorrow, Blair steps down as Prime Minister, and the news is that he will be named as special envoy for the international diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East. He has long had a deep interest in Mideast peace, and according to The Guardian,
The idea of Mr. Blair doing this job is understood to have originated with the prime minister himself in conversation with George Bush, who then suggested it to the U.N. The U.N. secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, is said to be a keen supporter and Washington was reported last night to have mounted "an enormous push" to ensure Mr. Blair got the post.
The Guardian also notes the job description (a thankless task):
The job description does not look attractive. The envoy has four bosses: the U.S., the U.N., Russia and the E.U., who frequently disagree and are currently in despair over how to reunite the Palestinians and inject some life in the peace process.
I believe Tony Blair has a deep passion for peace and human rights, despite our disagreement about the war in Iraq. In the last months before leaving office, he was strongly pressuring the international community to finally do something about the genocide in Darfur. I certainly wish Tony Blair success in his new job, and hope he will be the right person for this crucial role. A solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains a key to resolving many other problems in the entire region.
 When I was a girl in the 1960s, one of my favorite parts of summer was Vacation Bible School at St. John’s United Methodist Church of Hamilton in Baltimore. That, of course, makes me sound like a church geek—as if I was eager to go to church five days running instead of only on Sunday. But it was not the five days I looked forward to; it was the weeks before when my mother prepared for VBS.
Every June, she bought yards of oilcloth, pulled out a large collection of permanent magic markers, and created colorful signs announcing the upcoming VBS. She would draw all sorts of pictures, based on biblical themes, with playful graphics that came from her imagination. I was not allowed to touch them—she said that the markers would stain my clothes. But I think she wanted full artistic control of the project, as these signs graced the neighborhood’s main thoroughfare. Before she married, she wanted to be an artist, an ambition she sacrificed to a 1950s vision of motherhood. The VBS signs served as her yearly art show, with Harford Road as her personal gallery.
She would, however, let me help with the crafts. We sat on the living room floor sorting through old socks, bits of yarn and fabric, old buttons, and pipe cleaners. From these scraps we would sew sock puppets of biblical characters. We made Moses and Pharaoh, David and Jonathan, and Mary and Jesus for our amateur productions in the church’s handmade puppet theater. We cut up old Christmas cards for shellac projects and paper-mache collages. We made Bible map stencils to mimeograph and color. And we built the Temple at Jerusalem from sugar cubes.
Preparing for St. John’s VBS took weeks—with pieces of the Bible, in the form of yarn, paint, colored paper, and sugar cubes, scattered all over the house. It was a glorious theological mess and I loved it.
My daughter is now nine. It has been a long time since I attended summer Bible school, and now it was her turn for the childhood ritual. As I investigated local programs, however, I was in for a big surprise: Vacation Bible School now comes in a can.
All the programs were pretty much the same. Christian publishing companies have developed Disney-quality VBS weeks bearing names like “The Plunge,” “Holy Land Adventure,” “Quest for Truth,” “Great Bible Reef,” and “SonForce Kids.” Prepackaged, these “complete Bible adventures” come in large cans (admittedly, one arrives in a woven basket) advertising that they contain “everything you need” for a successful Bible school, “just add kids”!
Clearly such programs entertain children—while serving as an evangelistic tool to reach parents and gain new church members. No doubt they ease the creative burden of countless VBS teachers across the land. Buy Vacation Bible School online, then recruit some teachers (assuring them this will not take too much of their time), unpack the can, and invite the children. An easy, quick way to learn the Bible and grow the congregation.
Lately, I have been reading Bill McKibben’s fine new book, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. McKibben argues that growth—based on “hyper-individualism”—does not create human happiness, health, and wholeness. Rather, local community and close connections make us happy. We must shift away from a Wal-Mart economy to what he calls a “deep economy,” defined as “the economics of neighborliness.” Less stuff, he suggests, will create more connections by transforming the human economy and makes a “durable future” for the planet.
Although McKibben writes of economics, his argument carries over to faith. Successful American churches are Wal-Mart type congregations, built on the idea that bigger-is-better, hyper-individual faith, and entertaining programs meet an infinitely expanding religious market. That vision creates a culture of religious sameness across the country—indeed, across the globe—that subsumes local cultures in its wake. Want your church to grow? Attend the latest pastors conference offered by a celebrity minister. Do 40 days of purpose or seven steps toward mission. Put on a dazzling Christmas spectacular. Buy Vacation Bible School in a can. You, too, can have a successful church if you lay out the cash.
My mother is nearly 70, has had two heart attacks, and is slowing down. When I think of her—as I do a lot these days—I remember sitting in the piles of scraps, creating biblical worlds together. I remember making the Virgin Mary out of a sock. I remember the deep economy of being Christian, of practicing our faith in the living room with scissors and glue, not the size or success of our congregation. I remember our neighborhood church, small and quirky, where we produced our spiritual lives with our hands and from our hearts.
I no longer want to belong to an efficient church, a big one, or even a successful one. I just want to be part of a good sock-puppet church. And, as I have traveled this year, and spoken to many thousands of Christians, I had heard them, too, longing for sock puppet church, a deeper congregation, a community that stitches memory from scraps, one that (as McKibben says) “rebalances the scales” of our religious economy—and, in the process, may well transform the world.
Diana Butler Bass (www.dianabutlerbass.com) is the author of the award-winning Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith (Harper, 2006). Her daughter is not attending Vacation Bible School this summer, but Diana is collecting socks to spring a puppet project on her in August.
In the March/April issue of the University of Chicago magazine, an article announced that the University decided not to divest from companies connected to the genocide in Darfur. I wrote a response and it was published in the May/June issue:
Advocacy organizations have done a commendable job of educating the public about this ongoing genocide. While this increased awareness represents progress, knowledge without action is worthless. I commend the University on the creation of a fund to underwrite faculty and student work (a truly creative and worthwhile idea), but it is no replacement for divestment (or any other proactive measures). The University is correct in claiming that its antidivestment decision is not a sign of neutrality; inaction in the face of clear injustice given the opportunity to act is complicity, not neutrality.
While we can hope that the $200,000 fund will indeed advance human rights, I challenge the false choice between providing an “umbrella of open, free inquiry” and the University’s moral duty to divest. These options are not mutually exclusive. Budgets are moral documents, and within them are the keys to our priorities. We should not pretend that prizing open inquiry absolves us of the moral duty to examine our possible complicity with injustice.
Bob Francis is the organizing and policy assistant for Sojourners/Call to Renewal, and earned his masters degree in social science from the University of Chicago in 2006.
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Monday, June 25, 2007
 The power of community, interdependence, and burden-bearing is so penetrating... It just busts through the pain of loss like grass through concrete. I live with tears in my eyes right now, every moment, mesmerized by this big family we have.
In Iraq some folks taught us a saying in Arabic that translates: "When all is well, it's easy to forget who your friends are. But when things get hard, you will know exactly who your friends are." I have learned once again the depth of their wisdom, a wisdom that comes from many tears.
Moments of crisis seem to bring out the best or worst in people. Tragedies can paralyze us in despair or they can be a catalyst for hope. This week we have seen hope shine. While it is very true that this fire did not have to happen like this (this was the third fire in this factory this year) ... And while it is unmistakably clear that in any other neighborhood a hazardous factory would not have continued to lie vacant after multiple tragedies and deaths inside ... While it is clear that there has been a deliberate economic bias and neglect toward families in one of Philly's poorest districts, who have relentlessly voiced their concerns ... Hope is thick in the air.
Since the 7-alarm fire that destroyed half our block, including our home and arts space, we have come to remember that the best things in life are free, and cannot be bought and sold, or stolen.
Within hours folks were eating together out of our 3234 house (we didn't even have electricity). Everyone offered their gifts—Brooke was serving meals, Michael had launched a new Web site, Darin had established emergency relief funds, Jamie had created a video, Lee wrote a poem, Eastern University had organized a donations drive, Tim was fixing kids' bikes, Amber was giving massages, lawyers were offering help, Ryan was calling together a board meeting, our EAPE friends were answering a couple dozen calls an hour. ... Unbelievable.
One of the kids on the block told us: "That wasn't just your house that burnt, that was my house. And I will help rebuild it."
We have received literally hundreds of e-mails and calls from folks offering prayers and gifts. And the incredible power is that this sense of solidarity has not just been with us here at TSW, but behind our whole neighborhood in a tough but beautiful time. For this reason we have set up two Emergency Relief Funds to make sure we are good (and transparent) stewards of those gifts—one is for our home and community here at TSW, and the other is for the families of our Kensington who will also be rebuilding their lives. We are confident that God does work out all things for good. All things. And words cannot express how deeply moving it all is.
The point of this note is not to ask you for money, but to thank you for love. As many of you know, we not only lost the building of a non-profit, but we lost our home. A reporter asked me how it felt to lose everything, and I told her I wouldn't know: I feel like one of the most blessed people in the world, even though most everything I owned just went up in flames.
So the simple way is still simple (and it just got a little simpler, ha ha ha). And may we never forget that we are people of resurrection—we resurrected this same old building from absolute ruins 6 years ago ... We can do it again. That is what we mean when we talk about "practicing resurrection." We will keep practicing.
Love wins. Always.
Want to do something, but just don’t know how to help? Call our mayor and councilmember to voice your support. We are starting a gentle phone-calling campaign to let city officials know that there are thousands of people watching and supporting as our neighborhood asks that the lot where the factory burned be restored into a park and recreation space. Please be nice, as we are hoping that this is an opportunity for them to use their power to honor the pain of families here—and we actually believe it is very likely that they will do what we are asking. Here are their numbers and a few talking points:
Mayor John Street
(215) 686-2181
Councilman Daniel Savage
(215) 686-3448
Some possible talking points:
• Thanks for your commitment to the 7th District, where the fire on H street occurred on June 20.
• We recognize that there is some confusion over who owns this property and who was responsible. We also know that this is an opportunity for you to honor the devastated community by listening to its residents who are asking that the lot be restored into a park and recreation space.
• Please arrange to meet with the Neighborhood Coalition being organized by The Simple Way – (215) 423-3598.
• Please check their Web site – thesimpleway.org and consider their petition.
Shane Claiborne is a Red Letter Christian, author of The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical, and a founding partner of The Simple Way community, a radical faith community that lives among and serves the homeless in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia.
Number of federal military service academies: 5
Number of federal civilian service academies: 0
One does not need to be a pacifist to find something wrong with those numbers. Indeed, a growing movement of people thinks there is a glaring need for our nation to build a U.S. Public Service Academy. Sojourners has officially endorsed the effort, joining a broad array of service organizations such as Catholic Charities USA, the National Urban League, and the National Peace Corps Association.
Recent studies show that more students than ever emerge from high school wanting to serve their country and their community. But they often find themselves freshman year on campuses that are indifferent, if not outright hostile, to such high-minded ideals. The five military academies offer opportunities for service, but many students (because of conscience or preference) want to serve in the civilian world, in fields such as education or health care or the environment. Where can students go to get the kind of intense, service-oriented education that will mold them into citizen leaders, the way West Point and the military academies develop military leaders?
The answer is that such a college does not exist – yet.
That is why we must build the U.S. Public Service Academy. The Academy will be a completely different kind of college, one that gives students a chance to do something real with their lives and become part of a movement to make this country better. Modeled on the military service academies, the Academy will recruit top students from across the country and offer them full scholarships to pursue a rigorous undergraduate education focused on leadership development and public service. In return, Academy graduates will spend five years serving their nation by working in the public sector at the local, state, and national levels.
The grassroots movement to build the Academy has succeeded in getting Sen. Clinton and Sen. Specter to introduce the Public Service Academy Act (S. 960). Reps. Jim Moran and Chris Shays introduced the same bill in the House (H.R. 1671). Learn how you can help build this new college by visiting: http://www.uspublicserviceacademy.org.
Chris Myers Asch is a Teach for America/AmeriCorps alumnus and the co-founder of the U.S. Public Service Academy.
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Without mental prayer, it would be virtually impossible for frail humanity to bear the fierce struggles of religious life. You can inebriate with sweetness your dryness of heart, making use of the water of prayer drawn from the fountains of the Savior. As a tree experiencing drought sheds its unripened fruit and leaves, so the soul that is deprived of the dew of prayer brings forth incomplete works infected with distaste.
- Ludovico Barbo
Form of Prayer Quoted in Essential Monastic Wisdom, by Hugh Feiss
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Friday, June 22, 2007
Jesus' call to welcome the stranger and the outcast is a prominent theme in the New Testament. Based on our shared Christian values, Sojourners/Call to Renewal has been working with Christian leaders and organizations from across the ecumenical spectrum to address the crisis of immigration.
We are now facing the eleventh hour for passing legislation to help fix what everyone from the left to right agrees is a broken system. With a political reality as complicated and perilous as this one, and an issue as divisive and polarizing as immigration reform, we must ask ourselves, "What should be our faithful response? How can we best apply our biblical principles to the present debate around immigration reform?"
Unfortunately, there is no simple answer. The breakdown of recent negotiations has made compromise all the more necessary, yet both extreme ends of the debate resist compromise in any form. The current bill, making its ever-tenuous way through the U.S. Senate, reflects the difficulty of striking a balance between strict enforcement measures and a path out of the shadows toward earned citizenship for the 12 million undocumented immigrants. Any bill must reform our broken immigration system in the context of providing greater economic security and opportunity to Americans who are already living at the edges of our economy.
This legislation has suffered many setbacks, but will likely be revived this weekend in a deal that allows each party to introduce a limited number of amendments before a final vote is taken toward the end of next week. No one can say for sure whether or not the "grand bargain," as it has been dubbed, will pass. But a number of prominent bipartisan leaders, in addition to the president, have worked tirelessly behind the scenes on this pact. The stakes are very high.
What, exactly, does the proposed legislation include? While it's long and complex, here are three key components of the current Senate bill:
1) A broad legalization program that would allow most of the 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows to come forward. In order to apply for citizenship, immigrants in this program would pay steep penalties and heads of households would be required to return to their countries of origin to apply for citizenship.
2) Reduction of most of the decades-long backlog, through which U.S. citizens and permanent residents petition to bring family members to join them in the U.S. However, the proposed bill would dramatically change the way future green cards are distributed, replacing our current system based on family reunification with a point system that prioritizes immigrants with advanced job skills, education, and English proficiency.
3) A temporary worker program to allow future immigrants a legal path to find employment in the U.S. Workers would stay for two-year periods, renewable for a total of six years, with the requirement of returning home for a year after each term. Unfortunately, this program would provide virtually no avenue for residency or citizenship for such workers.
This Senate bill contains many causes for concern, yet the alternative—the status quo—is equally frightening. If legislation does not pass this summer, allies on Capitol Hill say that the presidential election cycle could push the possibility of passage off until at least 2009. With increased workplace raids, and the tearing apart of immigrant families, the situation becomes more urgent everyday.
Where does this leave us, and our Christian principles? It leaves us with a tremendous job ahead. Even if we cannot lend our full support to the legislation that the Senate may pass this coming week, we can fight to make our voices heard in the critical next steps of this debate. There are still two key stages ahead, in which our lawmakers have the opportunity to show their leadership in creating legislation that reflects our values: First, the legislative process will move to the House of Representatives, and then on to the House/Senate conference that will seek to justify the two bills.
We must demand that our leaders in the House of Representatives shift the starting place of this legislation. They must defend the sanctity of families: their right to be together and their contributions to our society. They must resist efforts to criminalize immigrants, many of whom are our neighbors, our fellow congregants, our friends, and our family members. We believe that a compassionate but prudent solution can be reached if we draw out the best of Christian and civic values.
In our coalition efforts as Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, we must step up our work to demand that Congress pass a more just, sensible, and truly comprehensive immigration package. Between now and the congressional recess in early August, we will make our voices heard in the media, and reach out to Christian leaders in key districts around the country. The time for Christians to weigh in on this moral debate is now. We hope you will join us: Raise your voice to unite families and pass comprehensive immigration reform.
Patty Kupfer is the Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform campaign coordinator at Sojourners/Call to Renewal.
This week President George W. Bush ceremoniously vetoed a measure promoting embryonic stem cell research that could help to relieve the suffering of millions, declaring that the bill disregards the sanctity of human life. "I will not allow our nation to cross this moral line," Bush said.
It is hard to believe that this pronouncement could come from the mouth of a man who has shown a frightening disdain for the sanctity of human life for the entirety of his career in elective office. Here are a few of the examples of George W. Bush's lack of respect for human life that I document in my book, The Politics of Jesus.
While governor of Texas:
· Bush signed more death warrants than any governor in the history of this nation, at times mocking those he condemned to death, according to conservative commentator Tucker Carlson; at the same time, he was vetoing legislation that would have guaranteed effective counsel to those accused of capital crimes, even though the lawyers of the Texas Defender Service denounced the Texas courts as "a thoroughly flawed system."
· Bush actively fought against a program passed by the Texas legislature to provide medical coverage to the 500,000 poor children in the state who lacked it. After five years of his active opposition, Bush succeeded in reducing the number of children covered by the program by half, despite his certain knowledge that his actions would result in death and terrible suffering for an unknown number of innocents. All this while he fought for a $2 billion tax cut for Texas' richest families and a $45 million cut for the oil and gas industry, with this explanation: "These are tough times for the oil and gas industry."
As president:
· Moments before he was to appear on national television to announce his declaration of war on Iraq, Bush was caught on tape pumping his fist as at a sporting event, declaring, "Feels good," in what the journalist Paul Waldman called "a glimpse of the president's vulgar callousness."
· He not only sent thousands of Americans to their deaths based on lies and knowing deception, he was caught on tape laughing about it at the 2004 gala of the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association, in a skit in which he looked under furniture and behind curtains and joked, "Nope, no weapons [of mass destruction] over there… maybe under here?"
· On national television, in the hearing of children, he has openly and gratuitously vowed not to neutralize or capture individuals he calls by name, but to kill them.
· He publicly gloated over the killing of Saddam Hussein's sons and, in a particularly macabre moment, allowed their mutilated bodies to be put on public display.
There is little question that Bush has exhibited less respect for human life than any president in memory, including Richard Nixon. But what is more troubling, if that is possible, is Bush's apparent sense that he can deceive the American people with impunity, as if we will believe that he cares about human life simply because he says so, no matter that his every significant policy decision shows that to be a lie.
What is more troubling still, however, is that thus far he has been right—at least with regard to a sizable number of Americans. As long as Bush cries crocodile tears for the unborn—and now the unformed—too many Americans will fail to hold him responsible for his reprehensible disdain for the suffering of innocent children, women and men throughout the earth. And he will continue to make moral pronouncements to mask his immoral policies.
Obery Hendricks is past president of Payne Theological Seminary, an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the author of The Politics of Jesus: Rediscovering the True Revolutionary Nature of Jesus' Teachings and How They Have Been Corrupted.
Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king's son. May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice. May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness. May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.
- Psalms 72:1-4
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[Jesus] says that he’s patient and humble of heart, not because he was submissive to oppression, but because he was able to endure in that struggle.
- A teacher in the village of Papaturro
Quoted in Cry Freedom, by Charles Ringma
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Thursday, June 21, 2007
Shane Claiborne and The Simple Way community are a good example of the old adage, "Be careful what you pray for." Evangelicals like to pray that Christian young people will learn to love Jesus and follow in his steps. Well, that's exactly what this community has done. They believe that by plunging deeper into what the earliest Christians called "The Way"—the way of Jesus, the way of the kingdom, and the way of the cross—they rediscover the biblical reversal of our social logic, accepting that the foolishness of God has always seemed a little nuts to the world.
Early yesterday morning, a 7-alarm fire destroyed an abandoned warehouse in the Philadelphia neighborhood where Shane Claiborne and the community live. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer:
"The five-story brick building, near the intersection of Allegheny and Kensington Avenues, was reported in flames at 3:41 a.m. It took two hours - and about 170 fire fighters with 40 engines and 15 ladder trucks - to get the fire under control…"
The Simple Way's Community Center and a number of neighbor's houses were also burned. The Simple Way Community reported on its blog:
"The Simple Way Community Center at 3200 Potter Street was destroyed as well as at least eight of our neighbors' homes. Over 100 people were evacuated from their homes, and 400 families are currently without power. Despite this developing tragedy, we are incredibly thankful to share that all of our community members and every one of our neighbors is safely out of harm's way.
The Simple Way has lost a community center that was home to our Yes! And… afterschool program, community arts center, and Cottage Printworks t-shirt micro-business as well as to two of our community members. Community members Shane Claiborne and Jesce Walz have lost all of their belongings, Yes! And…'s after school studio and library were ruined, and community member Justin Donner's Cottage Printworks equipment and t-shirts were destroyed."
In response, the community has established an emergency relief fund for The Simple Way and for those in the neighborhood who lost their homes. In the spirit of Paul's admonition to the church in Romans 12:13, "Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers," I encourage you to contribute through the link below and to remember the community and their neighbors in prayer.
Rebuilding Fund - For The Simple Way community, a fund has been established to help community members recover their losses and begin to decide what to do next. This will also support the projects of The Simple Way community like the community gardens, Cottage Printworks, Yes! And ... and other things in and around Potter Street. To donate to the Rebuilding Fund, please put "TSW-Rebuilding Fund" in the box on the online form.
Kensington Families Fund - For the families on Potter Street, H Street, and Westmoreland whose lives have been disrupted by this fire, a fund to support these families has been established. This money will go directly to families in our neighborhood. To donate to the Kensington Families Fund, please put "TSW-Kensington Families Fund" in the box on the online form.
Donate Online - You can donate online through a partner organization, EAPE. It is extremely important that you put EITHER "TSW-Rebuilding Fund" or "TSW-Kensington Families Fund" in the memo box of the form. Tax-deductible donations can be made here.
The life of The Simple Way community is an inspiration to many of us. Shane has described their life in one of Philadelphia's poorest neighborhoods this way: "We narrowed our vision to this: love God, love people, and follow Jesus." In their time of need, we can show our love of God and the community by coming to their aid. I urge you to give as generously as you can.
I was distrubed to learn that last week the office of our friend and frequent author, Janna Hunter-Bowman, was attacked in a very deliberate and targeted way while she was visiting her family in the U.S. The only things taken were the computers she and her colleagues had been using to document human rights abuses, which, combined with similar attacks on other human rights organizations, makes the motivation for the crime unmistakable. Here are some more details from a Mennonite Central Committee news release:
A break-in last week at the Justapaz, a ministry of the Colombian Mennonite Church and a Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) partner, is raising concerns about the safety of church leaders and members involved in human rights work and threats to church work for human dignity and peace in Colombia.
During the early morning break-in at the Justapaz office in Bogotá, two computers that held information about programs to document human rights abuses and to coordinate peace work within Colombia were stolen. These are joint programs of the Justapaz and the Justice and Peace ministry of the Colombian Evangelical Council of Churches (CRVP). In addition, the desk of a staff member who coordinates an interorganizational human rights protection program was searched.
Nine other computers, an office safe and a fax machine were untouched, and Justapaz staff feel the break-in was aimed specifically at the information the office has been collecting about human rights abuses against members of Colombia’s protestant churches.
One of the computers belonged to MCC worker Janna Hunter-Bowman and had a database of testimony about human rights abuses against members of Colombia’s Protestant churches, as well as profiles of churches’ courageous peace ministries. The computer held names of grassroots church leaders and members who were documenting abuses – dangerous work given the country’s ongoing armed conflict and record of violence. Both stolen computers also contained detailed information on how churches have been working for peace in the country, which can also be controversial and dangerous.
...
Justapaz and the MCC Washington Office are asking U.S. and Canadian residents to contact their members of Congress or Parliament to express their concern about the theft of sensitive information about human rights abuses and peace work. They are also calling for people to urge the State Department or Ministry of Foreign Affairs to encourage Colombian authorities to take all appropriate steps to identify the person or people who broke into the office. As well, they call on citizens to insist that their policy makers make human rights requirements a central consideration in determining assistance and agreements with the Colombian government.
Follow the link below for the entire news release and specific action steps:
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[Jesus] sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."
- Mark 12:41-44
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Tuesday, June 19, 2007
 A number of my friends have given up blogging, either temporarily or permanently. The reason? The blogosphere seems to indulge a certain kind of rhetoric that they don't want to be associated with anymore.
Although I continue to post here at the God's Politics blog on occasion, and I believe in the power and potential of the blogosphere, I share my friends' frustration with the kind of disrespectful dialogue that frequently ensues in the comments section of so many blogs. The majority want to have substantive and respectful dialogue, and they tolerate the static because they believe in the level playing field of the blogosphere. But the ambivalence is real.
Our struggles online, I think, are a microcosm of a global problem, a problem that a friend recognized in a recent trip to the Middle East. My friend, a leader in his church, wrote,
While we were there I had the privilege of meeting a Muslim university professor. He works with college students who are volunteer mentors for children in Jordan. I spent a couple of hours with him and his students as they shared with me different things they are learning as they work with children. I was deeply moved and inspired by their stories of life change both in themselves and in the kids they work with. As we were getting ready to leave the meeting the professor approached me and asked me what I thought about the things I had heard.
My friend said he had experienced something very moving that day. He was acutely aware of the differences between their two religions, yet he sensed in their stories of service a kind of common and transcendent connection that he couldn't find language to describe.
All of this poured out of my friend in a kind of jumble, but the professor seemed to understand:
Immediately, he said, "Friend, we know that language. It's a secret language." After a moment of feeling a little uncomfortable because I didn't know what he was talking about, he moved closer and quietly said, "The secret language is love." Surprised, I spontaneously yelled out, "YES! You are right! Love is the secret language!"
Misleading labels, name-calling, innuendo, insult, cynicism, deception, even flattery can find their way into any of our communication and add another straw to the overweighted camel of civility and mutual respect. (I've already edited out some of my own rhetorical descents in this piece, and I imagine I've still failed to live up to the ideal I'm espousing.)
But my friend's story about his experience with the Muslim professor reminds me that there is another language hidden in all our language.
Without it, the apostle Paul said, we're nothing. With it, even the way we disagree can lead us to a better place, whether in the blogosphere or in the world of domestic politics and international relations.
 Brian McLaren (brianmclaren.net) serves as board chair for Sojourners/Call to Renewal. His next book, Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope, will be released in October.
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Monday, June 18, 2007
 I was saddened to hear on the radio Thursday night that Ruth Bell Graham had died. Earlier in the week, the news of the serious complications to Ruth’s health had me reflecting on the importance of love and leadership. A lot has been written on leadership in the last several years, but not as much about how loving relationships anchor many of our leaders. Leadership, like the one Jesus modeled, is founded on love: a love of neighbor, friend, child, spouse, and enemy. The love between Billy and Ruth is just one example of how love drives and sustains leadership.
Before I was married, my wife Jeanette and I read biographies about Ruth and Billy. Ruth is an extraordinary woman, the daughter of missionaries to Asia and a committed disciple of Christ. Moreover, the extent of the sacrifices she has made both as missionary and as the spouse to one of Christ’s most well-known ambassadors will never be truly known. What is known is that the Ruth and Billy story is one that I can look up to as a young pastor and disciple of Christ. Jeanette often reminds me that what frees many of us to impact and transform the world is the love and safety of home. (Granted, many people who have changed the world did not grow up in this type of environment and have given incredible contributions to the world.)
Nevertheless, it is refreshing to know of a love story that lasted these many decades. Ruth’s commitment to Christ, her quiet strength, and her partnership with Billy made her a model worthy of admiration (though of course there are other models). Whether it is the female, the male, or both, who serve as public figures this idea of mutuality and respect for each other is at the very core of what commitment should be. In the midst of so much attention to broken marriages, scandal, and failure, it is also healthy that we give honor to a lifetime of loyalty, dedication, and grace. Undoubtedly, such a public marriage was challenged by time away from the kids and each other. Moreover, early on in his public ministry, Billy speaks of economic challenges. Despite these many challenges Ruth and Billy were able to stay together.
Just a couple weeks ago the Rev. Billy Graham was honored with the opening of the Billy Graham Library, and in true Graham fashion and humility he’s been quoted as saying, “Too much Billy Graham.” Well, one thing I am grateful for is a lot of Billy and Ruth, and the love, commitment, and dedication they showed an entire generation of emerging leaders. The words of Jesus are fitting here: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” So here’s to you, Ruth, a virtuous woman. Thank you for leading through love.
Rev. Gabriel Salguero is the pastor of the Lamb’s Church of the Nazarene in New York City, a Ph.D. candidate at Union Theological Seminary, and the director of the Hispanic Leadership Program at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is also a board member for Sojourners/Call to Renewal.
 On Friday people in the Gaza Strip awoke to a new reality.
Over the previous few days, the Islamic party Hamas had routed the opposition secular-nationalist Fatah forces and taken full control of the Gaza Strip. What led to these sudden events?
In February 2006, Hamas was elected through a process that was largely imposed by the U.S. and its policy of democratic reform in the Middle East. Yet the unexpected outcome seems to have thrown a monkey wrench in the reform plans. By March of this year, the “international community” (largely a pseudonym for the U.S.), still had not recognized the Palestinian unity government containing representatives of both Fatah, which recognizes Israel's right to exist, and Hamas, which does not. Sanctions stifled not only the government but collectively punished the entire people. This economic stranglehold was felt especially in the Gaza Strip, where Israel, in one form or another, controls all borders.
With U.S. funding strengthening Fatah, the election loser, Hamas got impatient and decided to take control of the territory that they had been elected to rule. The ensuing military takeover of Gaza took 80 lives in the five days before all opposition headquarters were fully in Hamas hands.
After the fighting ended, I made a trip to the Gaza Baptist Church building with my hosts, Elias and Isa Al-Najjar, and pastor Hanna Massad. Some damage had been done to the building structure and some equipment, including a laptop used for Sunday worship, had been stolen. They suspected it was the Fatah police across the street that had broken into the building.
The conversation at the lunch table with Elias, his wife Rana, and Isa and his wife May, was just about two things: emigrating, and a discussion of the most vital shopping items for their home.
News has spread through Gaza that in light of the economic embargo on the Gaza Strip we will run out of gasoline by tomorrow. This means electricity will also cut out, because the main power station in Gaza is run on petrol.
“People are thinking of how to spend the summer vacation," said Elias' wife Rana, as we made a trip to the shops to buy what was still available. "We are thinking of how to stockpile food.”
I also visited my friend Ghada’s brother, Sa’ed, who was shot in his right leg twice on Friday. When he first arrived at the hospital they had placed him on a wooden board waiting for space to be freed for him. His operation lasted many hours and ended with 33 stitches in his leg. Ghada told me that he had screamed a lot the previous night. When I saw him he was still writhing in pain. Sa’ed is 22 and had just started working for the Fatah secret police two months ago. He is unmarried and jumped at this opportunity to take a job in order to prepare for his future. The events of the past days were not what he had reckoned for. Whatever grudges Hamas held against the Fatah security apparatus, he was not one with blood on his hands.
Palestinian president and Fatah member Mahmoud Abbas has declined a meeting with Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, citing his unwillingness to meet with “murderers.” Furthermore, an internationally backed and recognized emergency government was sworn in on Sunday, June 17, after the president had officially dissolved the Hamas-dominated unity government.
Hamas may have been democratically elected, but their takeover does not bode well for the people here, with many fears of this turning into a social and humanitarian crisis. The statements of the Hamas leadership are at times double-faced—in Sa'ed's case, Hamas announced they would not harm any Fatah security force members that handed themselves over. Sa'ed did and was shot at by a sniper, then tortured and shot in the legs. These actions, combined with a priority of their own members over the general public and their seeming lack of realpolitik are revealed in the few signs of a strategy or plan for the future. The consequences of this are felt by the people, not those in power.
Meanwhile, temporary Hamas policemen took to the streets today wearing brand new Hamas vests; traffic in the streets has never been so organized and disciplined. Finally, the Gaza Strip has just one government and just one police force governing it. A sense of order and security are the upsides that come along with the fear of a very uncertain future.
Yet because of a hypocritical promise of "freedom" through “democratic reform,” Sa’ed is suffering in an open air hospital bed in Gaza City, while Rana, Elias, Isa, and May are scrounging to stockpile food for an uncertain future. The entire Gaza Strip is punished on behalf of the duplicitous ideology and wishful thinking of a few powerful leaders.
Philip Rizk is an Egyptian-German Christian who has lived in Gaza since August 2004 where he works and writes. He blogs at: tabulagaza.com
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Prayer and meditation have an important part to play in opening up new ways and new horizons. If your prayer is the expression of a deep and grace-inspired desire for newness of life—and not the mere blind attachment to what has always been familiar and "safe"—God will act in us and through us to renew the Church by preparing, in prayer, what we cannot yet imagine or understand. In this way our prayer and faith today will be oriented toward the future which we ourselves may never see fully realized on earth.
- Thomas Merton
Contemplation in a World of Action
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Friday, June 15, 2007
The news coverage of our candidates forum was a good chance to see how Sojourners is described in the media. The three best were The Washington Times (interestingly), McClatchy Newspapers, and The Miami Herald:
The Washington Times: "Sojourners, a Christian social justice network"
McClatchy Newspapers: "Sojourners/Call to Renewal, a Christian group focused on social justice issues"
The Miami Herald: "Sojourners, a Christian ministry that advocates social justice"
The rest were an interesting variety:
The New York Times: "a liberal evangelical group, Sojourners"
The Washington Post: "Sojourners, a liberal evangelical group"
Chicago Tribune: "Sojourners/Call to Renewal, an evangelical Christian organization that emphasizes progressive social causes"
The Associated Press: "the liberal Sojourners/Call to Renewal evangelical organization"
The Christian Science Monitor: "the progressive Christian group Sojourners"
Financial Times: "Sojourners, a centre-left evangelical group"
The Columbus Dispatch: "a liberal evangelical Christian group called Sojourners/Call to Renewal"
Religion News Service: "Sojourners/Call to Renewal, a Washington-based network of evangelical social justice advocates"
What do you think? Which description do you find most accurate? How would you describe Sojourners in one sentence?
You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns. You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.
- Deuteronomy 24:14-15
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Now and then, set aside for yourself a day on which, without hindrance, you can be at leisure to praise God and to make amends for all the praise and thanksgiving you have neglected all the days of your life to render to God for all the good he has done. This will be a day of praising and thanksgiving and a day of jubilation, and you will celebrate the memory of that radiant praise with which you will be jubilant to the Lord for eternity, when you will be satisfied fully by the presence of God, and the glory of the Lord will fill your soul.
- Gertrude the Great
Spiritual Excercises, Quoted in "Essential Monastic Wisdom", by Hugh Feiss.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
 I wrote last week about our historic Candidates Forum on Faith, Values and Poverty. We had only 15 minutes with each candidate, so there was not enough time to ask all of the questions I had prepared (click here for highlights of the forum). Here are four that I hoped to ask and wasn’t able to.
1. As you know, 3 billion people—half of God’s children on the planet—still live on less than $2 a day. Inspired by faith leaders and efforts such as the ONE campaign, a new generation of Christians is making ending extreme poverty a defining cause. At the 2005 G-8 Summit, leaders pledged to double aid to Africa. Our nation has endorsed the Millennium Development Goals, which commit to cutting in half the number of people living in extreme poverty. As president, what steps would you take to ensure that the United States keeps those promises to billions of people and actually leads the world in this moral and religious imperative?
2. In the New Testament, the beatitudes offer a vision for the world with statements like: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom… Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill…Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” How would this biblical vision of the world shape your leadership and politics?
3. The command “be not afraid” appears frequently in the Bible, and yet U.S. foreign policy seems to be driven by fear, primarily of terrorist attacks. Our leaders seek to justify the most important decisions in foreign policy with dire warnings of impending attacks. Have we let fear push out wisdom and prudence as the primary virtues of foreign policy? Should the biblical command “be not afraid” have a role in foreign policy decision-making?
4. Partnerships between faith-based organizations and the government have raised concerns about the separation of church and state and debates over the role of churches and of government in reducing poverty and meeting social needs. Some argue that having faith-based and community organizations meet more needs allows the government to shirk its duty to help the poor. Others argue that faith-based providers are best equipped to meet needs and they simply need more resources. How do you think faith-based organizations and government should work in partnership—or not—in meeting social needs?
I know the other questioners also had some great questions; there just wasn’t enough time. But the dialogue was very rich nonetheless. I am in London at the moment, and am being told that the coverage of our faith forum was very extensive in the U.K. I just had dinner with a number of British political and church leaders who believe the forum really changed the perceptions of faith and politics on this side of the pond. They were very excited to discuss the issues further.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
 Sometimes we can best understand the role of faith in politics by listening to the way people of faith responded to crises in their day. Nearly 1,600 years ago, in the year 410 AD, the city of Rome was invaded by an army of 40,000 led by a general named Alaric. The attack on Rome sent a shockwave through the world that was much greater than the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Many Christians believed that the fall of Rome signaled the end of the world, or at least the end of Christendom, since Christianity was the established religion in Rome.
The great St. Augustine responded to this equation of the fortunes of Rome with the fortunes of God’s kingdom by writing his immensely important philosophy of history called The City of God. In it, he distinguished between Rome, which he called "the city of man," and the heavenly kingdom, which Augustine called "the city of God. The city of man, he said, was enamored with its own strength; the city of God is enamored with God and says, “I love you, my Lord, because you are my strength.”
Now, the person of faith is a resident of both cities. We live in time, but we belong to eternity. We are deeply engaged in this world, doing all we can to love our neighbor and work for justice while we acknowledge that we don’t ultimately belong to this world. According to Augustine, people of faith hold dual citizenships; we are resident aliens, or in the words of Jim Wallis’ magazine, we are sojourners.
It is precisely the dual citizenship of people of faith that both the secular left and the religious right deny. And in one of the strangest ironies in contemporary politics, the secular left and the religious right end up in precisely the same place. The secular left denies that there is a city of God to which they are morally accountable. There is only the city of man – utterly autonomous, self-confident, answerable only to itself. The religious right equates the city of God with the city of man. America is God’s chosen nation, our perspectives are God’s perspectives, our fights are God’s fights. So in its triumphalist self-confidence, “because God is always on our side,” the religious right also ends up unaccountable to God.
How can we, as people of faith, carve out a space that rejects both the secular left and its ideological twin, the religious right; one that recognizes our dual citizenship? How can we create a society that sees itself as morally accountable to God and God's kingdom?
We can start by asking President Lincoln’s great question: Not "Is God on our side?", but "Are we on God’s side?"
Let me suggest three simple guiding principles to assist us in determining if our political choices are on the side of the city of God.
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Two times last week during our Pentecost 2007 conference – at the presidential candidates forum Monday night and our march to Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon – anti-abortion advocates not registered at our conference made their presence known in our midst. At face value, it seemed that they were there to protest our events, but I wanted to know more. So I wandered over to hear their stories and ended up talking for over an hour.
The group was young, passionate, and thoughtful. Our conversation covered a lot of ground. My very first question was whether they saw our respective messages as contradictory, and they adamantly said no. However, they qualified this by saying that they feel that sometimes groups can “forget” about certain issues and need to be reminded – an apparent dig at our priorities. It was clear that they see abortion as THE issue for Christians, the lens through which all other issues should be viewed.
What pleasantly surprised me, though, was how refreshingly different these young activists were from the stereotypes. While they have clearly chosen, for a variety of personal reasons, to make abortion their primary issue, they were hardly card-carrying members of the Religious Right. When I brought up the notion of a “seamless garment of life,” which would include stances against capital punishment and war, they were 100 percent on board. In fact, one of them was an outspoken vegan, taking his "seamless garment" ethic to the animal kingdom. They talked about the need for fair trade policies, and some had protested at WTO meetings. One of the women lives communally here in the U.S., trying to tread lightly on the earth. They were friends and fans of Shane Claiborne, a good friend of Sojourners and one of the keynote speakers at Pentecost 2007.
Together, we all lamented the false choices that are presented in the political world on the issues we care most about. For us, it seems that one party is often more in line with our vision for eradicating poverty and caring for “the least of these” by means other than the free market (which is anything but free – have you seen our commodity subsidies, for example?), but they often drop the ball on abortion. Conversely, the other party has integrally incorporated a strong stance against abortion into its platform in past years, yet it seems resistant to comprehensive abortion reduction measures and on many other counts fails to remotely approach what we all felt would be a biblical platform that values all life and truly cares for the poor. They also lamented that they are so often lumped in with the Religious Right, when they are anything but.
These young activists impressed me with their fervor, their organization, and most importantly, their overall sensibilities. While I may disagree with them on how much emphasis they put upon one issue at the expense of others, I was truly surprised at how much we had in common. It got me excited about the possibility of a new Third Way among our young activists of faith, a way in which we uphold a seamless garment of life while also upholding a robust compassion for the poorest among us, both here and abroad. It is a Third Way in which we fight for the unborn and the migrant farmer; where we advocate for the radical reduction of abortions and fair trade and debt reduction for poor nations; where we care for the unborn child while not forgetting mother and child once the baby comes into the world.
Maybe there is potential for a new pro-life movement that is pro-life in EVERY way, where young activists with different emphases but the same heart join to – as my boss says – not go right or left, but deeper.
Bob Francis is the organizing and policy assistant for Sojourners/Call to Renewal.
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There is no dearth of Christian service today. But because much of it is service without prophetic compassion, it is powerless to bring about a radical change in individuals and society.
-Vishal Mangalwadi
Quoted in "Cry Freedom", by Charles Ringma.
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"When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
- Luke 14:12-14
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Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Following last week's candidates forum, we asked the religious leaders on our panel if there were any other questions they wish they could have asked any of the candidates. Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook, a senior pastor at the Bronx Christian Fellowship, had this question for Barack Obama:
 Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby have been criticized for speaking out about the culpability of the Black community. If elected president of the United States, what do you believe Black leaders should do to re-instill/restore traditional faith, morals, and educational values within our community?
 I spent this morning with the Sisters of Charity at their shelter for disabled children in downtown Gaza City.
When I first started going to the shelter, a boy called Na'el, with a consistent look of fear in his eyes, would hold on to me - not wanting to let go. Sister Delphina told me that it was the first time since he had arrived at the home that he had allowed a male to hold him. Na'el is deaf and she assumes his father had abused him before he was dropped off at their shelter. Na'el can walk but he has to be holding on to something while doing so, either a person's hand, a table, door, or his little wheeled chair.
So today sister Delphina and I tried to get him to walk on his own, because I am sure he can - he just doesn't trust himself. Sister Delphina would wave him towards her with her gracious hands, her constant smile drawing him toward her. As soon as I would try to let go of him to let him walk alone his face filled with an immense expression of fear.
Today fear fills the hearts of Gaza's people. A fear that they may one day return from their perpetual search for charity and donation empty handed (80 percent of Gazans are receiving food aid from international organizations); a fear of waking to another day of hopelessness (70 percent of Gazans are either unemployed or only partially paid government employees); a fear that the economic disaster they are experiencing today may overcome their lives (60 percent of the population live under the poverty level of $2 per day); a fear that this economic crisis will divide the entire population in inter-factional feuding and result in a lawless chaos as factions and political parties vie for the little power that still remains in Gaza.
The difference in the atmosphere between the Gaza Strip and the sisters' home must have something to do with each place's wardens. The Sisters of Charity live out an undying love and care for these children; Israel, legally responsible for a people they occupy, has thrown away the keys to a piece of land they would rather forget about.
One day soon Na'el will walk on his own.
I trust that one day Gazans will live the life of peace so many of them long to live, free of the closure, the embargo, and the prison walls surrounding them today.
Philip Rizk is an Egyptian-German Christian working with the Foundation for Reconciliation and Development in Gaza.
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Monday, June 11, 2007
 Twenty three of the coolest people I've ever met geared up by putting on costumes, make-up, and even wigs, for the grueling brawl that ensued as we all tried to wax the stage with one another in an art form whose name betrays its beauty: air guitar. As the evening's emcee and national popularizer of air guitar, Björn Türoque (who has written a book, and been featured in a documentary and several news programs) explains, the art form's ultimate goal is nothing short of world peace. If you're holding an air guitar, you can't hold a gun.
More than 1,200 D.C. fans sold out the 9:30 Club for the district's first annual air guitar competition. The winner goes to New York in August for the nationals, in which the winners of 15 regional competitions duke it out for a chance to compete for the world title in Oulu, Finland. But last Wednesday I wasn't thinking about future glory; I only thought about how to defeat 22 other competitors and come out on top.
Many people consider this peaceful art form "pretend guitar," but if you perform with that approach, you will lose points. Yes, points. Like figure skating, scoring ranges from 4.0 to 6.0 as judges rank performers on three criteria: technicality (how real the picking, fretting, and strumming look), stage presence, and an indefinable criterion called "airness." This is where you lose points if you're just playing pretend guitar. Airness is the extent to which you push the experience for yourself, the crowd, and the judges, convincing everyone that you and the guitar you aren't playing are one. Things like tuning your air guitar, turning on an air amp, or having an air roadie come help you set up all help.
There are two rounds: a freestyle round, in which competitors are judged on a 60-second performance from a song of the air guitarist's choice (I performed Brad Paisley's "Time Warp"), and a compulsory round, in which the five finalists each perform their interpretations of 60 seconds of the same, previously unannounced song - in this case, Boston's "It's Been a Long Time."
At the end I came out on top, but someone came out on top of me. His stage name is Shred, a dad in his early 50's who won the crowd's heart. My Sojo intern community and many staff came out to support, and soothed my wounded ego with kind words saying that I was a much better air guitarist than everyone up there. But second place isn't bad, eh? I was grateful to dedicate my near-victory to Jesus.
So enter a local competition. Do it in the name of peace, and to honor our Lord (Colossians 3:17).
Jonathan "Couch Potato" Mendez is an editorial assistant for Sojourners magazine.
 OK. I've got to admit it - being a part of the panel to ask candidates for the presidency of the United States about their faith and moral values was just plain surreal. Kudos to Jim Wallis (and Jack Pannell and the rest of the Sojourners organization) for creating this historic event!
As I reflected on what it was and what it could have been, I came up with just a couple of missing elements:
First, I would have loved to have asked the candidates about how they arrive at a moral decision. Issues will come and go, stances will sometimes change, and circumstances will affect how a value is put into practice. But the one thing that seldom changes is the process of how we determine right from wrong. Are there certain points of reference, like the Bible, or the teachings of somebody, or a past mentor that the candidate thinks about? Are there particular people that a candidate consults before he or she determines what is morally right in a case? How much is prayer involved, and what do they look for in an answer?
As a voter, I want to know who a person is, at least as well as I can. I can read their positions on issues and their goals for when they get in office. What I yearn to know, though, is who they are as people and how they think. If that thinking process is not well established, chances are they will be tossed about by every lobbyist and changing circumstance.
Second, I would have liked a three or four minute time limit on answers. The more questions we could have asked the more angles from which we could have looked into the candidate. The different angles produce a more accurate picture (it's the difference between an x-ray and an MRI).
But what a great event it was! And what an honor to be a part of it!
Rev. Joel C. Hunter is the senior pastor of Northland church in Longwood, Florida.
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[F]or us the Bible is our main weapon. It has shown us the way. Perhaps those who call themselves Christians but who are really only Christians in theory, won’t understand why we give the Bible the meaning we do. But that’s because they haven’t lived as we have.... I can assure you that any one of my community, even though he’s illiterate and has to have it read to him and translated into his language, can learn many lessons from it, because he has no difficulty understanding what reality is and what the difference is between the paradise up above, in Heaven, and the reality of our people here on Earth.
-Rigoberta Menchu
excerpt from I, Rigoberta: An Indian Woman in Guatemala.
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Friday, June 08, 2007
The daily news from Iraq is mind-numbing, as violence and death continue unabated. And part of that numbing is the danger of seeing the daily body counts as just more numbers. As of yesterday morning, 3,503 Americans have died.
So, I’ve made reading the news each morning into a spiritual discipline. I read the names in the almost daily U.S. casualty lists aloud and say a prayer for these young men and women, their families and friends. Each one of them is a unique child of God, with unique experiences and lives, now gone. Lifting them in prayer has become a way to lament the continuing deaths.
The latest names released in yesterday’s Washington Post and New York Times:
Chadrick O. Domino, 23
Jeremiah C. Costello, 22
Keith V. Nepsa, 21
William J. Crouch, 21
Joshua D. Brown, 26
Shawn E. Dressler, 22
Ryan A. Balmer, 33
Matthew J, Kuglics, 25
James C. Akin, 23
Caleb P. Christopher, 25
Greg P. Gagarin, 38
Tyler J. Kritz, 21
Robert A. Surber, 24
Kyrie Eleison
Lord, have mercy
And although I will never know their names, the death count of Iraqis is rising even faster. In yesterday's news:
- two car bombs exploded near a revered Shiite shrine in Baghdad, killing seven people and wounding 25
- at least 17 others were killed and 13 wounded in mortar attacks, drive-by shootings and other violence across the country
- police in Baghdad found 34 bodies, all shot in the head and bearing signs of torture
- at least 167 bodies have been found in Baghdad in the first six days of June
Along with the deaths:
- The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reported that more than 4.2 million Iraqis had been forced from their homes by violence in Iraq, including about 2 million who had been displaced inside the country and about 2.2 million who had fled as refugees to neighboring countries.
Kyrie Eleison
Lord, have mercy
Legislation for comprehensive immigration reform collapsed in the U.S. Senate yesterday as an effort to move to a final vote was defeated, leaving the future in serious doubt. It’s the perfect example of an observation I’ve often made - that most people I talk to around the country think that the political process isn’t working in America; it is failing to resolve the big moral issues of our time.
In this morning’s Washington Post, in an analysis of the Senate action, Dan Balz wrote:
The collapse of comprehensive immigration revision in the Senate last night represents a political defeat for President Bush, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the bill's most prominent sponsors. More significantly, it represents a scathing indictment of the political culture of Washington.
The defeat of the legislation can be laid at the doorstep of opponents on the right and left, on congressional leaders who couldn't move their troops and on an increasingly weakened president and his White House team. But together it added up to another example of a polarized political system in which the center could not hold.
The partisan blame game was already at fever pitch as the bill was going down yesterday. But to those far removed from the backrooms of Capitol Hill, what happened will fuel cynicism toward a political system that appears incapable of finding ways to resolve the nation's big challenges.
While we will continue to advocate for comprehensive reform, when the political system proves itself incapable of change, it is time for the community of faith to lead. And once again, that is what is happening. In the 1980s, as thousands of refugees were fleeing the wars in Central America, people of faith stepped up. We offered services, advocacy, and when necessary, sanctuary. Congregations all across the country hosted refugees and protected them from efforts at deportation.
Now a New Sanctuary Movement has emerged. The initial impetus was in Chicago, where a mother's plight revived the sanctuary movement:
Sanctuary, in antiquity the practice of providing refuge in a sacred place, has been revived in a rather dramatic fashion by an undocumented Mexican cleaning woman trying to evade deportation by holing up in a Chicago church.
Elvira Arellano, 32, said she invoked the ancient right of sanctuary in a desperate effort to avoid being separated from her 7-year-old son, Saul, an American citizen.
That was nine months and 18 days ago. Since then, her act of civil disobedience has helped spark a new sanctuary movement and transformed her into a leader in the effort to create a path to citizenship for the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.
The movement is now growing, as Congress seems unable to act, and surprise raids are separating more and more immigrant families. People of faith are taking Leviticus 19: 33-34 seriously:
When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
We will continue to advocate for justice in immigration reform, but we will also act to serve those who are being oppressed. Our faith demands no less.
Stephen, I have a "wag of the finger" for you. Wednesday night you opened your show by talking about our recent presidential forum on faith, values, and poverty by saying, "CNN gives the Democratic candidates an hour to talk about God. Wonder what they did with the other 58 minutes."
Well, let me tell you what they did with those 58 minutes. They helped dismantle the tired myth that the GOP is "God's One Party," or the more recent angle that Democrats are only getting religion as a crass election strategy. Instead, these candidates described a faith that is both sincere and authentic.
You claimed, "Asking Democrats about religion is like asking Mel Gibson how he enjoyed his Passover." Well, Stephen, as a Catholic you should know that the first Lord's Supper was a Passover meal, and from what I understand, Mel Gibson takes communion regularly. That is to say, we need not agree with a person's politics or even their theology to affirm that their religious beliefs are real and personal, and have shaped their lives in vital ways. Monday night we learned more about why faith is important to these candidates.
But just as you can't dismiss a candidate's faith because of party affiliation, nor can you judge a candidate's fitness for office based on their religion. Stephen, even you must agree that born-again Christians can make bad presidents. (I know you're picturing Jimmy Carter right now, but not everyone is). Instead, as scripture states: "by their fruits ye shall know them." So, except for the most ideologically driven media voices – ahem – most coverage of the event made the vital connection between the candidates' faith and their policies on poverty, criminal justice, immigration, health care, energy – even war and peace.
As I'm sure you are, I'm looking forward to examining these same connections during our Republican forum on faith, values, and poverty in the fall – that is, assuming they accept our invitation. I just hope one hour will be enough time for the top three Republican front-runners to explain how their faith has inspired them to overcome poverty.
Ryan Rodrick Beiler is the web editor for Sojourners/Call to Renewal.
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 On Monday night, we saw the three Democratic front-runners for the presidential nomination deal with questions about faith in a comfortable way. They showed that faith is both personal and real for them.
When John Edwards spoke of how he and his wife Elizabeth were actually “dysfunctional” for a time after the tragic death of their son, and how only “the Lord” got him through that – nobody on either side of the political aisle could have doubted the authenticity. After what many thought was an inappropriate question about Hillary Clinton’s marriage, the Senator responded with a spiritual depth and maturity that deeply impressed everyone who was watching – even her political enemies. The questions about faith, as they often do, ended up revealing more of the honest humanity of these candidates than we often see, and took them off their stump speeches.
But at the same time, and very significantly, these three Senators showed an easy capacity to connect their personal faith with the great moral and public issues of the day – to poverty in particular, to criminal justice, to immigration, health care, energy, and even to the problems of good and evil, and war and peace. John Edwards said his faith compels him to spend the rest of his life seeking to end poverty, Barack Obama insightfully argued how believing God to be on your side is so dangerous in making foreign policy decisions, and Hillary Clinton, in response to a question from a representative from Catholic Charities, showed a deep understanding of the religious notion of “the common good” and applied it to what good political leadership requires.
Several political pundits and media commentators described the forum as “unprecedented” or “groundbreaking.” And I think it might well have been for two big reasons. First, the presidential forum on “faith, values, and poverty” clearly showed that faith is alive and well on both sides of the political aisle, and that God is, indeed, not a Republican or Democrat. It served to help “level the playing field” on faith and politics, where the Republicans have enjoyed a decided advantage for several decades now. Second, it clearly moved the faith and politics debate far beyond the narrow two-issue agenda of abortion and gay marriage, which have for so long been “the religious issues.”
This time the religious issues focused in on the fundamental biblical issues at stake in how we treat the poor. And the traditional hot-button issues were even brought in, with a very thoughtful exchange between evangelical pastor Joel Hunter and Hillary Clinton on how we might actually find some needed common ground on the divisive matter of abortion. But this time religion focused on social justice and that was a welcome relief from the discussion over many years now.
All this holds great promise for the future. And I am convinced that the discussion of faith and politics, religion and public life, will be a very different one – and far better one – in the election cycle of 2008 than it has been for a very long time. That broader conversation, with both sides participating fully, will better for the country, for politics, and for the faith community.
This commentary also appeared as part of the Washington Post/Newsweek On Faith online discussion.
 I was in the audience at Monday night’s presidential candidates forum and have been reading and reflecting on the blog entries and press coverage of the event.
I heard one important point that has so far escaped comment by bloggers and journalists alike. Each of the candidates clearly articulated the idea that living a faith-centered, faith-informed life involves both personal and collective, or corporate, responsibility.
This chord was first struck when Senator Edwards answered a question about the government response to Katrina. He talked both about what he did on a personal level, as a man of faith, using his own hands and feet, "for faith without works is dead . . ." but he went on to describe the corporate responsibility that lies with the entire country, and the moral obligation vested in the president to ensure – daily if needed – that this corporate responsibility is being faithfully carried out.
Next, in response to Jim Wallis’ question, “If you were the president, what kind of moral and political imagination would you bring to finding some real solutions (to issues of poverty)?” Senator Obama’s reply was based, in part, on the words of Dr. Martin Luther King:
[W]e have to get beyond what Dr. King called the "either/or mentality" and embrace "the both/and mentality." And our politics have exacerbated this notion of either/or. So we say either people are entirely responsible for their own lot - and this tends to be expressed within Republican circles, but not entirely - pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, act responsibly, act morally, a great emphasis on private morality, or, conversely, that individuals are responsible, society is acting on them, and they are not free agents. And my attitude - and I think the attitude of every religious leader and scholar that I value and listen to - is that we have these individual responsibilities and these societal responsibilities. And those things aren't
mutually exclusive. So what does that mean concretely? Finally, Senator Clinton spoke of her personal responsibility “to do what is right regardless of what the world thought” while also demonstrating her understanding of the corporate responsibility embodied and led by government leaders and actions when she emphatically declared that “every vote is a moral vote.”
When it comes to taking a serious, faith-informed approach to solving significant social justice issues such as poverty, I think this understanding that faith requires one to take both personal and corporate responsibility in creating, restoring, and leading a just society was one of the most profound and significant of the evening. Yet we must take it deeper. As Obama asked, "So what does that mean concretely?" We each must ask ourselves that question. Here are a few ideas to get us started: Personal responsibility requires each of us to work hard, support ourselves and our families.
Corporate responsibility requires us to ensure that ANY person (including persons with disabilities) who is taking personal responsibility to work should be able to take home a life-sustaining paycheck, being safe and free from harassment while at work. This is where workplace regulations such as labor, industry, health and safety standards, hiring and firing laws (anti-discrimination, etc) and wage standards come in.
Personal responsibility to "do no harm" requires each of us to ensure that our actions do not harm other persons or property (including the natural environment) and that we leave other people AND the environment in a better condition than we found them.
Corporate responsibility requires us all to care for our environment and to implement standards that ensure there will continue to be safe air, water, and other natural resources for our children and future generations.
Corporate responsibility also requires us to provide care, safety, and well-being for the "least of these" among us, particularly children, persons with disabilities, the elderly, and those who are truly trying to take "personal responsibility" for their lives but are unable to due to circumstances out of their control, whether natural disasters in their communities or man-made disasters on a socio-economic scale.
This corporate responsibility for protecting and promoting the safety of all demands that we equip first and second-line responders to safety situations (from the military to police force to fireman to social workers responding to abused children to emergency medical personnel to FEMA) with the resources, tools, and supports needed to do their jobs well and efficiently and effectively. In short, a faith-informed approach to public policy demands that we embrace our corporate responsibility to ensure that the social, economic, and political environment is structured in ways that enhance and increase the likelihood that ALL participants in that society can be successful in taking personal responsibility when they sincerely try to do so. This is the approach I heard each of the candidates articulate on Monday night. This is an approach that is completely consistent with biblical Christianity, and yet respects our founding principle of religious freedom. This intelligent, thoughtful, and reflective understanding that our faith informs how we live as an individual AND how we live together in a society is refreshing and gives me hope.
Susan H. Badeau is the executive director of the Philadelphia Children's Commission, a parent of 22 children by birth, foster care, and adoption, a life-long advocate and a Sojourners/Philadelphia volunteer.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
The latest news on immigration, AIDS, Russia, Republican debates, Libby's sentence, Rep. William Jefferson ethics investigation,abortion, faith, forum transcript, and select Op-Eds. Sign up to receive our daily news summary via e-mail »Full news summary:
Republican debate. McCain Sets Self Apart in Debate "Sen. John McCain of Arizona found himself isolated as he staunchly defended controversial immigration legislation against a barrage of criticism from his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, who argued that the bill is deeply flawed and should not be approved by Congress." Immigration, Bush in crossfire - "Ten Republican presidential hopefuls, sharing a stage once more, clashed over immigration. But some of their harshest rhetoric was aimed at a surprising off-stage target: President Bush." G.O.P. Candidates Spar Over Immigration "The Republican presidential candidates waged verbal combat in the Congressional battle over a proposed immigration overhaul, with Senator John McCain, an author of a pending compromise plan, defending the controversial proposals in a Repubican debate in Goffstown, N.H."
Immigration. Reid Says He Will Seek to End Debate on Immigration Bill"The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, that he would try to force an end to debate on a comprehensive immigration bill, leaving the fate of the legislation in question." Pressure on immigration bill persists "The Senate defeated a measure that would have made it all but impossible for illegal immigrants to become permanent legal residents, a step toward citizenship, under the bipartisan immigration bill." Illegals bill hits Senate roadblock "The immigration deal foundered yesterday, on the verge of collapse under its own weight just days after it appeared to have a clear path to pass the Senate."
Libby sentenced. Libby Given 30 Months for Lying in C.I.A. Leak Case "I. Lewis Libby Jr., the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney and one of the principal architects of President Bush's foreign policy, was sentenced Tuesday to 30 months in prison for lying during a C.I.A. leak investigation that became part of a fierce debate over the war in Iraq." Libby Given 21/2-Year Prison Term "I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in prison for lying to federal investigators about his role in the leak of a CIA officer's identity by a judge who declared the evidence against him "overwhelming" and concluded that Libby "got off course" as a White House employee." Libby gets 30 months, $250,000 fine "Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr. was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in prison on his conviction last month on four counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI in an investigation into the disclosure of the identity of a CIA agent."
Rep. William Jefferson ethics investigation. Ethics Panel to Investigate Congressman on Conduct "Under pressure from Republicans, the House ethics committee announced it would open an inquiry into the conduct of Representative William J. Jefferson who relinquished his sole committee assignment in the wake of his indictment on corruption charges." House Moves Against Embattled Jefferson "Monday's indictment of Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) touched off an ethics battle in the House yesterday, with leaders from both parties moving quickly against Jefferson even as they accused each other of having no real interest in tighter ethics rules."
Russia. Why the hot war of words in U.S.-Russia affairs? "President Bush's attempts to soothe rising tensions with Russian President Vladimir Putin will be tested Wednesday when the two leaders come together for the first time since a U.S. proposal to place a missile defense system in Eastern Europe brought a new low to post-Cold War relations between their two countries." Chastising Putin, Bush Says Russia Derails Reform " President Bush delivered a two-pronged message to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, two days before their scheduled meeting in Germany, chiding Mr. Putin for derailing democratic reforms while assuring the Russian leader that he had nothing to fear from a missile defense system in Europe." Blair tries to defuse tension with Russia over US missiles "Today Mr Blair will take part in his 11th G8 and, amid the preparations, he reflected on the changes since his first, and his expectations of the last."
AIDS. New AIDS Cases in Africa Outpace Gains "For each sub-Saharan African who was placed on anti-AIDS drugs last year, experts say, five more were newly infected. The region's rate of new infections has not budged since the late 1990s, experts say."
Abortion. For some, antiabortion is all or nothing "As they gathered Tuesday for a national strategy session, antiabortion activists faced an unexpected revolt in their own ranks. Some of the biggest groups in the movement, including Focus on the Family and National Right to Life, are under attack from fellow activists who accuse them of turning a godly cause into a money-grubbing industry."
Faith. 'Rejoice always': a lesson in dying "For much of his career studying scripture, professor David Scholer of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena puzzled over a line from 1 Thessalonians: Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. He resisted a part of the verse: How did one "give thanks in all circumstances"? In tragedy? Sickness? Then came cancer and Scholer, a teacher all his life, embarked on what may be his greatest lesson, for his students and for himself."
Forum transcript. The complete transcript of Monday evening's Faith, Values and Poverty Forum sponsored by Sojourners as broadcast live on CNN.
Op-Ed.
The Democrats' Leap of Faith (Ruth Marcus, Washington Post) "This is not Michael Dukakis's Democratic Party. Instead, as was shown by Monday night's forum on faith, sponsored by CNN and the liberal evangelical group Sojourners, it is a party on a mission: to make inroads into Republicans' ability to attract and, more important, turn out religious voters."
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
 Monday night I attended Sojourners' presidential candidates forum on Faith, Values, and Poverty, featuring Democrats John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton. I expected to hear how their faith informed their policies, but I also longed to hear something of the candidates’ stories and their perspectives on theology and ethics. They met my first expectation. But the conversation buoyed me with surprise as to my second hope. Although all three are Protestants, they represent three discreet traditions. Edwards, born Southern Baptist, left and returned to personal faith; Barack Obama articulated the prophetic hope of the African-American church, himself an adult convert; and Hillary Clinton has been a mainline Methodist all her life. Edwards spoke easily of Jesus (even extending the syllables “Je-ee-sus” in that particularly southern way), Obama extolled the vision of “the beloved community,” and Clinton confessed that she is “private” when it comes to faith (I, too, learned in Methodist Sunday school that faith is “private”) and finds it awkward when others “wear their faith on their sleeve.” In one short hour, they modeled the three great families of American Protestantism: evangelical, African-American, and mainline. Yet, the differences did not obscure a greater commonality. All three made surprisingly modest claims about faith, stressing the limits of human knowledge of divine things. Edwards spoke of how often he sinned (“several times a day, every day”) and said that he often prayed to know the difference between his own will and God’s. Obama ruminated about Abraham Lincoln’s Civil War meditations on the ambiguity of faith. And Clinton confessed to the superficiality of some of her prayers while asserting the importance of “doing the best with what we know to be true at a given time.” All three extended these perspectives into the realm of politics and policy, articulating a desire to move away from the politics of hubris to a politics of humility. Clearly unscripted and unplanned, what emerged was a re-articulation of a great American theology: the ironic strain of Protestant faith. In 1952, Reinhold Niebuhr described this part of American religious-political character in his book, The Irony of American History. Irony, as Niebuhr described, is not humor. Rather, it is an understanding that American history was full of unexpected twists, that the most innocent political intentions had often undermined virtue. “If virtue becomes vice through some hidden defect in the virtue; if strength becomes weakness because of the vanity to which strength may prompt the mighty man or nation; if security is transmuted into insecurity because too much reliance is placed upon it; if wisdom becomes folly because it does not know its own limits—in all such cases, the situation is ironic.” Irony runs deep in the Protestant soul, finding its original voice in St. Paul, who said, “We know that the law is spiritual, but I am flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” In recent years, Protestant irony has been in short supply. From both the Religious Right and the current president we have been subjected to a theology of victory, that which Martin Luther once called the “theology of glory,” a triumphal Christianity. No self-reflection, no sense of “I do the very thing I hate,” no anticipation of wisdom turning into folly. Contrasting the theology of glory, Luther identified “the theology of cross.” Like Niebuhr’s irony, the theology of the cross understands human limitations, recognizes suffering, and acts in humility. It is the way of grace-filled risk, of trusting God—not armies or policies or ideologies or our own righteousness—to bring peace. St. Paul, Martin Luther, Reinhold Niebuhr—all voices of the cross. These strains—triumphal or ironic, hubris or humility, of glory or the cross—have competed for the soul of American Protestantism since its beginnings. And, as expected, the more modest voices have often been less heard, perhaps because they represent the deepest place of Protestant spirituality. After nearly two decades of certainty, no wonder the Democrats sounded that note on Monday night—and it was refreshing to hear it. I was not only surprised by how well these Democrats spoke about faith, but that they sounded like Reinhold Niebuhr while doing it! The irony of American history is clearer than ever. As Niebuhr wrote, we are “involved in irony because so many dreams of our nation have been so cruelly refuted by history.” Iraq? New Orleans? The gap between rich and poor? Will we have a political theology of triumphalism or irony? A theology of glory or the cross? Thank goodness we may well have a choice in the next presidential election.  Diana Butler Bass ( http://www.dianabutlerbass.com/) holds a Ph.D. in American religion from Duke University and is the author of the award-winning Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith (Harper SanFrancisco, 2006).
Faith forum. Last evening, Sojourners sponsored a candidate’s forum on Faith, Values, and Poverty. Here are some of the morning news stories: New York Times. Edwards, Clinton and Obama Describe Journeys of Faith “The three leading Democratic presidential hopefuls opened up at a televised forum about their faiths, the role of prayer in their lives and the ways religion informs their views on policy.” Washington Post. Clinton, Edwards and Obama Discuss Their Faith at Forum “In an unprecedented forum, the three leading Democratic presidential candidates described how faith influences both their politics and their personal lives.” Chicago Tribune. Top Democrats discuss faith “Three leading Democratic presidential candidates offered a glimpse of the role that religion plays in their private and political lives.” Washington Times. Top Democrats open up on faith :Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards all got personal during a forum focused on something much less commonly mentioned on the campaign trail: their religious faith.” Los Angeles Times. 3 Democratic candidates talk of their faith “The forum, sponsored by the liberal Sojourners/Call to Renewal evangelical organization, provided an uncommon glimpse into the most personal beliefs of Clinton and rivals John Edwards and Barack Obama.” Christian Broadcast Network. Brody File Reaction to Sojourners Faith Forum “…Clinton, Obama and Edwards helped themselves last night. These faith conferences further the discussion about religion and politics and that’s always a good thing.”
Plus, more news on immigration, hunger, missiles in Europe, Iraq, corruption, G-8, Lebanon, and Islam.
Immigration.Immigrant bill faces multiple alterations “About 30 amendments: That's what stands between a new plan for controlling immigration into the United States and passage in the Senate.” Immigration bill's key compromise under siege “As senators returned to the Capitol Monday after a weeklong recess, supporters of an immigration bill expressed guarded confidence that it would pass despite raging conservative criticism. A Point System for Immigrants Incites PassionsThe point system, one of the most significant features of the Senate immigration bill, will be at the heart of the debate as Congress resumes work on the legislation.” Fiscal lift, burden in immigrant legislation “The immigration bill before Congress would cost the federal government roughly $18 billion over the next decade, largely because of the huge costs of additional border control and law enforcement measures,” Hunger. Cost of hunger calculated at $90 billion “Hunger in America leads to $90 billion a year in societal costs, such as mental-health problems that may arise when people miss too many meals.” Missiles in Europe. Bush Seeks to Ease Putin’s Fears on Missile Defense “President Bush, addressing Russian criticism of his proposal to put missile defenses here and in Poland, said today that Russia has nothing to fear from the proposal, adding, “The cold war is over.” Bush: 'Nothing to fear, Vladimir' “Russia should not fear a missile shield in eastern Europe, George Bush said today in his latest bid to placate Vladimir Putin, who has threatened to aim missiles at western countries in retaliation.” Iraq. Discontent Over Iraq Increasing, Poll Finds “Growing frustration with the performance of the Democratic Congress, combined with widespread public pessimism over President Bush’s temporary troop buildup in Iraq, has left satisfaction with the overall direction of the country at its lowest point in more than a decade,” Key US general says it is too soon to judge Iraq plan “The US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said yesterday it was too early to judge whether a Baghdad security crackdown was successful because the last of five extra brigades had yet to be deployed.”Baghdad areas 'not under control' “US and Iraqi forces control fewer than one-third of Baghdad's neighbourhoods, according to a review of a security crackdown in the city since February.”
Corruption. Lawmaker Indicted on Corruption Charges “Federal authorities accused Rep. William J. Jefferson of using his congressional office and staff to enrich himself and his family, charging the Louisiana Democrat with offering and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to support business ventures in the United States and several West African nations.” Jefferson charged in bribery and corruption “A federal grand jury in Alexandria yesterday indicted Rep. William J. Jefferson, Louisiana Democrat, on charges of bribery and corruption in his promotion of telecommunications equipment and services in Africa.” G-8. 16,000 police deployed for G8 “A multinational coalition of protesters will today begin their bid to physically prevent world leaders from gathering at the G8 summit despite widespread criticism of violent tactics during growing demonstrations in Germany." Lebanon. As Crises Build, Lebanese Fearful of a Failed State “A few miles from Mona Abboud's bookstore in Tripoli, passengers in cars ducked below the dashboard as volleys of gunfire resounded like a jackhammer Monday. Earlier in the day, more clashes erupted at a Palestinian refugee camp three hours from here.” Islam. Blair Calls on Moderates to Reclaim the Public Debate Over Islam “As part of his series of farewells, Prime Minister Tony Blair addressed a government-organized conference on Islam on Monday, and declared that the religion’s “authentic voices” should be given a stage over the voices of extremism.”
Several of the faith bloggers did live blogging during our presidential candidates forum last night. I also include a few conservative blogs to be "fair and balanced." Aaron Krager from Faithfully Liberal: Faith, values, poverty: Sojourner’s Forum - Hillary Clinton Faith, values, poverty: Sojourner’s Forum - Barack Obama Faith, values, poverty: Sojourner’s Forum - John Edwards Final thoughts on Sojourner’s Forum David Kuo: The Faith Forum - a first thoughtThe Faith Forum - wondering about povertyThe Faith Forum - RoundupFrom the Beatitudes Society, Rev. Anne Howard: Live-blogging the Candidates: Refreshing, and even revealing...of all of usAlexander Carpenter at Faith in Public Life: The quick and dirty Sojo presidential ForumJesse Lava at Faithful Democrats: A Groundbreaking Forum on FaithWorld Magazine: The Democratic FaithfulIndependent Conservative: Democrats Talking About Matters of Faith. Total Comedy!UPDATE: I've found a few more since my first round of: Andrew Sullivan: Faith-OffXpatriated Texan: Fluff and Pomp-enstanceJenna Tiitsman at Auburn Media: First-Ever Faith Debate for DemsCollin Hansen, for Christianity Today's Liveblog: Faith Forum for DemocratsFaith in Public Life hosts a conversation between Eric Sapp of Common Good Strategies, Rabbi Andy Bachman, a private blogger and Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Elohim, and Jamison Foser of Media Matters: Faith in Public LIVE: Eric Sapp, Rabbi Andy Bachman and Jamison Foser
Over the course of the past year, especially this semester, I have been thinking a lot about what it means to live out justice and to be an activist. I have been trying to figure out where that fits into my goals and in my life, and whether my impact will be directly helping individuals or working to change social structures. I feel more called to work directly with people, but I also feel the overwhelming importance of making political and structural changes in order to stop the problems in the first place. It seems overwhelming to know even where to begin, and I am hoping that this conference will help me to find direction in how to implement action in my everyday life upon these issues that surround me and fill my thoughts. I'm also incredibly interested in hearing what politicians have to say about the issue of poverty and how they hope to work to overcome an issue that permeates our entire society but somehow remains so often overlooked. Erika Fox is a 2007 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and is attending Pentecost 2007: Taking the Vision to the Streets as an emerging leader.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Many people are happily conservative in their religion and politics.
For them, the dangers of what could happen for the worse are greater than the injustices of what currently is, so their bias is generally against change and toward preserving (conserving) or returning to the way we were, or the way we are.
Many people are happily liberal in their religion and politics. For them, the injustices of what has been and what currently is are so great that it's worth risking the dangers of what could happen in order to seek a better and freer (liberal) world.
Both sides, it seems to me, have a point. Things could easily get worse, so change shouldn't be entered into unadvisedly or lightly. But the past and status quo both have a lot needing improvement, so change shouldn't be resisted unadvisedly or lightly either. Most of us, whatever we are labelled, try to live within this dynamic tension. But according to the recent Media Matters study, the news media give more air time to the religiously conservative voices, with the probable result being that when people hear "religious," they think "religious conservative."
The consequences of this association are, no doubt, complex. One of them would be that when young (or older) people question and perhaps move away from the conservative political ideology of their family and church, they may assume their only alternative is to become secular and abandon their faith as well. I meet people like this by the scores every month, and I have a special concern for them. There are a number of possible reasons for this bias in the media. Among the most plausible to me are these four:
- Some news editors and reporters have a conservative bias and so give their heroes more air time. They may do this thinking they're correcting a perceived "liberal bias" in the media.
- Some news editors and reporters have a liberal bias and so want to encourage outrage at the latest statements by conservative spokespeople. They don't realize that they may be discrediting religion in general, not just these spokespeople, by their disproportionate reporting.
- All media are prone to "Jerry-Springerization" - meaning that at heart, we never outgrow junior high school and so gather around whenever it looks like a fight is going to break out. In the media, this means that outrageous and pugilistic people will naturally get more air time because they go from fight to fight.
- Conservative organizations have learned how to get air time more effectively than others, so they're working the system with greater skill.
The Media Matters report invites three responses, in my opinion:
- Media professionals should monitor themselves in this regard, whatever their bias (or professed "objectivity").
- Media professionals who are bucking the trend deserve to be appreciated - programs such as "Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly," for example, or the "On Faith" initiative launched by Newsweek and The Washington Post.
- Moderate and progressive faith-based groups such as Red Letter Christians (of which I am a part) need to improve our MSQ - or media-savvy quotient. When faced with "Jerry-Springerization," we don't have to either walk away from the media entirely on the one hand, or jump in the fray armed with a folding chair on the other. We can follow the lead of the prophets - from Jeremiah and Amos to Jesus and Paul - finding ways to be heard in the marketplace, ways that are in sync with the values we hold and the message we stand for.
Brian McLaren (brianmclaren.net) serves as board chair for Sojourners/Call to Renewal. His next book, Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope, will be released in October. Watch his comments on the Media Matters report at a recent press conference sponsored by Faith in Public Life.
Friday, June 01, 2007
One of God’s true servants on earth, Billy Graham, was honored yesterday with the opening of a library and museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The facility will hold memorabilia of Graham’s long preaching career, including photos and video footage of his evangelistic campaigns. The three living former presidents attended the opening, all offering their praise for Graham: ... former President George Bush delivered the keynote address, his voice cracking into a sob as he said Mr. Graham was “the man, the preacher, the humble farmer’s son who changed the world.” And while Graham is known more as a revival preacher than a social activist, he was one of the early pioneers in holding integrated meetings in the segregated South: "He was constantly broadminded, forgiving, humble in his treatment of others,” Mr. Carter said. “He has reached out equally to all people, black or white, man or woman. I am one of the tens of millions of people whose spiritual lives have been shaped by Billy Graham.” Billy, after all the laudatory speeches, had his usual humble response: “I feel like I’ve been attending my own funeral, listening to all these speeches,” he said to the crowd’s nervous laughter. “I’ve been here at the library once, and my one comment when I toured it was that it is too much Billy Graham. My whole life has been to please the Lord and honor Jesus, not to see me and think of me.” Billy Graham’s sincerity, integrity, and humility are very important reminders for the rest of us. I’d glad he is being honored in this way, and on my next trip to North Carolina I’ll be sure to visit the library.
Katie Barge at Faith in Public Life has done a great job of rounding up comments (including GP's post by Rev. Derrick Harkins) on the religious community's advocacy on behalf of family reunification in the immigration debate. Her comments: The current immigration deal under consideration in the Senate needs a family values fix. Right now, there are "an estimated 1.5 million legal immigrants in the United States who have been waiting as long as seven years to bring husbands, wives and small children to live with them." The current immigration bill does NOTHING to fix this, and in fact, reduces the number of family reunification visas available each year. This means that the backlog of families waiting to be reunited will only continue to grow. ...
[S] houldn't there be a lot more noise on this from the faith community, from the left and right? Shouldn't all groups who claim to be pro-family be firing up their constituencies in support of this family values fix? Here are the statements from religious leaders and organizations that we have seen so far ... anyone seen any more? Read her full post, including statements by faith groups.Ryan Rodrick Beiler is the web editor for Sojourners/Call to Renewal.
 During the Tribeca Film Festival, I happened to catch the world premiere of the documentary Pete Seeger: The Power of Song. I have vague recollections of attending the Newport Folk Festival as a toddler, long before it became commercialized as the Dunkin’ Donuts Newport Folk Festival. So, I was curious to learn more about the man that taught me to sing such songs as “Little Boxes,” “If I Had a Hammer,” and “Turn, Turn, Turn.” Also, through my brief interactions with the nonprofit organization Clearwater, I heard how he lent his voice to a grassroots movement to clean up the Hudson River, thus enabling me to sail, fish, and even kayak in what was once deemed a toxic waste dump. In this only authorized biography of Pete Seeger, director Jim Brown documents the life of this popular folk singer/songwriter who was picketed, protested, and even blacklisted. In his quest to “make a difference,” Seeger saw himself as a New Testament planter of seeds (See Matthew 13:3-23, Mark 4:2-20, and Luke 8:4-15), who used his banjo as his tool to sow the seeds of music. While some seeds fell on rocky ground and other seeds blew away like dust in the wind, Seeger observed how some seeds flourished and grew into movements to address issues such as civil rights, the Vietnam War, and the environment. In today's cynical world, can we enact positive social change through artistic self-expression or is this notion simply a relic of a bygone era? The recent success of the U2charists as a means to educate congregations about the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals seems to indicate that this spirit is still alive and thriving. Yes, I’m aware of the criticism surrounding a service that has even been parodied by The Daily Show, not to mention the slew of sappy Bono books penned by those who seem to be capitalizing on the U2 buzz. Before discounting this as yet another celeb fest, ask Seattle area residents who were able to check out Church of the Apostles’ city wide U2charist worship service, held May 27 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral. There was a MDG fair before the service, and offerings went to Episcopal Relief and Development for Darfur. I know Karen and her crew there well enough to know that this was a spirit-filled adventure that rocked the house. As I explore a bit further the topic of artistic expression as a force for positive change, let me draw your attention to a few other movies that also had their world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Chops follows several multiracial high school jazz bands as they bond through this uniquely American art form while preparing to compete in the 2006 Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival. Anyone thinking about cutting music and art from their local high school curriculums should see this flick first. Simply put, I wonder about the fate of some of those kids had music not entered their lives. Also of note is Shame, which started last night on Showtime. Directed by Mohammed Ali Naqvi, this documentary follows the story of Mukhtaran Mai, who spoke out against her community and government after she was brutally gang-raped. She uses the reparations money granted to her by the Pakistani government to set up the first school for girls in her hometown of Meerwala, hoping to empower the next generation of women. On a side note to Sam Harris and those who blame religion for the world’s woes, this film explores how this tribal system allowed Mukhtaran to be raped and how she found solace in the mosque of all places. If this admittedly illiterate woman can find her voice and in her quest for justice transform her community, what prevents us from doing likewise?  Becky Garrison is senior contributing editor of The Wittenburg Door and author of Red and Blue God, Black and Blue Church.
The latest news on the Billy Graham Library, climate change, Iraq, faith and politics. hunger, Blair in Africa, Darfur, immigration, Iran, Turkey, minority students, US military, Europe and select Op-Eds. Sign up to receive our daily news summary via e-mail »Full news summary:
Billy Graham Library. Graham's spiritual journey finds home "Three former presidents, more than 80 family members and about 1,500 invited guests turned out Thursday to help Billy Graham dedicate the library devoted to his life and ministry." Accolades, Some Tearful, for a Preacher in His Twilight Years "For a man who has welcomed crowds his whole life, the evangelist Billy Graham appeared humbled and a bit embarrassed to be before this one Thursday in a parking lot near the Charlotte airport." Ex-Presidents at Graham library opening "Visitors to the new, presidential-style museum honoring evangelist Billy Graham enter and exit the building through crosses as tall as 40 feet high, a design meant to emphasize that the $27-million complex is an extension of the minister's work."
Faith & Politics. Faith Playing Larger Role in 2008 Race "Lately it seems all the leading presidential candidates are discussing their religious and moral beliefs - even when they'd rather not. Indeed, seven years after George W. Bush won the presidency in part with a direct appeal to conservative religious voters … the personal faith of candidates has become a very public part of the presidential campaign."
Hunger. Nation's unseen scourge: Hunger "As Congress prepares to wrangle with reauthorizing the Farm Bill, which funds the food-stamp program, anti-hunger advocates are on high alert. Eager to generate public discussion during national Hunger Awareness Week, June 2-10, they worry about the more than 25 million Americans who use food stamps."
Blair in Africa. Blair says G8 must do more for Africa "Tony Blair urged the international community to "step up to the plate" on aid for Africa when the Group of Eight meets in Germany next week." Blair's parting drive to aid Africa "Blair says the trip will build momentum ahead of next week's G-8 summit in Germany, where he will push for leaders to follow through on promises made in 2005." Mandela welcomes Blair to his 'retirement club' "Nelson Mandela welcomed Tony Blair into the ex-presidents' and prime ministers' club as he completed his "farewell" tour of Africa. … "Tony, I look forward to welcoming a young man like you to the club of retiring presidents and prime ministers," Mr Mandela said. "I warn you, however, that some of us only become active after stepping down from office."
Darfur. Saving Darfur, Multiple Steps at a Time "Lobbying groups regularly get their way in Washington, but few have had as much impact in a short period as the Save Darfur Coalition, an organization that has been pressing for international intervention in war-torn Sudan." On Darfur, Bush calls a spade a spade "President Bush reiterated this Tuesday that "genocide" is the "rightful name" for the bombing, murder, and rape in western Sudan."
(Daniel Schorr, Christian Science Monitor)
Climate change. Bush Proposes Goal to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions"President Bush, fending off international accusations that he was ignoring climate change, proposed for the first time to set "a long-term global goal" for cutting greenhouse gas emissions," Bush offers to take climate lead "On the eve of a major international summit, President Bush proposed that the United States and the other nations that produce most of the gases responsible for global warming initiate a campaign to limit emissions and set long-term goals for reductions." Bush urges plan to cut emissions "President Bush, who has long refused to commit the United States to specific limits on pollutants contributing to global warming, took a new turn in proposing that the U.S. and other leading nations by the end of next year set "a long-term global goal for reducing greenhouse gases."
Bush climate plan called all talk, no action Environmental groups dismissed the move as a ploy to avoid tougher actions that other nations favor. US climate plan 'a delaying tactic' Environmental groups today condemned George Bush's proposed global plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, labelling it a stalling tactic lacking concrete details. Baird says he'll push green targets at G8 OTTAWA - The Harper government plans to pressure the Bush administration to accept targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions at next week's G8 summit, even though neither side expects that a new global pact to fight climate change will be in before the end of 2008.
Immigration. Unions split over immigration bill "The labor divide reflects a deeper rift within the party, which includes a growing constituency of immigrants as well as middle-class workers afraid of layoffs as U.S. jobs move overseas." Senate bill's critics fear longer detentions for migrants "The bipartisan Senate immigration bill would drastically expand the ability to deport and detain certain immigrants in little-noticed provisions that could increase racial profiling, Los Angeles immigrant rights advocates said"
Iran. No Breakthrough as Iranian Nuclear Talks Recess"Talks between Iran's nuclear negotiator and a top envoy for the European Union ended late Thursday with few signs they were closer to breaking their deadlock over Iran's nuclear ambitions." Iran and the U.S.: New Cold War?"Even as they struggle to find common ground on Iraq, are America and Iran locked in the escalating tensions of a new Cold War?"
Turkey. Turkey deploys extra troops to Iraq border "A Turkish military build-up on the northern Iraq border is fuelling fears of a confrontation between Ankara and Kurdistan's semi-independent government that could further destabilise the region as US forces begin to pull back."
Minority students. U.S. Data Show Rapid Minority Growth in School Rolls "Driven mainly by an extraordinary influx of Hispanics, the nation's population of minority students has surged to 42 percent of public school enrollment, up from 22 percent three decades ago,"
Iraq. General doubtful on assessment deadline "The top U.S. ground commander in Iraq warned that September may be too soon to tell whether the American troop buildup in Baghdad has worked, casting doubt on a crucial milestone set by Congress to reassess Iraq war strategy." 'Small progress' seen in Iraq despite rise in GI deaths "With the past month marking one of the deadliest periods for U.S. troops since the start of the war, the second-ranking U.S. military commander in Iraq said Thursday that some progress has been made in the early going of the troop buildup." US commanders seek cease-fires with insurgents "The US military is working more aggressively to forge cease-fires with Iraqi militants and quell the violence around Baghdad, judging that 80 percent of enemy combatants are "reconcilable," a top US commander said."
US military. Antiwar to the Corps "Going on a mock patrol can get you in real trouble with the United States Marine Corps. In a case that raises questions about free speech, the Marines have launched investigations of three inactive reservists for wearing their uniforms during antiwar protests and allegedly making statements characterized as "disrespectful" or "disloyal." Fewer high-quality Army recruits"The percentage of high-quality recruits entering the Army is the lowest in 10 years, an indication that the force is struggling to attract top-grade enlistees -- and a troubling sign for the Pentagon, which is waging wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and plans to add 90,000 ground troops to its ranks within the next five years."
Europe. 'Old Europe' tilting toward U.S. "a new set of players emerging on the old Europe bench could tip the balance back toward the Atlantic. Britain, France and Germany are fielding potentially the most pro-U.S. group of leaders to emerge in Western Europe in years."
Op-Eds.
Bush's legacy on AIDS (Editorial, Boston Globe) "HISTORIANS ARE not likely to be kind in judging the chaos President Bush has created in Iraq, or the damage he has done to international agreements like the Geneva Conventions and to civil liberties at home. But he will deserve high marks for his leadership in mobilizing US aid to fight AIDS overseas. On Wednesday, he asked Congress to spend an additional $30 billion in assistance over five years."
Debating In Parallel Universes (E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post) "Our two political parties and their candidates are living in parallel universes. It's as if the candidates were running for president in two separate countries. Their televised debates next week will be productions as different from each other as "American Idol" is from "P.T.I."
Don't Forget the Border(Janet Napolitano, New York Times) "IMMIGRATION is a tough issue and the Senate deserves our thanks for moving a bill forward this year. But as with all things related to immigration, the devil is in the details. As a border state governor with a close-up view of how immigration policy works on the ground, I have seen how easily plans can fall apart, or lose the support they need from Washington."
What Mexico Wants(Jorge G. Castañeda, New York Times) "NO nation is as involved in United States immigration as Mexico, and no government's cooperation will be as necessary as Mexico's if immigration reform is to succeed.'
The biblical use of the word "righteousness" is the moral equivalent of what we mean when we speak of holiness. It incorporates such concerns as a passion for justice and a concern for truth along with the need to live an ethically responsible life. It involves reflection in what we do and the Christian moral vision by which we understand who we are. Righteousness is the human expression of holiness embodying a vision rooted in moral perspective.
- James C. Fenhagen excerpt from "Invitation to Holiness." + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail
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Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker talks to Sojourners associate editor Rose Marie Berger about Hurricane Katrina, bubble baths, and the art of remembering.
