The monologue of the Religious Right is over and a new conversation has begun! Join the God's Politics dialogue with Jim Wallis and friends Brian McLaren, Diana Butler Bass, Becky Garrison, Gareth Higgins, Shane Claiborne, Mary Nelson, Gabriel Salguero, Tony Campolo, and others.
I'm on a plane to Portland, Oregon, to begin the West Coast swing of The Great Awakening book tour that will also take us to Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego—all back to back. The events are quite diverse and very interesting, from universities, churches, various civic forums, pastors' lunches, student groups, and, of course, lots of bookstores.
Already, I am being reminded of the God's Politics book tour three years ago. So many people have told me how depressed they were after the 2004 election, and how the appearance of God's Politics gave them real hope again about the possibility of an alternative to the Religious Right, or, even more personally, how that promise actually brought them back to faith. I can't tell you how much that encourages me. Last time we were really stunned by the size of the turnout at all the book events and also at how young the audiences were. And Tuesday night, at the opening book event for The Great Awakening at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., the hall was filled with students.
I've been doing lots of radio interviews in the last few days and have found the comments and questions very interesting. Two stand out.
First, several interviewers have suggested that God's Politics and now The Great Awakening are giving Christian faith a different image than the one that has dominated for several years now. They say these books are helping to "re-brand" Christian commitment away from the divisive, partisan, political, and top-down agenda of the Religious Right to a new image of faith that is much more welcoming, open, inclusive, and focused on both compassion and social justice. I really hope that is true and that's part of the reason I write these books.
The second question I am asked is even more important, it seems to me. The Great Awakening is a very hopeful book, several of the interviewers have told me. But then they ask, "Do you think we really can be hopeful about real change in this country and the world?" They ask me to forgive them for their cynicism and then ask, almost longingly, if hope is really possible. That is exactly the question this book tries to deal with, and I am sure it will be the hot topic of conversation at every stop along this book tour.
Along the way, I'll be blogging about the people I meet and what they have to say. Keep up with us at the God's Politics Blog. And do visit the Great Awakening Web site our terrific staff has created for the book tour. It is full of good resources, including a downloadable study guide for those who want to start Great Awakening study groups in their church or community. (I heard a lot about those during the God's Politics book tour—including when I was in Dallas last year and a man whispered subversively in my ear that they had two God's Politics book study groups in George Bush's home church!)
The Great Awakening also has a cool little video about what inspired me to write this book, put together by some of our most talented young staffers (I am so lucky to have these people). You can also see the schedule for when we will be coming to a city near you! So come on out, bring your friends and bring your kids. We're going to have a whole lot of fun.
Last night I finally saw Juno, Roger Ebert's favorite film of 2007 and recipient of four Oscar nominations, which has as its center the story of an unplanned pregnancy and the people affected by it. The protagonist, Juno MacGuff, played by Ellen Page in one of those so-good-she's-either-brilliant-or-really-like-that-in-real-life performances, is a misfit attracted to her male mirror image. Wiser beyond her years, slightly jaded by life and negotiating the pitfalls of the high school psychological assault course, she responds to her pregnancy by initially seeking an abortion – and the nonchalance with which she is treated is the only thing sadder than the unthinking speed with which she makes the decision. She is greeted by a lone protestor – the sole representative of institutional Christianity in the movie – as young as her, who, while a welcome change from the angry fundamentalist stereotype, may know as little about adult life as Juno does about the experience of pregnancy she's about to have. But something unsettles Juno, and she is unable to go through with the termination. Instead, she plans to have the child and help a couple seeking to adopt.
And that's it – the rest of the film is a deceptively simple story, taking Juno through the following months, her relationship with family, her best friend, and Paulie Bleeker – the dude she hung out with a little too late one night. There's not much to the tale at first glance, but I found the way in which it is told (by writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman – son of Ivan, who brought us Ghostbusters and the wonderful presidential satire Dave) – so utterly beguiling that by the time the film was over I wanted to go straight back to the start to rediscover these characters all over again.
Why? Because the characters in this film not only feel like real people, they are the kind of people you would be happy to spend time with. Because the film does as good a job as the best films of its type at reminding us of what it feels like to be young and not fit in (even the prospective adoptive father is trying to find his liberation in a stifling world). Because there are no grandstanding scenes, no emotional outbursts, no melodramatic moments of "closure." The characters behave the way many of us might hope to be able to do in similar situations - Juno's parents respond to her surprising news with grace, never for a second falling into the cliché of fearing what the neighbours might think. Juno is confident enough not to join so many others of her generation by giving into the stigma of shame, and Paulie ultimately just wants to be a good guy for her.
If this sounds sentimental, that's certainly not the tone of the film. If it sounds unrealistic, however, then perhaps that is indicative of a culture in which perfectionism or arrogance are often preferred over honestly managing the frailty of being human. Diablo Cody was once a stripper and so is likely to have experienced moralistic condemnation at the hands of others. It is a triumph that she has composed a film so full of generosity and so lacking in bitterness, so full of hope for family, for children, for people being able to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and start all over again. Alongside the clear exploration of how to respond to unplanned pregnancy, this film has something to say to those of us seeking to explore what forgiveness and redemption means. More than that, in its embrace of the totality of our existence – from its acknowledgement that the promotion of values often has more to do with helping people move on from things that didn't work out than with dogmatic confrontation, to its critique of the fact that some religious voices seem incapable of communicating compassion, Juno is a truly pro-life film.
Gareth Higgins is a Christian writer and activist in Belfast, Northern Ireland. For the past decade he was the founder/director of the zero28 project, an initiative addressing questions of peace, justice, and culture. He is the author of the insightful How Movies Helped Save My Soul and blogs at www.godisnotelsewhere.blogspot.com
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But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
"In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
I used to be a person uncommonly terrified with thunder, and it used to strike me with terror when I saw a thunder storm rising. But now, on the contrary, it rejoiced me. I felt God at the first appearance of a thunderstorm. And used to take the opportunity at such times to fix myself to view the clouds, and see the lightnings play, and hear the majestic and awful voice of God’s thunder, which often times was exceeding entertaining, leading me to sweet contemplations of my great and glorious God.
John Edwards ended his campaign this afternoon at the same place he started it and with the same theme—ending poverty as a moral imperative. In the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Edwards said that he was stepping aside in this presidential campaign, but that he would now continue his life-long work for economic justice. Before announcing his decision, he called both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to ask for a pledge to make ending poverty central to their campaigns for president and to their presidencies if they are elected.
John Edwards has changed the shape and the agenda of this campaign. He has put the needs of the poor and working families on the political agenda for the first time in many years. His clear and consistent voice has made sure that universal health care, fundamental issues of economic inequality, and the plight of so many Americans who are barely getting by would be on the front burner of this election campaign. John Edwards has championed the poor more than any white presidential candidate since Robert Kennedy did many decades ago. His campaign may be ending today, but he has already shaped the priorities of this election year in a decisive way.
Again today, he reminded us that "we have a moral responsibility to each other," as his valiant wife Elizabeth could be seen wiping a tear from her eyes. Because, he said, "But for the grace of God, there goes us." He called for an end to government "walking away" from poor and working people. Nobody has spoken of the 37 million Americans who wake up every morning in poverty more than John Edwards.
As he was on his way to give the announcement to withdraw from the presidential race, he stopped to talk to some homeless people under a bridge. One woman said, "Promise me you won't forget us." Edwards promised that he wouldn't. I believe him. I have admired John Edwards greatly - especially among the presidential candidates in recent years - and today I was so proud of him once again.
He closed by saying, "This son of a mill worker's gonna be just fine. Our job now is to make certain that America will be fine … it's time for all of us, all of us together, to make the two Americas one." And today he made a commitment for his party (to which he is now likely to continually hold them to account): "We will never forget you. We will fight for you. We will stand up for you." He said to all of those he had heard in the past several days asking him to speak for them, "I want you to know that you almost changed my mind."
The Bible says that a nation will be judged, more than anything else, by how it treats its poorest and most vulnerable. And seldom do we see a political candidate who sounds like a biblical prophet. So I just want to say thank you to John and Elizabeth Edwards. You may not become president this time, but you have been a prophet to the nation and will continue to be. As you said in your closing remarks, your presidential campaign may be over, but it's time to get to work. And I know we will be working together. God bless you both.
Learn more about The Great Awakening at www.sojo.net/greatawakening. There you'll find more videos, book excerpts, a free study guide, screensavers, and other downloads - including mp3s from Derek Webb. Plus, book tour dates and the opportunity to create or join book groups in your community.
The creator goes off on one wild, specific tangent after another, or millions simultaneously, with an exuberance that would seem to be unwarranted, and with an abandoned energy sprung from an unfathomable font. What is going on here? The point of the dragonfly’s terrible lip, the giant water bug, birdson, or the beautiful dazzle and flash of sunlighted minnows, is not that it all fits together like clockwork—for it doesn’t, particularly, not even inside the goldfish bowl—but that it all flows so freely wild, like the creek, that it all surges in such a free fringed tangle. Freedom is the world’s water and weather, the world’s nourishment freely given, its soil and sap: and the creator loves pizzazz.
Therefore thus says the Lord God,
See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation:
"One who trusts will not panic."
And I will make justice the line,
and righteousness the plummet;
hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.
Nothing has exposed the severe ethical troubles of the world´s second largest burger chain quite so lucidly as a slave break in Florida´s tomato country in November.
Burger King, under fire for turning a blind eye to the rampant human rights abuses in the fields where they buy their tomatoes, decided to react. But in lieu of taking responsibility for the conditions, like McDonald´s, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell have in recent years, Burger King opted to deny that farmworker enslavement and sub-poverty wages exist.
In mid-November, Burger King led a high profile press tour through Immokalee, Fla – the epicenter of our nation´s fresh tomato production and home to the award-winning farmworker group, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW).
The CIW has unearthed, investigated, and assisted federal officials in prosecuting five forced labor operations in Florida agriculture in the last decade alone – resulting in the liberation of more than 1,000 people. By working together with people of faith across the country, the CIW has persuaded a number of major fast food restaurants to sign on to codes of conduct that establish a zero-tolerance policy for modern-day slavery.
Yet on Nov. 20, a so-called independent auditor accompanying Burger King on its press junket through Immokalee was quoted in the Miami Herald dismissing the CIW´s accusations of widespread abuse, stating: "We have found no slave labor."
The very same day, Nov. 20, a report was filed with the Sheriff´s office in Immokalee by three men - all of them tomato pickers - who had broken through the ventilation hatch of a U-haul truck their employers had locked them in and escaped. Earlier this month, their employers were indicted in federal court on charges of indentured servitude and peonage.
U.S. Attorney Doug Molloy called the operation – which, interestingly, was situated just three blocks from where Burger King was hosting its press tour – "slavery, plain and simple."
Why does slavery still exist? Slavery flourishes in U.S. agriculture because the everyday reality of sweatshop conditions provides the fertile soil that enable it to sprout, time and time again.
Farmworkers are among the least paid workers in the nation; to make $50 in a day, a worker must pick nearly two tons of tomatoes one-by-one. The back-breaking work they perform – without any benefits whatsoever – beneath a brutal sun (and at times a brutal crewleader) makes possible the food that nourishes our families and ourselves.
Until we fix a system that allows exploitation to be the norm, we´d be amiss to assume that the most extreme forms of that exploitation – human enslavement – will just vanish.
As such, Burger King would do well to carefully examine James 5:4 :
Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord.
Jordan Buckley works with Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida (interfaithact.org), animating people of faith to collaborate with farmworkers to eliminate modern-day slavery and sweatshop conditions in the U.S. agriculture industry.
At home, an abundance of books and papers overlays the heavy furniture I inherited from my grandparents. A perfectly simple room, with one perfect object to meditate on, remains a dream until I step outside, onto the Plains. A tree. A butte. The sunrise. It always makes me wonder: What is enough? Are there enough trees here? As always, it seems that the more I can distinguish my true needs and my wants, the more I am shocked to realize how little is enough.
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When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Tonight, President Bush delivers his 7th State of the Union address. We are certain to hear about the President's plan for stimulating the economy.
Yet, for many people of faith, there is a hunger for a new vision of our life together where bold changes are enacted to address the most pressing moral issues of our time. I’ve written about this hunger for change in my latest book, The Great Awakening , in which I talk about how spiritually-based movements for social change have transformed our nation. The abolition movement to end slavery, the fight to end child labor, the civil rights movement – all of these were movements led by people of faith who hungered for a better way.
I believe we’re at another important moment in history. Together, we can end the moral scandal of poverty, the degradation of God's creation, the cultural assault on our families and children, and seeing war as the only way to confront evil. You can watch my reflections on "The Moral State of the Union" here, click here for the complete prepared text, or download the complete audio as an mp3.
I'm Jim Wallis, of Sojourners and author of The Great Awakening. As the President prepares to deliver his State of the Union message to the country, I want to share some of my reflections on the Moral State of the Union.
Everyday there seems to be some new outrageous charge leveled at Barack Obama. One of the most pernicious is that he is a Muslim who is dishonestly masquerading as a Christian. This charge is so malicious - and so untrue - that it is time to set the record straight.
Barack Obama has never been a Muslim. He has never attended a Muslim school. From about age eight to age nine Obama lived in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country on earth, with more Muslim schools than one can count, yet his parents chose to enroll him in a secular, non-religious school comprised of teachers and students of all faiths. Nor can it be said that during his brief sojourn in Indonesia that his worldview was tainted by Islamic extremism; when Obama lived there, the practice of Islam in Indonesia was still among the world's most moderate.
Another false charge is that rather than using a Bible to be sworn into his elected office, Senator Obama instead used the Qur'an, the holy book of the Muslim faith. That is also a falsehood. The most cursory check of the facts shows that it was not Barack Obama who was sworn in with a Qur'an. It was Keith Ellison, the proudly Muslim congressman from Minnesota.
But by far the ugliest charge is that Barack Obama is lying about his Christian faith. The truth is that for years now, Barack Obama has been a baptized, fully confessed and practicing Christian, not only with his lips inside a church but, more importantly, with his limbs out in the community - striving to help the neediest and the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters of all creeds and colors.
It is correct that Obama was not born into the Christian faith. Rather, Barack Obama made a conscious decision as a mature adult to become part of the body of Christ. One measure of the seriousness of his faith is that he has been an active and faithful churchgoer since he embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ as his own.
Dr. Jeremiah Wright - his pastor - a wise, sensitive Christian freedom-fighter (in the very best sense of the word), and a man deeply committed to his faith in Christ, whole-heartedly attests to this, as does every fellow parishioner who has encountered Obama in his home church - the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. (By the way, the United Church of Christ is a predominately white mainstream Christian denomination.)
But what is also troubling about all the false information being spread about Obama is its obsession with doctrines and creeds to the apparent detriment of any sense of the spirituality of service. This tragically flawed understanding of Christian faith is apparently more concerned with the fleeting testimony of one's mouth than with the abiding testimony of one's walk in the world. If this was not so, if what was really the concern of those seeking to discredit Obama was that one be a Christian rather than simply bearing the name, then why do they not attack the people "of faith" who tell every listening ear that they are Christians, yet everyday spit on the very tenets that Jesus taught by making greed, self-aggrandizement and treating poor people as children of a lesser God their de facto religion? Why not equally publicly indict the rapacious "prosperity preachers" and fake healers who appear in pulpits and on television weekly to steal from the poor so they themselves can live in imperial luxury like the Roman Caesar, the same Caesar whose empire tortured Jesus to death? According to the teachings of Jesus, transgressions like these are what believers should be exposing and denouncing. Indeed, in Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus makes it clear that betrayal of the poor and the vulnerable is among the worst sins possible. Moreover, there Jesus reveals that if nothing else will get one banished to Hell, hurting - even ignoring - those he calls "the least of these" surely will.
Also in that Matthew 25 passage, Jesus teaches that if we are to judge each other at all, it must be by the standard of whether we are trying to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless. That is the gospel's paramount measure of faith, not how much one shouts Jesus' name or how often and how loudly one can recite doctrine and creeds. Jesus taught - and modeled - that what is most important for those who follow him is to spend their time and treasure in this world, engaging in loving, self-sacrificial actions with the express purpose of manifesting God's love and justice on earth as in heaven.
For me, that is the standard by which all those who seek to lead or govern us must be judged.
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Contemporary American churches in particular do not require following Christ in his example, spirit, and teachings as a condition of membership—either of entering into or continuing in fellowship of a denomination or a local church.... Most problems in contemporary churches can be explained by the fact that members have not yet decided to follow Christ.
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
On Wednesday, Sojourners and Beliefnet, in collaboration with the National Association of Evangelicals Christian Student Leadership Conference, hosted a panel discussion on "Choosing a president: What do evangelicals really want?" I joined Steve Waldman and David Kuo of Beliefnet, Rich Cizik of the NAE, Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church and the High Impact Leadership Coalition, Lynne Hybels of the Willow Creek Community Church, Rev. Joel Hunter of Northland Church and former president of the Christian Coalition, Rev. Sam Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Leadership Conference, and Rev. Cheryl Sanders of the Third Street Church of God and Howard University School of Divinity in a 90-minute conversation.
I was honored to be part of the group, and found the discussion informative and inspiring. I encourage you to listen to the entire conversation, but here are my favorite quotes from each of the panelists:
Rich Cizik: "An historic shift is occurring, it's equivalent to an earthquake in slow motion, but people aren't sensing it, the national media hasn't picked up on it … We are no longer single issue voters, and we're not going to blindly follow prominent leaders in the Religious Right, or otherwise, who are telling us what we have to believe."
Harry Jackson: "It's impossible, though, to be a conscience to the entire nation and be partisan as well. So, at some point we've lost our ability to be an impartial conscience to the entire nation."
Lynne Hybels: "It took a very unlikely prophet named Bono to shake me up. It really was a challenge from him that sent me to Africa and really turned my life upside down. It's a shame that it took an Irish rock star to call the church to task on this, but I'm really glad he did. … [In] many of the great global issues like poverty, AIDS, and refugees, women are disproportionately impacted by all these great social global tragedies, and I would like to see women become disproportionately engaged on the solution side. Personally, that is my call to evangelical women – to pay attention to what's going on in the world and get involved."
Joel Hunter: "There is now a maturing of the movement. Any movement starts out with a negative, you're against something. It's kind of like the middle-school years. You define yourself by what you hate, what you're not. And as you grow up, you have to start defining yourself by who you are and what you want to build. That's where we are right now."
Sam Rodriguez: "The major difference between Latino evangelicals and white evangelicals is that many white evangelicals take their marching orders from Bishop Rush Limbaugh, Prophet Sean Hannity, and Apostle Lou Dobbs; and Latino evangelicals still listen to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John."
Cheryl Sanders: "Martin Luther King made this point in his writing and his speeches – he was a Christian, he was a gospel-preaching Christian – and he brought that evangelical message – the social gospel, if we want to call it that – to bear on civil rights, his center of concern, but it included economic justice, health care, and so many of the other things we're concerned about today. … In the history of African Americans and the church, there hasn't really been a time when it was detached from the social and political message."
I am now beginning a 20-city tour to talk about my new book, The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith and Politics in A Post-Religious Right America. The conversation at every stop will be about how real and deep change could happen in this country and around the world—and is already beginning to. And that change begins with our own lives, our congregations and communities, and the kind of social movements that finally move politics. I invite you to come to one of our events, here is detailed city-by-city information on the tour. I'm looking forward to meeting people all around the country to talk about the "revival" that is already occurring and could bring the change and the hope that so many people are clearly longing for in this critical election year and beyond.
The New Year began with bang. When it comes to presidential politics, we certainly saw some new beginnings. Sen. Barack Obama made history by becoming the first African American to win in Iowa, making him the clear front-runner (well, at least for a week or so). But after Sen. Clinton won New Hampshire, not only did it become clear that this would be one of the most interesting and most-watched presidential races in history, something else rose to the surface. We were reminded that while this may be a year of new beginnings, some things have not changed.
After Sen. Clinton won New Hampshire, pundits and reporters began to raise questions about race and if, in the privacy of the voting booth, white people would not vote for a black man. Now it is clear from the results in Iowa and the support that Sen. Obama has been receiving from people of all races since the beginning of his campaign, that he is perceived by many as a candidate who transcends race. It's clear that for many people, a candidate's race is not their major concern. However, given the media's fascination with race—based on the outcome in New Hampshire and their inability to find a rational answer for the turn of events—some assumed it must be Obama's race. The reality is that we do not live in a colorblind society, because if we did there would have been no need to point out that Sen. Obama made history as the first black man to win in Iowa.
This got me thinking about the role that race plays in religion, the most intimate and personal aspect of our lives. Just yesterday I was asked by a reporter what I thought about how the religious community would respond on Feb. 5. Well, we have all heard it said over and over that church on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America. Churches, like our public schools and neighborhoods are still, in general, very segregated.
Even religious leaders and those aspiring to lead congregations have to deal with the issue of race in their churches. I remember when I was a student at Duke Divinity School, a student said to me that her church welcomes everyone regardless of race and that they wanted more black people to worship with them. My response was that it's one thing to let us worship with you, but another thing to allow us to share power in the pulpit. And I asked her, how would people in your church feel about having a black pastor or blacks on the trustee or deacon board? If we want equality then we have to be willing to share power and leadership. She responded with a question that I'll never forget. "If we let you do all of that then what makes us white?" My answer was simple: your racial identity should not be tied to your ability to control power and access. Would it be fair to think that race wouldn't impact how a person would vote if they believe that their racial identity is linked to their ability to control access and power?
My point is this: People of faith are just like everyone else in our society. If we are not careful, we can allow our biases to impact how we live out our faith even when it comes to our politics. But if we believe that God is in the business of restoring relationships and healing us when we are broken, then we have a responsibility to set that example for society. That's what makes us different - the fact that we are wounded healers guided by our faith in God to be agents of change and healing in a world where hurt people continue to hurt people. Our vote should not be based on gender or race but on our values - looking at candidates through the lens of whether or not he or she has the ability to improve the quality of life for all people so that all of us can live up to our God-given potential.
Is it possible that people of faith, consciously or subconsciously, similar to voters, show up in the pew and allow themselves to be led by the pastor because he or she looks like them and perhaps therefore can identify with their concerns more? Would people who are used to receiving their spiritual guidance from someone who looks like them be as easily led by someone of a different race? If we think they would not, then why would we think that kind of bias wouldn't have an impact on their vote? The same thing can be said for our view of women as faith leaders—and for that matter, leaders of the free world. In many denominations, regardless of race, women are still not allowed to become pastors or even answer a call to ministry. This makes one wonder if people who still hold these beliefs would ever be able to vote for a woman to become our commander in chief. We cannot choose to believe that God does not show favoritism (Acts 10:34) only when it's convenient or fits into our personal agenda. It applies at all times, and that includes the voting booth.
This is why I have to wonder: What are pastors preaching on Sunday morning? I can't recall ever hearing a sermon on healing as it relates to racial reconciliation and the wrongs perpetuated against women, African Americans, or any other race, for that matter. It seems like people are able to walk into church and worship God and then walk about still carrying the burden of gender and racial discrimination. I am also guilty of this sin.
When I spoke to that reporter I mentioned earlier, he asked what I thought was the difference between white voters in Iowa and voters in New Hampshire. Sen. Obama's campaign did some extraordinary organizing in Iowa and also in New Hampshire. But a part of me wonders if - unlike Iowa where during a caucus people have to publicly show their support for a candidate - some people in New Hampshire publicly supported Sen. Obama but in the privacy of the voting booth changed their minds. I'm told by a friend who is a political professional that this notion was "debunked and that people did not lie about voting for Sen. Obama." This is what folks in politics and the media call the Bradley or Wilder affect, and many believe that it did not happen in New Hampshire. However, after speaking with the reporter, I called a friend who is a prominent, well-respected pastor and supporter of Sen. Obama to see if I was being unfair. When I told him about my assertion he said, "that's exactly right, my wife and I had this discussion the other day, white people will support you publicly but not privately." So maybe I wasn't too far off in my answer, or maybe he and I represent a small segment of the African American community and most people feel otherwise. I don't think so. A recent Pew report showed that most African Americans still believe that racism in a factor in their everyday lives, while most white people feel that racism in not a factor in our society. As people of faith we have a responsibility to resist the temptation to allow the pain of our past to impact our future. This presidential cycle will have a tremendous impact on our lives and the lives of our children. All
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Last night I finally saw Juno, Roger Ebert's favorite film of 2007 and recipient of four Oscar nominations, which has as its center the story of an unplanned pregnancy and the people affected by it. The protagonist, Juno MacGuff, played by Ellen Page in one of those so-good-she's-either-brilliant-or-really-like-that-in-real-life performances, is a misfit attracted to her male mirror image. Wiser beyond her years, slightly jaded by life and negotiating the pitfalls of the high school psychological assault course, she responds to her pregnancy by initially seeking an abortion – and the nonchalance with which she is treated is the only thing sadder than the unthinking speed with which she makes the decision. She is greeted by a lone protestor – the sole representative of institutional Christianity in the movie – as young as her, who, while a welcome change from the angry fundamentalist stereotype, may know as little about adult life as Juno does about the experience of pregnancy she's about to have. But something unsettles Juno, and she is unable to go through with the termination. Instead, she plans to have the child and help a couple seeking to adopt.
Gareth Higgins is a Christian writer and activist in Belfast, Northern Ireland. For the past decade he was the founder/director of the zero28 project, an initiative addressing questions of peace, justice, and culture. He is the author of the insightful 
John Edwards ended his campaign this afternoon at the same place he started it and with the same theme—ending poverty as a moral imperative. In the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Edwards said that he was stepping aside in this presidential campaign, but that he would now continue his life-long work for economic justice. Before announcing his decision, he called both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to ask for a pledge to make ending poverty central to their campaigns for president and to their presidencies if they are elected.
Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., Ph.D. is a professor of biblical interpretation at New York Theological Seminary, the author of