God is not a right-wing zealot

[Manix]

Salon
By Leslie R. Guttman

<snip>

In the heart of the Bluegrass, a Bible Belt preacher is rallying people to political action around what he calls "basic religious values." Think you can describe his politics? Think again. This man of the cloth wants "regime change" in Washington.

The Rev. Albert Pennybacker, a Lexington, Ky.-based pastor, is head of the Clergy Leadership Network, a new, cross-denominational group of liberal and moderate religious leaders seeking to counter the influence of the religious right and to mobilize voters to change leadership in Washington. Pennybacker, affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and a pastor of 35 years, is tired of the conventional wisdom that equates religiosity with conservatism. Nationwide, he says, the religious right often squeezes out the left in public debate.

Now is the moment for liberal religious voices to make themselves heard, Pennybacker says. He believes the Bush administration's record runs contrary to the core values of America's religious communities, and, as examples, he points to what he says are deceptions about war in Iraq, economic programs that favor the wealthy and destructive environmental policies.

It's "wake-up time" for religious liberals and moderates disenchanted with the current White House, Pennybacker tells Salon. He sees a historic moment for progressive religious leaders in the tradition of liberal clergy who led protests during the civil rights and Vietnam War eras. "One of the gifts of the present administration is the summons -- or call to arms -- for progressive religious people," he said in a recent interview.


http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/12/24/pastor/index.html

[Enjolras]

1. Anybody see Rev. Sloane Coffin's essay .....

in last week's The Nation? It profiled the same organization.

Pennybacker is right, now is the right time. And being even harder hit by job losses associated with globalization than most of the country, the Bible Belt is just the right region for this message to resonate.

[Capablanca]

2. Polyester Christianity

I wonder what Jesus thinks of the gaudy, name-it-and claim it, SUV driving suburbanites who have no connection to the millions who are dying of aids in Africa and the homeless children they leave behind. The church is in a cocoon and blissfully asleep in the light while much of the world they are supposed to serve is cold and hungry in the dark.

There is such a disconnect between the servant Jesus and the pomp and circumstance of today's modern church. This goes for the "liberal" main line denominations all the way to the "conservative" bible belt crowd.

I don't think Jesus would affiliate himself with a political party per SE. But there are many issues that He would disagree with the in the so called religious right wing.

Reform is needed in the church and we are foolish if we ever believe that this reform will come from through political agendas. When the church gets their act together then and only then can I see them injecting themselves into the political process.

[ithacan]

3. great web site:

true Christians cannot be right-wingers...

http://www.right-wing-pseudo-christians.com/

Matthew 25:31-46: WWJD?
What Would Jesus Do? Jesus Would Send All These Right-Wing Pseudo-Christians Straight to Hell (And Liberals May Not Be Far Behind)

by Jack Clark

Introduction

In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus proclaims that how you treat the hungry, the thirsty, the sick and other "least of these," is how you treat Jesus himself. And if you fail to help the "least of these," Jesus promises, he will send you to Hell.

The premise of this essay is that you can't be a true Christian if the focus of your life is thwarting others and the society itself from fully implementing such a fundamental teaching of Christianity as Matthew 25:31-46.

It's fine to oppose government programs to help the Matthew 25 "least of these," but then you must propose Equivalent Alternative Solutions. Equivalent Alternative Solutions are ones which:

- help at least the same number of those people who legitimately need - help provide at least the same amount of effective assistance to those people
- get the help to them at least as quickly
- are at least as certain to accomplish these goals

Equivalent Alternative Solutions can certainly be completely non- governmental, as long as they meet the four criteria directly above.

Right-wing Christians are defined by both their opposition to the plans of others to help the "least of these," and their failure to offer any Equivalent Alternative Solutions.

Their behavior puts right-wing pseudo-Christians into the category of the cursed goats whom Jesus describes in Matthew 25 and condemns to Hell.

<more>

[GOPFighter]

4. I've been waiting a loooong time....

...for REAL Christians to begin speaking up. Maybe this will spark other ministers to talk to their flock about Bush's psuedo-Christianlty.

[murielm99]

5. I read the same article, and the one in the Nation, too.

Before that, I read a really smarmy opinion column by Cal Thomas, right-wing columnist, and bigmouth at large for Fox. In his column, Thomas criticized Dean's religion, and all but said that God is right-winger, that He does not answer the prayers of Democrats.

I sent a letter to the editor of my local paper, where Thomas' column appeared. That is what I called my letter: God is not a right-wing zealot.

I have been lobbying for awhile, to have the paper get rid of Thomas, and feature a few more liberal writers. The editor of the Forum page at the paper called me this morning. He agrees with me that we need more liberal columnists. He will not get rid of Thomas, though.

Anyway, my letter is going to appear as a guest column, some time this week. I will provide a link later, if there is one. If not, I will type my opinion column in here, later in the week. I will be sure to send a copy of it to that hypocrite,Thomas, too.

I know that many of you here think that God-Is-Not. I, however, think that it is easy to be a Christian, and to be on the left politically. When I was growing up in the sixties, all the clergy who worked for civil rights, peace and social justice were on the left.

C.S. Lewis said that a Christian society is likely to be leftist, or socialist, but that our personal and family relationships would be very courtly, almost old-fashioned, like the REAL family values that the right likes to rant about.

I wish we could just leave Jesus out of politics. But when he comes back, I think he will be a democrat,with a small "d."