love one another, please

Sign the Jacksonville Declaration

Help make justice and compassion the hallmarks of our country. Add your signature to this letter. Let the Political and Church Leaders of the Religious Right know they do not speak for you. Help them hear a different understanding of Christian values. Add your voice below.

To The Political and Church Leaders of the Religious Right:

As responsible and patriotic Americans, we can be silent no longer. In light of the deepening polarization in our country's social and political life, we feel compelled to speak out to you in a spirit of sincerity.

For many people, your words and actions have identified Christianity with radical, far right politics. We believe that your use of Christianity has sown the seeds of deep discord in our nation and throughout the world. Hear some of your own words:

"You owe liberals nothing. They despise you because they despise your Christ."
-- Church Leader Bob Jones, to George W. Bush after 2004 election

"I hope the Supreme Court will finally read the Constitution and see there's no such thing, or no mention, of separation of church and state in the Constitution."
-- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas)

"Our job is to reclaim America for Christ, whatever the cost. As the vice regents of God, we are to exercise godly dominion and influence…in short, over every aspect and institution of human society."
-- Dr. D. James Kennedy, Coral Ridge Ministries

"…the liberal, anti-Christian dogma of the left has been repudiated…"
-- Tony Perkins, Family Research Council

"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians … the ACLU, People For the American Way … I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen'."
-- Rev. Jerry Falwell, on Pat Robertson's 700 Club discussing the WTC attacks

We must tell you now that you do not speak for us, or for our politics. We say "No" to the ways you are using the name and language of Christianity to advance what we see as extremist political goals. We do not support your agenda to erode the separation of church and state, to blur the vital distinction between your interpretation of Christianity and our shared democratic institutions. Moreover, we do not accept what seems to be your understanding of Christian values. We reject a Christianity co-opted by any government and used as a tool to ostracize, to subjugate, or to condone bigotry, greed and injustice.

If your politics flow from your faith, then we do not know the Jesus you claim to follow. We cannot imagine a Jesus who would say:

"You are strong and powerful; your ideals are noble. Make war to spread those ideals."
"The end is near - So it doesn't matter what you do to my Father's creation."
"Heal the sick - Provided they can pay."
"All are welcome at the table - As long as they are the same as we are."
"Follow me - And help me form a government to force others to follow."

Do you believe such statements truly reflect Christian or American values? Do these views follow what Jesus taught? Do you think it is genuinely American to steer our country toward a Christian theocracy? Is it Christian to foster intolerance? Is this the path to which Jesus leads us?

We say "No". Instead, we say "Yes" to values Jesus plainly and passionately practiced. Listen to his words:

"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
-- John 13:34-35


We hold up to all fellow Americans the heart of Jesus' teaching: his unwavering commitment to justice, compassion, responsibility, equality, and care "for the least of these". These are values Jesus taught, and they also serve among America's finest traditional values. Our political views flow from these values.

We also reaffirm a well-established American commitment to a clear separation of church and state. In your statements you often characterize America as a "Christian nation". We strongly disagree. As a nation of immigrants, America has been a land of freedom and diversity. Separation of church and state helps ensure liberty and justice for all Americans - not just those who are like-minded. Hear these words:

"The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Know that you do not speak for us. We oppose so many of your words and deeds. But though we may disagree with you, we offer this declaration in a spirit of openness. We hope you will respond in kind. We call on you to stop dividing our country with your words and actions, and we invite you to turn to compassion and justice, values that Jesus lived.

In Truth and Faith,
Christian Alliance for Progress

Sacred Heart Mural

Sacred Heart Mural
Originally uploaded by byrdiegyrl.

something for everyone
Originally uploaded by deepwarren.

handwriting on the wall

Jesus
Originally uploaded by kianee.

God is love

DSC00150
Originally uploaded by ingerson.

environmentalist evangelicals

EEN urges conservative Christians to embrace the Earth: Environmental movement finds way for evangelicals to tap into their green sides by Deborah Pardo-Kaplan, Science & Theology News, March 2005, excerpts:

Environmentalists and anti-abortion activists rarely rally together at the same event. But at a Washington, D.C., gathering this January, the two groups walked side by side.

Some participants at the 32nd annual March for Life held signs saying, “I regret my abortion,” while other anitabortion marchers swayed banners proclaiming, “Stop mercury poisoning of the unborn.” Many of the 100,000 marchers were evangelical Christians; that number included a small group of environmentalists. The National Association of Evangelicals, which has a membership of 45,000 churches and 52 denominations, led the mercury-awareness campaigners.

The Rev. Jim Ball, executive director of the Evangelical Environmental Network, first brought the mercury issue to the attention of evangelical Christians at a June conference on the environment in Sandy Cove, Md. Ball suggested that evangelical Christians could enter the environmental discussion through aiding the unborn — who may be absorbing low but harmful levels of toxicity by the mother’s consumption of fish, reported an NAE newsletter.

The meeting of 40 evangelical leaders at Sandy Cove reflected a growing trend of evangelical Christian interest in environmental stewardship. Among those attending were editors of Christianity Today, executives of World Vision, professors of Christian seminaries and heads of churches. By the end of the conference, 29 leaders had signed a covenant promising to follow up with a statement on climate change by the summer of 2005.

....Christians have been realizing that as a result of global warming, many in poor countries will suffer with the rise from flooding, droughts and risks to public health. Some are concerned about predictions that 300 million cases of malaria could develop from global warming, Ball said.

....Evangelicals have been concerned about the environment since the late 1960s, Ball said. “But what we are now experiencing is a growing interest within the center of the evangelical community,” he continued, “and a growing activism by such groups as the National Association of Evangelicals.” In the past, evangelical Christians have hesitated or largely ignored environmental issues, considering them to be the property of New Agers and left-wing liberals, and second in priority to salvation concerns. They have also questioned the science behind global warming.

....The environmental discussion among evangelicals is heading forward. The National Association of Evangelicals recently adopted a statement on civic engagement called “The Health of the Nation,” listing “care for creation” as one of its principles. It was the first time the association had articulated its political and social agenda, said Cizik.

The Evangelical Environmental Network, with its 23 partner organizations, has launched campaigns since its founding 10 years ago. Five hundred evangelical leaders endorsed the network’s initial guiding statement of faith on the care of creation. Among its programs over the years, the network has helped renew the Endangered Species Act, create environmental awareness for families and spark a large media blitz, with its “What Would Jesus Drive?” campaign.

....Despite the campaigns, some say many Christians still have reservations to take part in environmental issues. Tony Campolo blames the impact of the Left Behind series, written by the Rev. Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. These books, he said, reflect a theology of the end of days that evangelicals may interpret as a lessening of Christian care for the Earth and a heightening of the relevance of eternity.

Those leading the evangelical groups for creation stewardship see that kind of theology as a distortion of biblical truth. They say that following Jesus means also caring for the physical world that he created. They hope to pass on their ideology and biblical interpretation to many evangelicals.

“It will be as a result of their seeing this as God’s call,” said Calvin DeWitt, president of Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies, “or their seeing this as a vital part of their responsibility, or a vital part of their dedication to the sanctity of life, or to the vibrancy of life, or their belief that might emerge here — that the creation story has as its core stewardship.”

see all of creation as God’s very large and continuous knitting project

The very world we inhabit, and that inhabits us, in this very moment is the ongoing creation of God. I am impressed by the psalmist’s imagery of our being knitted by God in our mother’s wombs. It only makes sense to extend the imagery beyond the womb and to see all of creation as God’s very large and continuous knitting project!

... Michael Lodahl, theology professor at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, in Advocating the one in the theological many, Science & Theology News

"budgets are moral documents"

Sojourners:

On February 7, President Bush released his proposed 2006 federal budget. In addition to projecting record deficits and increases in military spending, the budget proposes major cuts to domestic programs that benefit people living in poverty.

This budget reflects a set of priorities that stand in clear opposition to biblical values. Spending more money on nuclear warheads and tax cuts that benefit the rich is not a strategy that would be affirmed by the biblical prophets-and the proposed cuts to low-income programs will not even realize the president's stated goal of reducing the deficit.

Please urge your members of Congress to consider the effect this budget will have on our nation's poor before taking a vote.