This segment aired a week ago on Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. A very interesting look at some of growing ties between progressives faith leaders and elected officials. Enjoy the clip.

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Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers, points out the reasons for creation care on the Tavis Smiley Show.

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Richard Land is president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Princeton (A.B., magna cum laude) and Oxford (D.Phil.) educated, Dr. Richard Land has headed the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission since 1988.

Roy Herron is a State Senator from Tennessee covering the 24th distract. After graduating from the University of Tennessee with highest honors, Roy studied New Testament and ethics in Scotland as a Rotary Scholar, then became one of Vanderbilt University’s first two joint divinity and law graduates.

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Interesting interview yesterday featuring a spokesperson from CAIR discussing recent survey results that show the Muslim vote trending Democratic. Good to see that his quick departure from Dancing with the Stars hasn't dampened Tucker's ability to imply that Muslims are terrorists...

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U2's "The Heart is a Bloom" shows up on Christo Lumen as well as "the parable of the good homosexual." Also sticking up for what's right, Mainstream Baptist fact checks the hell out of the roots of anti-pluralistic thinking.

Hey! Radical Torah writes:

"Our spirit (ru’ach) lives in our breath (ru’ach), is our breath. The Kabbalah says that when two people are talking together and their faces are so close they inhale the other’s breath, they are sharing souls. According to Hasidism, our souls are too vast to inhabit our bodies; they penetrate and surround them."

Xpatriated Texan points out that, "We’re two weeks out from the election. People are dying to make sure you can vote, you owe it to them to give up half an hour to exercise your rights."

Whoa! Father Jake Stops the World posts about fisking the catechism. And he has 103 comments!

Frank, over at Talk to Action, post number thirteen in his series: The Pizza-man Delivers: Monaghan's Dough for Radical Right Politicos.

Even the Devil's Believe writes about the "New Atheism." He point out: "Wired has an interesting article up called "Battle of the New Atheism" — it's their cover story for November. The author, Gary Wolf, looks into the "evangelical atheism" of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and others who believe that religion must be eradicated and replaced with a cult of reason."

Yummy! Johnny blogs on the most Republican town in America.

Reflecting on Lauren Winner's Girl Meets God, Velvateen Rabbi writes that, "her story demonstrates that binary distinction isn't always the most useful way to talk about religious identity in today's world."

Islamicate writes about David Kuo's new book, Tempting Faith:

It's been many moons since I spoke of the faith based initiatives (and I don't mean Iraq, Afghanistan, civil liberties, etc.). I feared that it would be a program that was designed to become corrupt (plausible deniability), but I had no idea it was designed to be corrupt, to subvert the very basis of the American system of governance. However, after 6 years of watching as the people in power rule by fiat, and spit upon what it means to be American, I am not surprised.

Spirit Blog writes about 9 difficult words.

Chuck Currie affirms that the GOP really doesn't care about black people, especially in TN-Sen.

And Pastor Dan over at Street Prophets points out that along with most of the country these days, American Muslims are trending blue.

And finally, JSpot stands by MoveOn.org and says, "Stop Playing Politics with Antisemitism." Join the action here.

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If you haven't been following TNR exchange between Amy Sullivan and Josephy Loconte, you're missin' out.

Here's my favorite quote from today:

What conservatives really meant was that questions about a judicial nominee's position on abortion amount to discrimination based on religious beliefs. That is nonsense. In a pluralistic democracy, it is not sufficient for a public official to base a position purely on religious teachings; he must bring other arguments to bear that are accessible to those who do not share their tradition. And, in fact, Alito and Roberts do not cite Catholic teaching in their judicial opinions. To claim that opposition to a judicial nominee is, ipso facto, religious discrimination is patently false. And it is deeply offensive to those men and women who have truly been persecuted for their faith throughout history, and who continue to suffer in areas around the globe.

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In his New York Times review of Andrew Sullivan's book, The Conservative Soul, David Brooks salutes Sullivan's attention to the religious tradition in conservative ideology. But then Brooks goes further:

"the United States was not founded on the basis of custom, but by the assertion of a universal truth — that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain rights. The United States is a creedal nation, and almost every significant movement in American history has been led by people calling upon us to live up to our creed. In many cases, the people making those calls were religious leaders. From Jonathan Edwards to the abolitionists to the civil rights leaders to the people fighting AIDS and genocide in Africa today, religiously motivated people have been active in public life. They have been, in their certainty and their willingness to apply divine truths, fundamentalists — if we want to use Sullivan’s categories. You take those people out of American politics and you don’t have a country left."

Whoa? Is fundamentalism fundamental to the American experiment? Perhaps if "creed" and "fundamental" come to mean our hope in the future, but then can progressive philosophies of justice and peace exist without grounding in common creed, and will the real fundamentalists ever care?

As more moderate politicians and less ideological policies gain momentum this November, I wonder: beyond hope and anger, where lies the best common ground that converts all American faith into good works?

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Last night, the O’Reilly Factor featured an interview with Reverend Kathleen McTigue of Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice to discuss the group’s objections to the new legislation. Using the language of faith, Reverend McTigue held her own in a fierce debate with Bill O’Reilly over the implications of the detainee bill.

On Tuesday, President Bush signed into law the Military Commissions Act, a bill that has been the cause of much protest from the religious community for its policies that ignore the Geneva Convention and eliminate habeas corpus. Over 200 people of various faith traditions protested the signing with a “People’s Signing Ceremony,” sponsored by the Washington chapter of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. Religious groups across the country are chiming in with the message that this Act “violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions hold dear” and that through its passage, the US has “abandoned statutory commitment to its long-held moral values for a shameful lesser standard.” Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice, an NRCAT affiliate in Connecticut, has put up a billboard on I-95 condemning Members of Congress from their state for voting for the bill.

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David Kuo served two-and-a-half years in the White House as a Special Assistant to Bush and Deputy Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, resigned his post in December 2003 "with a statement that 'Republicans were indifferent to the poor' and that the White House had 'minimal commitment' to 'compassionate conservatism'."

And now he's expanded that sentiment into a book: Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Poltical Suduction.

If you want a not-so-brief polical history of David Kuo, Source Watch will fill your informational cup to the brim.

After listening to David Kuo interviewed on NRP's Fresh Air, the Omnivore's Digest reflects:

One thing I really appreciated from listening to his interview was his unapologetic seeking to submit to the authority of Jesus Christ and to fully adore Him. The main reason he stepped away from politics was that he could no longer tolerate being a part of what he feels is Our Lord's Holy name being dragged through political mud.

In The New Republic Amy Sullivan speaks to the other side:

The problem is that Kuo's book creates cognitive dissonance for liberals. Conspiracy theories about theocracy have haunted liberals for the last few years, and, if you believe that religious conservatives lead Bush around by the nose, evidence to the contrary is impossible to absorb. Everyone on the left "knows" that the faith-based initiative is a slush-fund, a jackpot for religious conservatives. If it turns out instead to be a political sham that produced only 1 percent of the new funds it promised for faith-based organizations, liberals need rethink their theocracy-phobia.

Andrew Sullivan gives out another Malkin award to this guy, David Contreras, Texas director of the Council on Faith in Action, who said, " What David Kuo is saying about the President and his efforts is nothing more than a cynical attempt to sell books and line his pockets with 30 pieces of silver."

Sullivan: So that makes Bush ... Jesus?

Speaking of God, Stephen Colbert interviews Kuo on the topic. Here he is on 60 Minutes. First and second part. And here's Kuo on Olberman.

Over at Street Prophets, Pastor Dan disagree's with Amy Sullivan take on the blogoshere's dissonance on Kuo but writes: "I also agree with Sullivan that Kuo's revelations create an opening for Dems to reach out to people who feel like they've been sold down the river. I even agree with her that Dems and liberal movement-types could do a better job of capitalizing on that opportunity."

For an example of that dissonance, see Talk to Action's Frederick Clarkson's self-described rant on Kuo in two parts.

Faithful Democrat's doesn't hold back, in fact, they released a statement saying in part:

"The sad truth is that our country's leaders, especially those in the White House, appear to use faith almost solely as a political weapon. They don't respect it. They don't care about its capacity to improve people's lives. They want power, period. And apparently, they are willing to manipulate religious voters and break the law in order to gain that power."

Media Matters for America takes on Kuo's critics and varifies the history of his relationship with the administration.

And finally, E. J. Dionne Jr. writes, "The very fact that it took David Kuo's book, "Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction," to put President Bush's faith-based initiative back into the news proves that the author's thesis is right."

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At yesterday's conference on the Common Good as a governing vision, Rev. Jennifer Butler of Faith in Public Life joined in an expert panel discussion on the concrete applications of the common good to governance. Moderator EJ Dionne kicked off the conversation by asking Rev. Jen why the common good was such a good fit right now, and how it compares to ideas of freedom and liberty in motivating political action. Listen to her response in the audio to the right!

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Yesterday morning, the Center for American Progress sponsored a major conference at Georgetown University entitled Securing the Common Good: A Vision for America and the World. An extended portion of Clinton's remarks can be seen below.

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During the Ohio Gubernatorial debate between Ted Strickland (D) and Ken Blackwell (R), Ohio Associated Press reporter Julie Carr Smyth asked Blackwell:

"Your campaign is enjoying support from conservative Christian groups who appreciate your message of bringing God back into the public square and your positions against abortion and gay marriage. Simultaneously you have declined to meet with more liberal ministers of We Believe who are trying to infuse differing religious perspectives into this election. Given these facts, why shouldn't Ohio voters believe critics who say that you are carrying water for the Religious Right?"

Catch the video of Ken Blackwell's answer as well as Ted Strickland's response. Question starts about 19:19 into the clip.

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Chris Matthews' had Tony Perkins join him Friday evening to discuss David Kuo's newly released expose on the manipulation of Christian conservatives by the Bush Administration. Interesting to see him pressed on what exactly the GOP has delivered to his supporters. He talks about the relationship as a 'marriage of convenience.' One assumes that the right to this kind of marriage is in fact universal.

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Peter Steinfels has a column in Sunday's New York Times that discusses the plethora of voters guides available from faith groups across the ideological spectrum. It's well worth reading, and mentions a couple of guides put out by FPL partners. One, by Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, and another from Sojourners. Steinfels' stock in trade is American Catholicism, and he draws interesting comparisons between the balanced pragmatism of Catholics in Alliance and the rigid moralism of conservative Catholic groups.

Money comparison: conservative Catholic guides were originally released as 'competition' for the US Bishops, while the Catholics in Alliance guide 'echos the Bishops' Faithful Citizenship.'

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Zogby Poll Results

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Rev. Paul Sherry, National Coordinator of the Let Justice Roll Campaign, and Rabbi Jill Jacobs, blogger extraordinaire from JSpot and Director of Education for the Jewish Funds for Justice, a public operating foundation that creates a just, fair, and compassionate America, focus our attention this week on one of the most important and successful campaigns in our country today: the struggle for just wages. Check back all week for their exchange!

Part 7: Rev. Paul Sherry on why "a truly religious person is by definition a political person."

Dear Jill:

Thanks for your note and, yes, I do agree that all too often our lack of action on behalf of simple justice reflects an unwillingness on our part to jump into the fray. We either are fearful of being criticised for our actions or we have a misconception of the true nature of the religious enterprise. Either way, it is
not that we are unable but unwilling.

As to your provocative question, "How can we eliminate the perception that the political is inherently not religious?" I am inclined to say that we do so by rereading scripture, always a worthwhile pursuit, but even more so, I believe, by living out our religion in the political world. You are surely right that a
truly religious person is by definition a political person; that is, a person engaged in social transformation. As more and more of us seek to live out this conviction, perhaps perceptions will change.

As our conversation draws to a close, your statement about our "unwillingness" to get involved keeps coming to mind. Some time ago I preached on the theme, "The Courage to Dare", after which a person who had been in the congregation came up to me to tell me that not many months before she had done precisely that and it was changing her life. She said that for years she had had strong convictions about a whole range of justice concerns but was fearful about acting on those convictions. What would her neighbors think? Would it affect her family life? And, she said, when she finally did dare to act some of her neighbors were not very happy. But she also said she has never felt more in tune with herself. She feels like what she is about is consonant with who God created her to be and that is all that matters. She had the courage to dare and in and through that courage her life was renewed.

So, why do we fail to be justice doers? Yes, partly, as we have said, because of an inadquate understanding of our faith, but even more so because we lack the courage of our convictions. So, to the degree that our religious traditions help us find that courage, akin to that of my new friend mentioned above, the religious renewal we seek may not be far behind. That, at least for me, is a reason for renewed hope.

It has been great to talk with you. Best wishes,

Paul

Part 6: Rabbi Jill Jacobs asks to what degree we are unable or unwilling to act...

Dear Paul:

Thank you for continuing to push us to think about how to move from religious theories of justice to just actions. I think that this is precisely the right question to be asking ourselves, especially as the right has proven so efficient in turning from ideology to organizing.

I was intrigued by your statement that “though we as faith based people often have strong justice commitments inspired by the richness of our faith traditions, we oftimes find it difficult to translate those commitments into effective action for substantive change.” I wonder: to what degree are we unable to translate these commitments into action, and to what extent are we unwilling?

Like you, I work for an organization (the Jewish Funds for Justice) committed to creating a religious community that sees justice as an integral part of its mission and practice. But organizations like ours—while more prevalent than a few years ago—still do not represent the majority of religious people in America.

Rabbis, pastors, and other religious leaders often shy away from justice work, which they perceive as “too political” for the pulpit. I find this statement nonsensical—the Bible, at its core, is a political book. Still, for whatever reason, progressive-leaning religious leaders are often uncomfortable doing justice work.

More right-wing clergy, of course, have no such problem. The success of the religious right has been to reframe issues ranging from abortion to gay rights to tax cuts as “religious” and not “political.” The left, on the other hand, has cast these issues as “political” and therefore not “religious.”

For me, there is no distinction between what is “religious” and what is “political.” Our faiths are meant to guide our actions in the world—whether these be private actions or intentions between the believer and God, or whether these be public actions, involving multiple individuals, organizations, or states.

How can we eliminate this perception, among progressive people of faiths, that the political is inherently not religious, and vice versa?

I look forward to hearing from you soon,

Jill

Part 5: Rev. Sherry on Let Justice Roll

Hi Jill,

Thanks for your reflections on mitzvot. It is, as you suggest, a sound basis on which to enlist faith based people in efforts to enrich people's lives. And, yes, the question raised increasingly in these days by Christian leaders, "What would Jesus do?", does, I believe, provide similar motivational power.

However, I think you may agree that though we as faith based people often have strong justice commitments inspired by the richness of our faith traditions, we oftimes find it difficult to translate those commitments into effective action for substantive change. That being the case, I believe we need increasingly to help all of us develop the strategic skills that change demands. So many faith based people are deeply committed to helping build a more just society. So many have the energy to move forward with power. However, I am convinced that, if we are to be the change agents that our faith requires, we continue to need more vehicles by which that commitment and that energy can transform that which is into that which God would yet have be.

You probably will not be surprised that that conviction brings me to Let Justice Roll. Those of us who are part of Let justice Roll feel that it is one such vehicle so I would like to take this opportunity to urge our readers to join with us. We believe that, at this point in time, working to raise the minimum wage may be the most viable current instrument available to us for addressing the poverty that afflicts so many of our nation's people. As I said in an earlier exchange, though modest minimum wage increases are far from sufficient for bringing low wage workers and their families out of poverty, they are essential for people struggling to afford the basic necessities of life and bring with them the promise of better things to come.

So, people who want to join with us in this campaign on behalf of and alongside the working poor can do so by signing up at our website: www.letjusticeroll.org. Mitzvot, "What would Jesus do?" provide the motivation. Let Justice Roll provides one concrete vehicle by which that motivation can result in positive change in people's lives.

Best wishes,

Paul

Part 4: Rabbi Jacobs on summoning the will for action

Dear Paul,

You are certainly right that the “minimum wage” has become divorced from its original intention as a wage that would allow people to lift themselves out of poverty. Indeed, the very terminology of the current “living wage” campaigns is a testament to this reality; if we had not forgotten that the minimum wage, in its conception, was meant to be a living wage, then there would be no need for this new terminology.

Much more difficult is the challenge with which you end your post: how we achieve “the will to act, to fulfill the vision.” There are, of course, many directions we might go with this question. As I am not a political strategist, I will not comment on the best tactics for achieving higher minimum wages in particular states or cities. As a religious leader, however, I can venture a few suggestions for what our religious communities might do to advance this agenda.

Foremost in my mind is the issue of obligation, which is a foundational principle of Judaism. Traditional Jews consider themselves to be obligated by certain mitzvot (commandments), which include laws about what to eat and not eat; how to celebrate the Sabbath and other holidays; how to treat workers; how to conduct oneself in business; when and how to pray, etc. These mitzvot, as the above examples should suggest, address not only ritual practices and relationships with God, but also relationships among people. Unfortunately, many within my community have come to view mitzvot relating to ritual behaviors as obligatory, but mitzvot relating to relations with others as simply nice things that good people do. The challenge, within my own community, is to reframe the mitzvot relating to interpersonal behaviors and civil law as equally as obligatory and equally as central. Religious leaders can do much by speaking to their communities about the necessity of working for change that makes a tangible difference in people’s lives, in addition to speaking about ritual practice and personal growth.

Christianity does not have the same framework of mitzvot, but does have a strong tradition of imitatio dei—the concept now popularized as “What Would Jesus Do?” I imagine that Christian clergy can similarly move their congregations by talking about Jesus as an social change hero. But I’ll let you talk about that.

Thanks again,

Jill

Part 3: Paul Sherry on where faith and the American tradition meet

Hi Jill,

Your thoughtful reflections on the Rambam text on poverty reminded me of several texts from our American experience which also point the way forward.

First, a statement from the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which as you will remember was enacted during the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. That Act was designed, and I am quoting, to eliminate "labor conditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency and general well-being of workers." If we place that statement, a rather visionary statement, I think you will agree, over against the current federal minimum wage of $5.15 per hour (a wage that places a family of three about $6000 below the poverty line) we see rather quickly, and dramatically, how we have turned on its head the very purposes that the Fair Labor Standards Act was enacted to accomplish. In fact, rather than eliminating labor standards detrimental to the maintenance of a minimmal standard of living, the current minimum wage reinforces those conditions.

Second, a demand of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the occasion for Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech on the Washington DC Mall. The demand of that March, often forgotten, was for "a national minimum wage that will give all Americans a decent standard of living." That demand is as compelling today as it was so many decades ago. Think of it! The 1963 minimum wage, in effect at the very moment so many gathering on the Mall, was worth more than $8.00 in today's dollars, about $3.00 more than the current minimum wage. The real minimum wage - the wage adjusted for inflation - reached its highest point, $9.37, in 1968. It is time. long past time, for constructive change!

These statements from our American experience and so many others from our respective faith traditions demonstrate that the vision is there. What is needed is the will to act, to fulfill the vision, so that justice will roll down like living waters and righteousness like an everflowing stream.

Best wishes,

Paul

Part 2: Jill Jacobs on a ninth level of tzedakah

Dear Reverend Sherry:

Thank you for starting this conversation in such a thoughtful way. I am also looking forward to our ongoing discussion this week.

I have been amazed and delighted by the level of support throughout the country for raising the minimum wage, either on a state level or through local “living wage” ordinances. I believe, as you suggested, that this overwhelming support constitutes an acknowledgment that it is morally wrong that people work full time and still cannot afford to meet their families’ basic needs. For me, the most striking proof that the minimum wage issue transcends ideological boundaries emerged from the 2004 election, when voters in Florida famously voted to raise the minimum wage and to re-elect George W. Bush.

Possibly the best-known and most-used Jewish text on poverty is the formulation of “eight levels of tzedakah (support for the poor)” by the Rambam (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, aka Maimonides, 1138-1204) There, Rambam suggests that the highest level of tzedakah is giving someone a loan or a job, or entering into a business partnership with a poor person, in order that this person will no longer need to ask for help. This text appears in the Mishneh Torah, the Rambam’s attempt to formulate talmudic law into an easy-to-access legal code.

What I find most striking about Rambam’s comment is not what he says about effective means of combating poverty, but what he doesn’t say. I agree that loans, business partnerships, and jobs ultimately provide some of the most important avenues out of poverty; indeed, the organization for which I work—the Jewish Funds for Justice—is largely dedicated to improving access to credit in low-income areas. However, more interesting to me is Rambam’s assumption that giving a person a job, a loan, or a business opportunity will necessarily lift that person out of poverty. In our world, we know that jobs, loans and business partnerships can only go so far; ultimately, if jobs don’t pay enough, millions of working people will continue to live in poverty. Perhaps, in Rambam’s time, there was no class of “working poor”; certainly, he does not indicate an awareness of such a category of people. In our time, however, the ranks of the working poor are growing daily.

Perhaps, if Rambam were alive today, he would add a ninth level of tzedakah: ensuring that jobs and business opportunities enable people to rise out of poverty. One of the roles of religious people and organizations might be to try to restore a world in which Rambam’s assumptions work: that is, in which every working person is guaranteed to be able to meet his or her family’s basic needs.

Best,
Jill

Part 1: Paul Sherry on the moral responsibility to let justice roll

Hello Rabbi Jacobs,

I'm looking forward to the exchange we'll have in this space throughout the week. Thanks for joining me to discuss the living wage, faith, and politics.

I'll start with a basic statement: A job should keep you out of poverty, not keep you in it.

That's the bottom line of the Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign, organized to raise the minimum wage at the federal level and in selected states. We are a nonpartisan campaign composed of 80+ faith based, community based and labor bodies. We remember the admonition in the book of Deuteronomy that "you shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer" and we believe with Martin Luther King Jr. that "there is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an adequate wage to every American (worker) whether he (or she) is a hospital worker, laundry worker, maid or day laborer."

Though we have not yet been successful in raising the federal minimum wage, stuck at $5.15 per hour since 1997, we and others have had significant success in a number of states - Michigan, West Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts - and are very hopeful that in the upcoming elections we may win increases in Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Arizona, and Colorado, states in which we and others have been working very intensively in recent months.

The recent victories and those we are anticipating in the near future have led us to believe that raising the minimum wage may well be the most viable instrument available today to combat in a very significant way the poverty that afflicts so many of our nation's people.

Many people have been rather surprised that so many states have been able to raise their minimum wage - particularly in a time of political and social conservatism - and have asked us over and over again, "Why have we had this success?" Certainly, part of the answer is good organizing, basic to any successful campaign, but even more so because people from all walks of life - all points on the political spectrum - are morally offended by a wage that keeps people in poverty rather than helping them climb out of poverty.

In other words, Let Justice Roll's success, modest as it is, is rooted in its appeal to people to see a decent minimum wage not only as an economic value but as a moral value. As we say in our report, A JUST MINIMUM WAGE:Good for Workers, business and our Future, "Raising the minimum wage is an economic imperative for the enduring strength of our workforce, businesses and communities. Raising the minimum wage is a moral imperative for the very soul of our nation."

It is immoral that workers who care for children, the ill and the elderly struggle to care for their own families. It is immoral that the minimum wage keeps people in poverty instead of out of poverty. Decency, morality demands redress. Down deep, most people know this and, we are finding, more and more people, when confronted by the facts of the case, respond and begin to call and act for positive change. Certainly, modest minimum wage raises are far from sufficient for bringing many low wage workers and their families out of poverty. Rather, these raises are but way stations on the way to a living wage for low wage workers and families. But though not sufficient, they are essential for people struggling to afford the basic necessities of life and bring with them the promise of better things to come in the days ahead. The prophet Amos has it right:'Let justice roll down like living waters and righteousness like and everflowing stream."

Full information about the Let justice Roll Living Wage Campaign is available at our web page: www.letjusticeroll.org.

Looking forward to your response,

Paul H. Sherry
Coordinator, the Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign

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David Kuo's new book, Tempting Faith, will be released Monday. Already, it is being hailed as a bombshell look at the political manipulation of Christian Right leaders by the cynical Bush Administration. Kuo would know. He served as a special assistant to the President from 2001-2003, and has fairly impeccable Christian conservative credentials. See the below Olberman segment for a look at what Mr. Kuo has to say about this 'Christian' administration...

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Are evangelicals getting ripped off by their political leaders?

Mainstream Baptist and Street Prophets diariest Old33 point out the now famous "conservative" Tucker Carlson come-to-Jesus moment:

"the elites in the Republican Party have pure contempt for the evangelicals who put their party in power."

Yesterday a discredited evangelical altruist, "Dr." K. A. Paul, met with Dennis Hastert to ask him to step down.

TPM Muckraker asks: "But why did Hastert give a guy like Paul half an hour of face time to hear what plenty of other people have been more than happy to tell him?

Apparently this guy, who according to Houston Press has connections to Republican bigwigs, also claims credit for getting Charles Taylor to step down. (Apparently Condi Rice disagrees.) But "Dr." Paul, who spends more money on jet fuel for his 747 than on "his" orphanage, got 30 minutes with Hastert yesterday. I wonder how the average evangelical activist feels about that? From Promise Keepers founder Bill McCartney (who got Paul rolling in the US) to Pat Robertson's Diamond Mines to Ralph Reed hangin' with Abramoff, things look unscrupulous at the top Right.

JSpot comes out swinging on the minimum wage and the politics of the romance novel.

Noting the recent report point out that 665,000 Iraqis have died due to the American invansion, Chuck Currie nails it: "instead of liberating the people of Iraq our policies are killing them off."

Metacentricities likes Christian Alliance for Progress' voter guides, Michelle writes: "a good attempt (and hopefully successful) to reframe the debate about "values voters" and to really lay out what Christian values voters really should be caring about, like poverty, health care, and anti-violence."

And now here's an FPL plug of Pastor Dan plugging two JSpot bloggers on FPL. Um, it must be interesting.

Muslim Wake Up wonders about Pakistan's Musharraf diss of American troops in Afghanistan.

Over at CrossLeft, leming writes on "a personal odyssey - developing my progressive activist mission and message."

Sojo's God's Politics blogger Diana Butler Bass wonders: 'What if the Amish were in charge of the war on terror?'

City of Brass tells the rednecks to leave the Sikhs alone.

Definitely visit Talk to Action to see the church-stormin' fella hired by the GOP to hype candidates in red-state churches. Clarkson quotes Beliefnet:

"The Republican National Committee is employing the services of a Texas-based activist who believes the United States is a "Christian nation" and the separation of church and state is "a myth.'"

Danny Fisher, an American Buddhist Chaplain wishes Desmond Tutu a happy birthday.

And now that Focus on the Family James Dobson refuses to hold his friends accountable for Foley preying on kids, it's starting to look like children might become all American again. The Rev. Deb Haffner points out the difference and Provoke Radio's got a show on all God's children:

Jill Wrigley and her husband Michael Sarbanes are both lawyers by profession who have chosen to spend their careers in the non-profit sector. But it is what they do outside their jobs that is the real story. Living "intentionally" in a blighted city neighborhood, they have developed an important and compassionate ministry not only to their 3 children who are special in their own right, but to all the children in the neighborhood.

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 02:50 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

The always astute Bill Moyers has a special airing tomorrow night at 9 on PBS. All those painters down through the years have gotten it more wrong than they knew...God is Green.

Posted by David Buckley at 01:20 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

A former three-term Republican U.S. senator from Missouri and an ordained Episcopal priest, Danforth brings exceptional insight to the debate about the political use of religion and the separation of church and state.

He worries that Republican courting of the Christian Right is distorting notions of public and private morality. He laments that when Republicans voted to have federal courts overrule the state court in the Terri Schiavo case, violating long-held principles, it allowed the Christian Right to take over the party.

Danforth urges more liberal and moderate Christians to challenge the presumptiveness of the Christian Right to speak for all Christians.

Click on the side bar to listen to the conversation. From State of Belief radio.

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 04:27 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

A regular feature here at Faith Public Life, here's what's happening around the neighborhood thus far this week.

Chuck Currie posts on a bunch of bloggers from Chicago Theological Seminary. Be sure to drop by their blogs and welcome them to the neighborhood.

Chicago Theoligical Seminary student Faithfully Liberal posts on the Foley scandel and Bob Woodward's book: State of Denial.

At Progressive Christian, Geoffrey, provides more on the Foley fall out.

Sickened by the scandel? Spirit Blog posts a mediation called the Prosecutor.

Now, bring your sense of history over to Islamicate. He writes: "The October 2006 issue of Vanity Fair contains two important articles, which are worth reading: Empire Falls, by Niall Ferguson, and Under Egypt’s Volcano, by Scott Anderson.

In Empire Falls, Fergusson uses historian Edward Gibbon’s theories on the decline and fall of Rome to make an interesting, if not convincing, case for the same state of conditions currently in play in the West. Gibbon’s blamed Rome’s decline on external military overreach, internal corruption, social decadence, religious transformation, and barbarian invasion. Fergusson counters with the War on Terror, the cult of personality, superficiality, reality TV, cultural decline, immigration, and the rise of political Islam."

Save yourselves from this corrupt generation writes: I Understand Opposing Abortion, but . . .. . . opposing contraception in general is going too far. Rethinking traditional religion, Johnny writes about Amish abuse. For Yom Kippur, Velvateen Rabbi writes about Philo and how Jews like to eat.

And Xpatriated Texan wonders if he is still living in America.

Definitely in AmericaJspot has a great Air America clip about the connection between religious communities and worker's rights.

A skeptical AmericanMainstream Baptist wonders about the new moderate Christian Coalition.

And finally, Bruce over at Talk to Action provides a bit o' "truthiness" humor about the Family Research Council.

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 04:47 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (1)

The abuse and cover-up scandal of Rep. Foley has shown once again that leaders of the Religious Right are out of step with the values of mainstream Americans. While Tony Perkins rationalizes the cover-up of Rep. Foley's predatory behavior by saying members of Congress and their staffs were simply "fearful of acting because they would be seen as homophobic or gay bashing," (see a similar explanation here from the "pro-family" Arlington Group) faith leaders around the country are speaking the truth that Perkins' partisan loyalties prevent him from saying. Protecting vulnerable children can never be subordinated to the quest for political power. A group of diverse faith leaders made this points strongly in a letter to House leaders. African American Ministers in Action and the African American Ministers Leadership Council issues a joint statement pointing out that the scandal reveals the hypocrisy of politicians and religious leaders who claim to have a monopoly on 'values.'

Click on the photos below for audio responses to the Foley scandal and cover-up from expert faith leaders around the country.

	Rev. Jennifer Butler is the Executive Director of Faith in Public Life "The failure of Congressional leadership to take swift action in response to Mark Foley's behavior exemplifies placing personal power and greed above moral behavior."
	Rev. Joseph Darby is Senior Pastor at Morris Brown AME Church, Charleston, SC "The Foley incident and the resultant fallout should be a cautionary tale for those who take a narrow view of faith and morality, with exclusionary moral absolutes which do not allow for what those of the Christian tradition call 'grace.' Those on the so-called "religious right" have been vocal, judgmental and mean spirited on issues of gender and have drawn a strict "us versus them" line in the sand."
	Rev. Debra Haffner is the Director of the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, & Healing "How ironic that Rep. Foley was chair of the Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children and that the bill he championed in July concentrated on registering treated sex offenders rather than the prevention methods we know keep children safe from abuse."
	Sr. Simone Campbell is National Coordinator of NETWORK: A Catholic Social Justice Lobby What the Foley cover-up brings to mind is that the use of power to protect self-interest is inevitably corrupting....Congress must face its sins to come to redemption as an institution.

Posted by David Buckley at 03:48 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

Focus on the Family's James Dobson last night told Laura Ingraham about the frustration coming from the Religious Right base. He's still on the GOP bandwagon, but clearly thinks there are significant chunks of his faith community who are leaving him behind...

Posted by David Buckley at 12:29 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (1)

According to PRNewswire:

The event, called "Spotlight on Global Warming" is being organized by Interfaith Power & Light a nationwide movement to engage people of faith in the urgency to address global warming.

"Global warming is harming God's creation: first the poor of the world and eventually all of us and all life," said the Reverend Sally G. Bingham, founder of IPL and an Episcopal priest at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, CA.

Over 4000 congregations - Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu - will show An Inconvenient Truth, HBO's Too Hot Not to Handle and the independent documentary Lighten Up.

I'd call that very good news - American congregations finding common ground for the common good. And the members get a free film. That's progress.

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 04:17 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (2)