Progressive religious are largely getting ignored, states Paul Waldman, Senior Fellow and Director of Special Projects at Media Matters from America.

Read more about the Media Matters/Faith in Public Life study, Left Behind: The Skewed Representation of Religion in the Major News Media, in yesterday's post.

Katie Barge, Communications Director of Faith in Public Life, talks about solutions to the imbalance in faith voices in the MSM such as a Media Bureau full of progressive and centrist American religious leaders.

Rev. Brian McLaren, is a leader of the "emerging church" -- a Christian evangelical movement that seeks new ways to worship and understand the gospel in a postmodern era -- and Board Chairman for Sojourners/Call to Renewal. He notes the growing shift away from the "old guard" of evangelical issues toward interest in solving poverty, caring for creation, and ending the Iraq war.

Rev. Dr. Jim Forbes is the former Senior Pastor of The Riverside Church in New York City and host of The Time Is Now on Air America. He shares how his work in 2004 as a part of the Let Justice Roll campaign alerted him to this media bias against progressive faith voices.

Rabbi David Saperstein, the Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, notes that one reason for the lack of progressive lies in the false assumption that conservatives are more religious. In fact, there are more moderates who involved in their faith.

Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, points out that most members of congregations rest in the middle between the far sides of religio-political dialogue.

Alexia Kelley, Executive Director of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the fullness of the Catholic social tradition in the public square.

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Today, Media Matters for America, along with Faith in Public Life and progressive religious leaders from throughout the country, held a press conference to discuss "Left Behind: The Skewed Representation of Religion in the Major News Media," a new report documenting the overrepresentation of conservative religious figures in the major news media. Go here to sign a petition calling on major news media to balance their coverage!

Over at CrossWalk America, Dr. Eric Elnes who walked across America with a band of progressive Christians writes that he knows that media skew well. On his blog he writes: “What does a progressive Christian have to do to attract media attention?” asked CrossWalk America’s co-president, Dr. Eric Elnes in exasperation after reading the Bakker story in the Star. “Do we have to stand naked in the middle of town?”

In the press release, Media Matters for America and Faith in Public Life point out that:

In their coverage, news organizations overwhelmingly presented a picture in which religious Americans were defined as conservative Americans. This representation in the media proved to be a misleading characterization of how these so-called “values voters” influenced the 2006 elections, in which the “value” cited most by voters was the Iraq war, not issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

* Combining newspapers and television, conservative religious leaders we studied were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed in news stories 2.8 times as often as were progressive religious leaders between November 3, 2004 -- the day after the 2004 presidential election -- and December 31, 2006.
* On television news -- the three major television networks, the three major cable channels, and PBS -- conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed almost 3.8 times as often as progressive leaders.
* In major newspapers, conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed 2.7 times as often as progressive leaders.

Interestingly this has clearly struck a nerve as Fidelis (Defending Life, Faith, and Family) just put out a press release telling people not to take it seriously because the speakers are too progressive. On the other hand, Rev. Deb doesn't think they are progressive enough and she suggests some other leaders the media could call. Some of them are here in the Faith in Public Life Voicing Faith Media Bureau.

Read the groundbreaking report here: Left Behind: The Skewered Representation of Religion in Major News Media.

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 06:23 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (2)

June is "Torture Awareness Month." Thanks to Real Time with Bill Maher, this clip from the most recent presidential debate reveals a reason why we might need a whole month to reflect on this in America.

There's a lot of torture in the air. Early on America was crafted on the principle of religious freedom in an historical moment when Catholics and varieties of Protestantism were employing terrorism and torture to defend their communities. (See Guy Fawkes, the Separatists, the Puritans, Bloody Mary, Fox's book of Martyrs and the Spanish Inquisition.) Just as these religious groups learned to find alternative methods of will-to-power through dialogue and religious tolerance, so too will the fearful in our day; but only if we refrain from inflaming fears and "enhancing" our interrogation techniques.

The National Campaign Against Torture stands as a witness for true security and sustainable nonviolence.

"In a nation-wide project called "Spotlight on Torture," the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) has arranged for DVD copies of "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib" to be available to 1,000 congregations, on a first come, first served basis – 50 during the week of June 10-17 and 950 during the week of October 21-28. Within those two weeks, congregations can choose the date and time they wish to schedule a screening and discussion."

"Ghosts of Abu Ghraib," an 80-minute HBO film, features the familiar and very disturbing pictures of torture at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and raises many questions: How did torture become an accepted practice at Abu Ghraib? Did U.S. government policies make it possible? How much damage has the aftermath of Abu Ghraib had on America's credibility as a defender of freedom and human rights around the world? Acclaimed filmmaker Rory Kennedy looks beyond the headlines to investigate the psychological and political context in which torture occurred."

The Christian Century "Theolog" notes:

News services carried stories in early May about a Pentagon study that found many of the U.S. Marines and soldiers in Iraq would support torture in attempts to get strategic information and would not report on a comrade for killing or wounding civilians. General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, reminded service members that keeping high moral values “distinguishes us from our enemy” and is vital to winning support among Iraqis.

The study showed increasing mental health problems for troops on extended or multiple deployments. More than one-third of soldiers and marines believed that torture should be allowed to get information about insurgents or if it might save U.S. lives. Only 40 percent of U.S. Marines and 55 percent of soldiers said they would report a comrade for killing or injuring an innocent Iraqi.

In addition, "NRCAT is joining the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, and the Leadership Council on Civil Rights to sponsor a rally and lobby-day called, "Day of Action to Restore Law and Justice," in Washington, DC, on June 26, 2007. The goal of the event is to end torture and secret prisons, to restore due process and fairness to our treatment of detainees, and to reform the abuses of the Military Commissions Act by enacting the Restoring the Constitution Act."

Learn more here.

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"Sand and Sorrow," a new film about Darfur narrated by George Clooney, is on the verge of public screenings nationwide. The documentary highlights the historical events in Sudan that led to genocide as well as the logistical reasons for the United States' weak and delayed response.

There are few issues that have brought together a broader coalition of religious leaders, human rights activists, political pundits, and journalists than Darfur. In the film, Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Barack Obama (D-IL) sit side by side pleading for action in Darfur -- Brownback, an icon of the religious right, motivated by his views on respect for life, and Obama, an icon of the religious left, motivated by a grotesque violation of human rights.

The genocide in Darfur brought a coalition of religious groups together across ideological lines in an effort to convince the White House that more action is needed. The Save Darfur Coalition consists of over 170 faith based organizations speaking out against the genocide. This coalition includes leaders active within Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Evangelical, Baptist, Humanist, and Buddhist (among other) religious groups and there is no shortage of religious activism around the issue.

Sand and Sorrow is a documentary worth watching, it clearly illustrates that the pressure placed on the government about Darfur comes from both pro-life conservatives on the right and religious human rights activists on the left.

This film is a prime example of how people of faith can work together for the common good, ending genocide, and that certain issues have the potential to make strange bedfellows who can have a unique impact on public debates.

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The current immigration deal under consideration in the Senate needs a family values fix. Right now, there are "an estimated 1.5 million legal immigrants in the United States who have been waiting as long as seven years to bring husbands, wives and small children to live with them." The current immigration bill does NOTHING to fix this, and in fact, reduces the number of family reunification visas available each year. This means that the backlog of families waiting to be reunited will only continue to grow.

Fortunately, there's a bipartisan amendment by Sens. Clinton, Hagel, and Menendez that provides a family values fix. This amendment would declare the spouses and minor children of legal residents to be "immediate relatives", exempting them from the visa caps. It could come up for a vote as soon as TODAY.

Several religious leaders appeared at a press conference yesterday in support of this amendment. But shouldn't there be a lot more noise on this from the faith community, from the left and right? Shouldn't all groups who claims to be pro-family be firing up their constituencies in support of of this family values fix? Here are the statements from religious leaders and organizations that we have seen so far... anyone seen any more?

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

"The amendment to be offered by Senators Clinton, Hagel and Menendez helps restore an element of family unity to the Senate compromise bill. As proposed, the legislation leaves family values at the Rio Grande," said Kevin Appleby, Director, Migration and Refugee Policy, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

World Relief

"Families are the building blocks of an ordered and procreative society through which people are able to grow and experience the love of God. Our government must promote laws and policies that strengthen the well-being of all families- including immigrant families. It is through families that our communities are more stable and stronger and the Clinton-Hagel amendment would allow those who have waited legally, the right way, to be more quickly reunited with their loved ones. World Relief commends Senator Clinton, Senator Hagel and Senator Menendez's commitment to the issue of family reunification within the Comprehensive Immigration Reform debate and looks to their leadership to continue to place priority on the value of family," said Dan Kosten, Director of the World Relief Refugee and Immigration Programs.

Esperanza

"Senator Clinton has consistently provided leadership on this issue. She has never lost sight of the real families and children impacted by our broken immigration system," said Reverend Luis Cortés, Founder and President of Esperanza, the largest Hispanic Evangelical organization. "Senator Clinton's amendment would help reunite families now torn apart because of an unfair policy, and I want to thank her for her courage and commitment to fixing this injustice."

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service

“The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service applauds Senators Clinton, Hagel and Menendez for putting the principle of 'families first' back into this legislation. This amendment makes it possible for thousands of spouses and young children who have been separated from their families for an average of nearly 5 years to reunite far more quickly. Bringing families together is a core American value that LIRS stands firmly behind,” said Gregory Chen, Director for Legislative Affairs, the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.

Rev. Derrick Harkins, posted on Sojourner's God's Politics blog, from his testimony to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law in the House of Representatives on May 22, 2007.

Family, in its strongest and most stable structure, is an essential pillar of our society...The limitation of family-based immigration by the reduction of family reunification visas would impair that family structure in significant measure. Siblings, adult children, and parents (those directly affected by any potential reduction) are in many examples and cultural contexts core, and not merely “extended,” family.

The Episcopal Church:

The Episcopal Church’s 2006 legislative body, General Convention, expressed strong support for comprehensive immigration legislation and regarded family unity as an imperative of any reformed system. ...Sadly, the Senate compromise legislation includes provisions that devalue family sponsored immigration. Family reunification offers the stability and support needed for immigrants to thrive in our communities and as workers to meet the economic needs of our country. By passing the Clinton-Hagel amendment that would exempt spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents from the visa cap, the Senate would allow for more expeditious unification of immediate family members.

NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

Because, as a faith community, we believe in the importance of family, we strongly oppose provisions that will split families apart. Support of family unification has been a bedrock value of U.S. immigration policies because it has long been recognized that family unity fosters stable communities and provides needed support for workers while in the U.S.

Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of NETWORK, spoke in favor of the Clinton-Hagel-Menendez amendment at yesterday's press conference.

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Evangelicals after Falwell

The Rev. Chuck Currie notes the story about the Liberty U. student who was caught with several bombs prepared in connection with Falwell's funeral. He adds, "Falwell preached hate and division his entire life while Jesus taught us to love our enemies. What a sad and pathetic end to Falwell’s story."

And Talk to Action's Max Blumenthal visits the students MySpace page and finds some interesting things.

At Street Prophets, Pastor Dan lists eight of the next generation of conservative Christian leaders: Frank Page, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels (Willow Creek), David Barton (Wallbuilders), Joel Hunter (Orlando pastor blackballed from presidency of Christian Coalition), Richard Land, Richard Cizik, T.D. Jakes. And he writes:

". . .when we're talking about Rick Warren or Joel Osteen (or Jim Wallis and Ron Sider, for that matter), what matters isn't so much their specific policy positions as it is their reluctance to "go to war" over them. They're not interested in mobilizing an activist base to redefine the ways Americans connect on certain issues, in other words. Nor are they interested in promoting the idea of a broad-based Culture War for their own ends, as Falwell and his cronies were."

Pastor Dan also writes on the new Agenda and the myth of the values voter.

CrossLeft appreciates Jerry Falwell, writing "So, thank you Falwell for helping us to find our place, identify our beliefs, and take a stand not against what you believed, but for our beliefs!"

And the Rev. Debra Haffner says that people shouldn't be so sure that Falwell's passing means anything, especially regarding marriage equality.

Faith in Public Life's Katie has a massive roundup on how the rhetoric about "evangelical issues" has changed.

Food and Fair Trade

Faithfully Liberal marks the end of the Food Stamp Challenge completed by U.S. Representatives James McGovern (D-MA), Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Tim Ryan (D-OH). I've heard several news pieces on this bi-partisan awareness event so it appears to have worked pretty well. Food Stamps are funded in the Farm Bill, which is up for reauthorization soon.

Larry's Urban Daily adds more to exploding the myth of widespread Welfare wealth.

Speaking of food, Provoke Radio has a great show on Fair Trade chocolate, coffee, and what faith has to do with it.

If you are not provoked enough, check out Radical Torah's post on the Torah of Fair Trade.

Immigration

Remember Rev. Derrick Harkins setting CNN's Lou Dobbs straight about Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform? Here he points out that to support compassionate immigration is to value families.

Johnny's Cache writes on Friedman's call for a "sane" immigration policy.

Interfaith in Public Life

JSpot lists which members of Congress are endorsing which presidential candidates. Sen. Clinton has the most.

At God's Politics, Diana Butler Bass tackles American Muslims and Religious Freedom.

Mainstream Baptist quotes Al Gore's recent comments on faith in public life.

Chaplain Danny has two must reads: The WaPo's Crises in Darfur video and the first Buddhist military chaplain writes about religious discrimination.

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The Pew Forum released a major poll on American Muslims yesterday. It's title strikes an optimistic note: Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream. Among its encouraging conclusions: Muslims in America have a high degree of optimism regarding their future prospects for living a good life, do well economically, and are far more integrated into American society than European Muslim communities. These conclusions resulted in headlines like this one from the Los Angeles Times: American Muslims: Mostly moderate, not monolithic.

However, the right wing is not to be placated by such good news. Conservative bloggers and media commentators have picked up on findings that show that very small percentages of the Muslim community express limited support for suicide bombing to reinforce their calls to ship American Muslims to internment camps. Glenn Greenwald does a nice job of taking this apart over at Salon.

There is some cause for concern, particularly regarding the fact that younger Muslims are more prone to supporting violence than their older co-religionists. Still, it bears remembering that the American Muslim community is more integrated, and more concerned about Islamic extremism, than anywhere in Europe. If the right wing wants to protect America, they won't make the same mistake as our European allies of alienating their Islamic communities and cutting them off from mainstream culture.

See the below video from Anderson Cooper to get a sense of how the Pew report is playing in the press.

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It was not so long ago that I regularly spent a portion of my morning sending reporters compilations of news articles demonstrating evangelical activism agenda around issues such as climate change, global AIDS, Darfur, and immigration, to make the case that evangelicals are not in fact monolithic. Alan Cooperman’s Washington Post story, “Evangelicals Broaden Their Moral Agenda” (October 16, 2006), signaled a shift, but it was a seen a break with conventional wisdom.

The coverage of evangelicalism following Rev. Jerry Falwell’s passing has convinced me that my morning routine is no longer necessary. The old conventional wisdom about evangelicals – that they care only about abortion and same-sex marriage – is out. And the new conventional wisdom – that evangelicals are not monolithic and care about a broad range of compassion issues – is in.

AP, Rachel Zoll: Even before his death, religious right had been looking beyond Falwell for new leaders

Many conservative Christians active in politics today believe that the way Falwell confronted political foes made evangelicals seem hateful. The younger leaders also have been pressing for a broader policy agenda beyond abortion and traditional marriage by trying to include AIDS care, environmental protection and education.

New York Times, Michael Luo and Laurie Goodstein: Emphasis Shifts for New Breed of Evangelicals

The evangelical Christian movement, which has been pivotal in reshaping the country’s political landscape since the 1980s, has shifted in potentially momentous ways in recent years, broadening its agenda and exposing new fissures.

The death of the Rev. Jerry Falwell last week highlighted the fact that many of the movement’s fiery old guard who helped lead conservative Christians into the embrace of the Republican Party are aging and slowly receding from the scene. In their stead, a new generation of leaders who have mostly avoided the openly partisan and confrontational approach of their forebears have become increasingly influential.

Typified by megachurch pastors like the Rev. Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Orange County, Calif., and the Rev. Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church outside Chicago, the new breed of evangelical leaders — often to the dismay of those who came before them — are more likely to speak out about more liberal causes like AIDS, Darfur, poverty and global warming than controversial social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage.

NPR, Barbara Bradley Haggerty: Evangelical Voters May Be Up for Grabs in '08

But change is afoot in the evangelical world. Comments from high-profile evangelical leaders like Falwell, Pat Robertson and James Dobson are no longer taken as gospel truth.

To get an idea of how far some evangelicals have traveled since Falwell's heyday, I visited Joel Hunter at his mega-church in Orlando, Fla. Hunter's vision of the "correct" evangelical view of the environment seems to come from a different continent — or a different God.

TIME Magazine, Nancy Gibbs: The Movement that Left Falwell Behind

Today's young evangelicals on campus still have their heroes and their causes, but it's less likely to be Falwell and James Dobson fighting abortion and gay marriage than Bono and Rick Warren leading the way on addressing poverty and "creation care" and AIDS in Africa. … It is only partly wishful thinking when a progressive evangelical counterforce to Falwell like Jim Wallis declares, "The Evangelicals have left the Right. They now reside with Jesus."

In reality, [Falwell, Robertson and Dobson] represent a small fraction of evangelicals, and a fraction that is dying out.

CNN, American Morning: Delia Gallagher, CNN Correspondent:

However, if you think of somebody like Rick Warren today, you know, he is somebody that we think of who has the face of the evangelical movement today, and his issues, they are still those of Jerry Falwell, but they are also poverty, AIDS, the environment.

So there is a change now. There's a generational change and there is a small shift in what the evangelical movement is embracing. But the movement itself isn't defined by just one person as maybe it was in 1979.

CNN's Anderson Cooper 360:

Conventional wisdom is not an easy thing to shift. But shift it has. Welcome to the new CW.

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Everyone weighs in on the passing of Rev. Jerry Falwell. The Rev. Chuck Currie goes the extra mile and includes a list of his own past posts on the icon of the Religious Right.

Progressive Christians Uniting's Peter Laarman warns, Falwell May Be Gone, But the Religious Right Is Far From Dead

Faithfully Liberal writes:

"I didn’t like Jerry Falwell, yet I mourn the passing of one of my fellow human beings. All those with a heart for love must do the same. Here we have a perfect example of the Christ ethic- we must love our enemies, we must pray for those that persecuted us."

The Rev. Debra Haffner:

But, he was an effective religious voice for his beliefs in the public square and a tireless advocate. When I ask audiences to name a religious leader speaking out about sexuality issues, his name has always been first. His commitment to young people through Liberty University was admirable. In addition to his national activities, he continued his pastoral activities at a local church. I'd like to think twenty years from now, I'd leave even ten percent of his legacy in the public arena.

Metacentricities writes:

We didn't just disagree with him. We are willing, because of our philosophy of life and governance, to allow people like him to speak. In fact, we would fight so that he could speak. Meanwhile, he would have rather wiped us off the map. I don't really ever know what to do with that disparity. Christian kindness is a good thing, but I would rather the progressive religious blogosphere had decided to have some moments of silence, instead.

And Johnny's Cache gets meta with a huge roundup of blog reactions.
_________________________

Another big story this week was the Pope's trip to Brazil.

dotCommonweal writes three posts the visit. Here's the homily. And here's some John Allen analysis. And here's Benedict in Brazil post number three which is worth reading just for the informed and probing comments.

FPL's David Buckley writes regarding the pope on a plane:

It will be interesting to see how this story develops in the days and months ahead. The Pope's mind was on Mexico and Brazil when he spoke, but as the US Presidential season approaches, such comments will almost certainly be applied to our political environment. With the most prominent Catholic candidate a pro-choice Republican (pace, Dodd supporters), will conservatives rehash their 2004 calls for withholding of communion from pro-choicers? With the US Bishops meeting in November to consider an updated version of 'Faithful Citizenship,' what impact will Benedict's comments have?

As JSpot's Jeremy Burton notes:

Inflation adjusted in $2007

1950 - $6.39
1968 - $9.44
1997 - $6.59
2007 - $5.15

No comment necessary?

Fr. Jake Stops the World writes about Episcopalian leaders talking to Congress about stopping poverty.

Philocrates takes up the issue of educating people about proper UU lingo.

And Islamicate has a friend juggling for Afghanistan.

And finally, perhaps proving Peter Laarman's title above, Pastor Dan of Street Prophets writes about Dobson meeting with Bush over Iran. As the news story points out, a dozen other religious right leaders also joined the conversation about the "war on terror". I've been reading a couple of emerging increasingly convincing lines of argument that the "war on terror" may be the single most unifying issue for conservative Christians. Not convinced yet? Here's more on Dobson vetoing Guiliani. On the other hand, here's the Family Research Council taking Jim Wallis' side against Lou Dobbs. I'm sure someone has an opinion on that. . .

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Ben Ross is the Director of Organizing for Jewish Funds For Justice. This is his keynote address at the 2007 "K'hilot K'doshot" Conference in Santa Clara, CA.

Get to know your friends over at Jewish Funds for Justice. Those of you who attended last summer's Prog. Faith Blog Con may remember Mik Moore and Rabbi Jill Jacobs who both contribute to the Jewish Funds' group blog: JSpot. They are particularly unrelenting on immigration and economic justice.

Jewish Funds for Justice has a great petition going on Creating a Domestic Jewish Agenda, with very helpful, concise text on: Child Care, Civil Rights, Education, Environment, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Katrina/Rita, Seniors, Wages.

They write:

As you may have noticed, we are not developing an agenda that argues for or against a particular policy or remedy. Instead, we have presented a few of the challenges that we believe need to be addressed in each area. Once you have helped to establish which five of these issues areas are the most pressing, we will invite ALL candidates for the presidency to explain what steps they will take to resolve the challenges.

Bloggers Velveteen Rabbi, Israpundit, Mixed Multitudes, Jewess (the tribe's better half, Religious Action Center, The Husaria, Daily Kos (h/t pastordan) are all on board.

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Listen to this story by clicking the link to the right

NPR's All Things Considered had a very well done piece yesterday on the evangelical leaders who will fill the void left by Rev. Falwell's death. Falwell and his religious right supporters did their best to restrict the evangelical community's focus to abortion and gay marriage, but have been losing out for some time now. The 'Compassion Issues' like AIDS, Darfur, global warming and poverty are real priorities of the evangelical community, especially of evangelicals under the age of 35.

As NPR reporter Barbara Bradley Hagerty puts it in her piece:

Some younger evangelicals are complaining that [Falwell's] old message focuses more on what Christians are against than on what they are for.

Posted by David Buckley at 11:13 AM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (1)

May 14, 2007

CNN's Larry King talks with a panel of religious and political experts about what role faith should play in modern politics.
+Rev. Jim Wallis, Founder, "Call To Renewal," Editor-In-Chief, "Sojourners Magazine"
+Rev. Barry Lynn, Executive Director, Americans United For Separation Of Church And State
+Rev. Albert Mohler, Jr. President, Southern Baptist TheologicalL Seminary
+David Kuo, Former Deputy Director, Bush Administration Office Of Faith-based & Community Initiatives
+David Gergen, Former White House Adviser to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Clinton

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From Rev. Jennifer Butler, Executive Director, Faith in Public Life

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Rev. Jerry Falwell on the day of his death. With his passing, one of the landmarks of the American religious landscape has passed as well; our discourse on religion and public life is sure to be impacted in ways we cannot yet fully imagine. There will be time in the days ahead to evaluate the impact of Rev. Falwell on our civic life, and particularly the tone and content of debates on religion and public life in America. For now, we pause to give sympathies to those closest to Rev. Falwell, and reflect on the experience of death that unites us all.

Blessings,
Rev. Jennifer Butler

Posted by Rev. Jennifer Butler at 05:44 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (1)

And the landscape of religion and American public life has just lost one of its most prominent and controversial landmarks. More to follow...

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Bishop T.D. Jakes is one of America's most prominent and dynamic pastors. He gave an extended interview to NPR that appeared yesterday on All Things Considered. The entire segment is well worth a listen; click the icon at the right to check it out. Among the highlights:

"I think really religion in general is struggling with politics, not just African Americans. Many, many times we've allowed ourselves to be taken up under the control of this party or that party, and I think that's dangerous when you do that."

"You can't just be the president of the Christians. You have to be the president of the United States, which incorporates atheists, agnostics and all brands of faith. And many, many Christians don't understand that. They see this as a Christian nation. But I don't see this as a theocracy. I see it as a democracy."

"I think that religious people, minorities and many others have been played on, that people say things to incite us to riot, to get us to vote and then don't fulfill promises. I'm tired of being a pawn. I want us to be united again."

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YouTube has become a major feature of our public policy landscape, so we wanted to take a look at how leading presidential candidates have used this web video world to spread their message on faith and public life. The videos below feature leading presidential candidates from both parties addressing the relationship between faith and politics. To limit the scope of this video roundup, I chose to limit it to the top three candidates of the two major parties.

I found it difficult to find video of Giuliani speaking directly about his faith. Interestingly I found plenty of videos by conservative Christians attacking his pro-choice position. The official videos by Romney and McCain show that they speak of faith in "me" terms (more personal narratives) whereas Edwards and Hillary get right into saying faith calls "us" to do for others. So for McCain and Romney primary synonyms for religion include character and principle and it's pretty clear that they are answering in relation to issues like terrorism or abortion. On the other hand both Clinton and Edwards translate faith directly to an application on poverty and health care. It seems that Obama tends to speak very directly about his own faith-based values - speaking of his secular upbringing and conversion and very broadly about the role of faith in solving social ills.

For more see Faith in Public Life's Must Read List of articles on these candidates.

John Edwards (official campaign speech)
United Methodist

Rudolph Giuliani
Roman Catholic
>

John McCain (official ad)
Episcopalian

Barack Obama (official)
United Church of Christ

Mitt Romney (official + TV interview)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Hillary Clinton
United Methodist

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Rev. Dr. Donna Schaper of Judson Memorial Church in NYC talks with Bill O'Reilly about The New Sanctuary Movement. As way to model the religious law of compassion, sanctuary churches around the country protect immigrants who are about to be forcibly deported and split rom their families. Here's more about The New Sanctuary Movement and Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

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Lou Dobbs says churches should not be helping undocumented workers. He writes:

The nation's religious leaders seem hell-bent on ignoring the separation of church and state when it comes to the politically charged issue of illegal immigration. A new coalition called Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform Wednesday will begin lobbying lawmakers with a new advertising and direct mail campaign on behalf of amnesty for illegal aliens.

But in calling it "political adventurism," Dobbs conflates how church or state actually keep themselves separate.
______________

On the state side, government cannot be pressured to prefer one religion instead of another or belief over nonbelief. On the church side, faith cannot do the duty of the legislators. But that lies a long way from saying that religious leaders cannot comment on the issues of the day or even act for social change. From child and adult labor rules to Jim Crow laws, it's clear the human laws do change, in these cases for the better. Note to Lou: religious leaders sometimes had to break those segregation laws to show compassion for the disenfranchised. Again, in a very targeted way, the New Sanctuary Movement helps the American worker, like Rev. Harkins says:

one of the best things that could possibly happen in those realms is comprehensive immigration reform, because it brings out of the shadows those people who are being paid without the benefit of medical coverage, without the benefit of other types of insurance, driving down the wage base and brings them into the light.

And looking back through history, the record stands. When faith leaders work for "comprehensive" solutions to social problems, the average Joe and Jose both win.

Additionally, it's significant that Dobbs suddenly raises the issue when religious leaders from across the political spectrum unite to douse the flames of "alien" intolerance that he fans each night. The Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners Magazine put it this way: "If given the choice on this issue between Jesus and Lou Dobbs, I choose my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ." In defending why it's good for religious leaders to speak up on this issue, Rev. Harkins notes the New Sanctuary Movement moves beyond the partisanship of public policy because this is foremost about human compassion and "people policy."

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 01:46 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

As you may have heard, Pope Benedict had an interesting thing to say to reporters while on his way to Brazil. This from the AP:

Flying to Latin America, Benedict was asked about comments by Mexico City church officials that the lawmakers would be excommunicated for having voted last month for the legislation legalizing abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

"It's nothing new, it's normal, it wasn't arbitrary. It is what is foreseen by the church's doctrine," Benedict told reporters aboard a plane to Brazil in his first full-fledged news conference since becoming pontiff in 2005.

Reporters flying with the pope took his comments to mean that he endorsed the comments by Mexican churchmen that the lawmakers should be excommunicated.

"Since excommunication hasn't been declared by the Mexican bishops, the pope has no intention himself of declaring it," said Lombardi, who was on board the plane. "Legislative action in favor of abortion is incompatible with participation in the Eucharist. ... Politicians exclude themselves from Communion."

Fr. Tom Reese is a friend of ours here at FPL, and always a wise source of comment on matters related to the Church of Rome and politics. He has issued the following statement in response to the day's excitement:

Pope on Pro-Choice Politicians

While traveling to Brazil, Pope Benedict XVI responded to a question about Mexican politicians who voted to legalize abortion. From his answer, reporters inferred that he endorsed comments by Mexican churchmen that the politicians should be excommunicated. The pope’s press spokesman later issued a statement approved by the pope that said the pope did not intend to excommunicate anyone. In response to questions, AP reports that the spokesman said, “Legislative action in favor of abortion is incompatible with participation in the Eucharist. ... Politicians exclude themselves from Communion.''

As Governor Romney eloquently said during the Republican presidential candidates’ debate, each church has the constitutional right to determine its internal policies, for example, who can go to Communion and who cannot. This is not a violation of the separation of church and state. The Quakers, for example, would have every right to excommunicate a member who voted in favor of war. Whether they should or should not is an issue to be debated and decided by the church.

In talking about abortion, it is important to distinguish a person’s position on the morality of abortion from a person’s position on whether the state should criminalize abortion. A person who feels that there is nothing wrong with abortion is clearly taking a position contrary to the position of the Catholic Church. But it is a separate question whether abortions should be criminalized.

Many canon lawyers and moralists believe that a politician could be against abortions and still oppose criminalizing it for prudential reasons, for example, because he believes such laws would be unenforceable, divisive and politically unrealistic. He may believe that a more realistic approach is to enact programs (healthcare, childcare, welfare, employment) that will reduce the number of abortions by giving women a real choice, by empowering them to say yes to life. These politicians point to the fact that there were fewer abortions during the Clinton Administration than during the Bush Administration. Raising the minimum wage, for example, would reduce more abortions than outlawing partial birth abortions. Such a politician could say, “I am opposed to abortion and will do everything possible to reduce the number of abortions short of putting women and doctors in jail.”

So far, the vast majority of the U.S. Catholic bishops oppose denying Communion to pro-choice Catholic politicians and voters. During the 2004 presidential election, only about 10 to 12 bishops of the approximately 190 diocesan bishops spoke out in favor of denying Communion. When the bishops meet in Baltimore this November, the question of denying Communion to pro-choice politicians will once again be debated when they vote on a new statement on “Faithful Citizenship.”

Posted by David Buckley at 04:52 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (1)

Clergy and lay leaders of We Believe Ohio put their prayers into action at the Statehouse earlier this month on the National Day of Prayer to call for passage of a moral state budget. More than 100 clergy and lay people met in Columbus for prayer and preparation before marching to the Statehouse and participating in meetings with 22 State Representatives and Senators -- including 8 Democrats and 14 Republicans, most in positions of leadership -- as well as Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher and Governor Ted Strickland’s office.

See new coverage here!

They were extremely well-received by all offices and repeatedly told that We Believe has helped set a civil tone and a spirit of bipartisanship!

We Believe Ohio clergy and lay leaders asked legislators to resolve long-term funding inequalities in public education, because every child in the state of Ohio is entitled to have the opportunity to receive a quality education; lift the cap on the Housing Trust Fund, because We Believe Ohio acknowledges God’s call that we care for the poor, the wayfarer and the stranger; and raise parents' eligibility for Medicaid and allow uninsured children in families with incomes over 300% of the poverty level to buy into Medicaid/SCHIP, because our Creator desires health and wholeness for all people and quality healthcare is a God-given and constitutional right. For more details on We Believe's legislative 'asks' see the press release here.

We Believe Ohio is a coalition of clergy and lay leaders that Faith in Public Life helped launch in 2006 to provide a positive faithful voice for social justice in the state.

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A solidly conservative leader, Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, has recently come out in support of comprehensive immigration reform against the majority of the religious Right. Dubbed here by Fox News as the "Power Player" this week, Dr. Land goes through a list of GOP presidential candidates and gives his quick opinion on who he likes and what reservations he has about several of the front runners. In calling himself a conservative, he notes that:

"God may not have a side when it comes to NAFTA and CAFTA, but I believe fervently that God has a side when it comes to the protection of all human life, from conception to natural death and everywhere in between."

Recently Dr. Land has teamed up with diverse leaders, from George Soros' Open Society and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism to push for six party talks with North Korea as well as working with the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Sojourners' Jim Wallis, and yes, even Sen. Ted Kennedy during a Capital Hill press conference on solving the immigration issue with compassion. It will be interesting to see how the most powerful official Southern Baptist leader continues to influence American public life and the sixteen million Southern Baptists he serves.

In an interview with the Florida Baptist Witness about his new book, The Divided State of America: What Liberals AND Conservatives are missing in the God and country shouting match, Land states:

Too often too many conservative Christians assume that God is on their side or they tend to conflate God's interest with America's interest. That's an assumption that no one can make about any country, even the United States. As Lincoln put it so eloquently, our responsibility and obligation is to do our very best to be on God's side rather than assume that God is on our side. We have to understand that our ultimate allegiance belongs to God, not to the United States. If we make patriotism an ultimate value, then it becomes an idol. As important to me as patriotism is, I was always taught by my parents to love my country, and to respect my heritage, and always to love and to respect God even more.

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 04:35 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

This morning, Christian faith leaders from across the country gathered for a press conference on Capitol Hill to launch Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, a grassroots and ad campaign calling for comprehensive immigration reform that is consistent with biblical values. Ads announcing the campaign ran in Roll Call and CongressDaily today to coincide with the launch.

Faith in Public Life coordinated the press conference, and has full video of the event available below.

For the rest of the press conference, follow these links:
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDn4-qEACL8
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Luv2STtLvbg
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jDBX6PXZdA
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7fbgM2AWqc

Posted by David Buckley at 01:28 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (1)

May 3 marks the National Day of Prayer. Here is a sermon clip from the National Action Network pointing out that churches need to avoid mistaking the prosperity gospel for social justice.

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 05:55 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

Pam's House Blend points out that the Hate Crimes Bill is going to a vote today.

After watching the PBS documentary on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Faithful Progressive reflects on religious tolerance. But then he goes after Sam Harris' intolerance toward religion, noting that Harris recently wrote: "The very ideal of religious tolerance—born of the notion that every human being should be free to believe whatever he wants about God—is one of the principal forces driving us toward the abyss."

FP replies:

This is, of course, a very dangerous idea--whether it comes from zealots on the religious right or from atheists who would ban the binding together that is at the essence of religious expression. . . . I don't care how shrill Mr. Harris and his supporters are in inviting others to share their view that religious belief is inherently flawed. But when they they denounce tolerance, when they seek to deny me my own autonomy and choices, they become bullies who believe they have a monopoly on truth.

Bruce Wilson takes up the issue of intolerance with a massive (and graphic) post on : Gay Hating, Abortion Clinic Bombings, Veiled Threats on "race mixing."

Update: the Hate Crimes Prevention Act passed.
______________

Mik Moore, over at JSpot covers "child care, education, health care, and credit cards" in his post: My One-To-One With A Presidential Contender.

The Rev. Chuck Currie points to Wal-mart and says that "Americans ought to demand moral leadership from the corporate community. And all of us - myself included - need to really think about where we shop and invest our money in."

Talkin' 'bout public life in faith, Street Prophets' Pastor Dan notes that former NJ Governor Jim McGreevey will be attending Episcopalian seminary. Xpatriated Texan comments: "I have to admit that I’m a bit hesitant to embrace his path to the priesthood, though. For one, I’ve seen far too many conversions collapse under the weight of disappointment and disillusionment. A person doesn’t mean to set too high of a standard for their church - after all, the church is just a bunch of people - but we do, and it hurts when we realize that and sometimes that leads to withdrawal and abandonment."

Sojo's God's Politics blog has video on a contest to rename the Mission Accomplished banner.

With the news that the Bush administration wants to impose travel restrictions on the British citizens of Pakistani origin, City of Brass asks, can we call it racism now?

Mainstream Baptist notes the new Pew report out on how Latinos are changing American religion. FPL's David also catches and adds analysis to this interesting data, noting that "Whether Catholic, Evangelical, or Secular, Hispanics by wide margins favor government guaranteed health insurance, and are willing to pay higher taxes for government services."

Johnny's Cache lists the top theology blogs.

Real Live Preacher visits Chicago, The Christian Century, and some blog readers.

Christian Alliance for Progress notes that the former president of the college where Bush will be speaking has written an op-ed in the school paper denouncing the visit.

Whispers in the Loggia opines on "Pope Benedict's repeatedly-delayed motu proprio on the celebration of the Tridentine Mass>

In the mood for some Muslim satire? You may have picked up some of the far right complaints about PBS not airing a documentary on "moderate Islam in America," well, Progressive Islam (Sheep are for Eid) pokes lots o' funny holes.

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 09:23 AM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

The Religious Working Group on the Farm Bill (RWG) is a coalition of sixteen Churches and faith-based organizations: Bread for the World, Church World Service, The Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, National Council of Churches, Presbyterian Church (USA), Washington Office, United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries, United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Relief Services, Lutheran World Relief, National Catholic Rural Life Conference, NETWORK, Progressive National Baptist Convention, and Together For Hope: The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Rural Poverty Initiative.

The reason that such a massive coalition formed is because 2007 represents a critical moment in U.S. agricultural policy.

But perhaps you're not a farmer, so how does the farm bill affect you?

Daniel Imhoff is a writer and researcher on issues related to food, the environment, and design. He is the author of numerous articles, essays, and books including Paper or Plastic: Searching for Solutions to an Overpackaged World (Watershed Media/Sierra Club Books 2005); Farming with the Wild: Enhancing Biodiversity on Farms and Ranches (Watershed Media/Sierra Club Books 2003).

The group is also urging Congress to address the negative impact current U.S. agricultural and trade policies have on people living in impoverished countries around the world. . .

Church World Service and Oxfam America is especially concerned about recent unprecedented levels of market consolidation in agriculture which make competition unfair and leads to greater poverty in the U.S. and in the developing world. Production controlled by a limited number of corporate interests eliminates market transparency and creates an environment ripe for price manipulation and discrimination. It creates an atmosphere where supply and demand are controlled by the same actors. To remedy this problem, CWS recommends that stronger competition policies with reliable enforcement mechanisms are included in the 2007 Farm Bill

Learn more here.

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 12:42 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (2)