It's a sunny and warm Christmas here at my parents' house in Virginia. Standing on their porch, you'd think it was Easter if not for the wreaths and lights up and down the street. My family's not quite all together, as my recently engaged brother is spending Christmas with his fiancee's family in Pittsburg. Nonetheless, there's plenty of love, warmth, fellowship and gratitude to go around.

Most days I'll log into FPL's blog with something to say about politics, activism, current events, or the media. One of the many beautiful things about Christmas is the widespread inclination to set all of that aside for a time and focus on more timeless, important things: loved ones and family, tradition and ceremony, celebrating and emulating God's incomprehensible love for us.

In a few hours we're going to my parents' best friends' house for an afternoon of fellowship and feast. Nothing will matter besides the joy of being together. Politics, conflicts, and the irritations of daily life won't be relegated to background noise, they'll be silenced altogether.

Well, except for the incongruous nuisance of this damned warm weather.

Posted by Dan at 12:12 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

I saw Jesus Camp last night. Stunning!

If you enjoy:

• thoughtful documentary filmmaking
• brilliantly juxtaposed cinematography
• thinking about American religion
• understanding the political concerns of evangelical religion
• knowing how young children mix faith and adult favor

According to a review in Salon:

"Jesus Camp" has now come under attack from the Rev. Ted Haggard, the powerful pastor of a Colorado megachurch, and head of the National Association of Evangelicals, who appears in the film. Haggard's real problem may be that he comes off like a cynical, showbizzy creep, especially compared to the profoundly committed and idealistic kids at the heart of the film. . .

For another review that details some of the diverse responses to the movie from the Christian community, see here.

Here is a calendar for when it releases near you. Interestingly, they have opened the film in the midwest and south first.

A pair of new documentaries looks at injustices and self-defeating strategies incorporated in the reconstruction of Iraq. Both The Ground Truth and Iraq for Sale are worth checking out for unflinching looks at the reality of this ongoing conflict.

The Ground Truth is a personal look at the lives of young men and women who have served their country in Iraq. The story for these soldiers doesn't end with their return from the battlefield. Filmmaker Patricia Foulkrod's movie reveals the struggles that these soldiers confront on their return from Iraq.

Who's getting killed. Who's making a killing. Opening this weekend, Robert Greenwald's new film, Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers comes out swinging and lands a few right on the biggest GOP strength: the war on terrorism. How? By documenting who really winning in Iraq.

Here's Greenwald talking about the film. Greenwald also made Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price and Outfoxed. Read the movie blog here.

On MSNBC, during a recent debate over torture between GOP military men and the corporate Republican administration, catch the film getting plugged. Apparently Halliburton giving tainted water to soldiers doesn't sit well with men who've actually served.

Check out this list of groups hosting screenings, including several churches.

The Great Warming

Finally, get the DVD of The Great Warming, the dramatic film about climate change that the next generation of evangelicals love. Narrated by Alanis Morissette and Keanu Reeves " it includes hard-hitting comments from scientists and opinion-makers as well as new scenes documenting the emerging voice of the American Evangelical community urging action on climate change.

Here's an interview with NAE Governmental Affairs head Richard Cizik about real "creation care."

Especially good for congregations and youth groups, here's info for bulletin annoucements and posters.

How politically hot is this topic? Here's Faith in Public LIVE alum Amy Sullivan reporting on its role in the Pennsylvania Senate race.

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 10:37 AM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

It's an exciting time to be a blogger interested in faith and progressive politics. There are more of us every day (we'll be featuring some of the best here at FPL), and national leaders in our community are becoming more and more aware of how important blogs can be in spreading the good news about their work. With all that energy in the cyber-air, it's almost providential that we get to announce that the first ever Progressive Faith Blog Con is on its way.

The Blog Con will take place from July 14-16 in Montclair, NJ (just outside of New York). It's the brain-child of some of the best minds in our corner of the blogosphere, and will feature Velveteen Rabbi, Mainstream Baptist, Chuck Currie, Pastor Dan of Street Prophets, XPatriated Texan, Talk to Action, Philocrites, CrossLeft, JSpot, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, and many, many more. Check out the site for more details on attending. You won't want to miss it! The buzz about the event is already building here, here, here, here, and, well, you get the point.

We at FPL are thrilled to be working on this, and will be sure to keep you all up to date as the calendar ticks down to July 14. Register now (space is limited!), spread the good word on your blogs, and make sure you're there for this landmark event.

Posted by David Buckley at 05:08 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (3)

Welcome to Faith in Public Life’s corner of the blogosphere! We’re glad to join the hundreds of bloggers out there in this growing and exciting community. Like any responsible new neighbor, we’ll try to make a good first impression, keep the yard looking tidy, and not make TOO much noise.

As you’ve hopefully noticed from the rest of this website, Faith in Public Life isn’t a normal organization. We exist as a resource center for faith communities working for justice and the common good. When we do our jobs right, we provide faith leaders and community members with the tools they need to more effectively carry out their work. When our partners win, we win, so to speak.

In keeping with this mission, this blog won’t be entirely normal either. We’ll feature our share of staff-written content on current events at the intersection of religion and politics, but we’ll spend most of our time featuring the best work of others, in an attempt to build up the strongest voices for justice and the common good in our community.

What does it mean to use a blog to provide resources to the community? We’ll frequently feature cross posts from bloggers whose voices add to the national debate on faith in politics. We’ll have guest blogs from our board members and partners who don’t maintain regular blogs but who are excited by the chance to engage in conversations with this community. We’ll put together a weekly highlight reel of the most interesting posts from far and wide in the faith blogosphere. And we’ll use the blog to post audio and video clips of our partners making an impact in mainstream media outlets.

We hope that this blog can play a role in building up this exciting community. Leave comments, tell us all what you think, and spread the word about Faith in Public Life as a resource center for bloggers who care about faith, justice, and the common good.

Posted by David Buckley at 08:57 AM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (4)