Lexington Man's Goal Is to Get Clergy Behind the Democrats

Lexington, KY, Herald-Leader ^ | 12-26-03 | Lockwood, Frank E.

[Theodore R.]

His goal is to get clergy behind the Democrats LEXINGTON MAN HEADS NEW GROUP PUSHING FOR POLITICAL CHANGE

By Frank E. Lockwood HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

Most regular churchgoers want to re-elect President Bush. Most non-churchgoers plan to vote for the Democratic presidential candidate.

That's the finding of a recent poll by the Pew Center for the People and the Press -- and it's a finding that Lexington's Albert M. Pennybacker hopes will change between now and November.

Pennybacker, a former Lexington Theological Seminary professor, a Disciples of Christ minister and a lifelong Democrat, is chief executive officer of the Clergy Leadership Network, a new organization that hopes to mobilize thousands of moderate and liberal religious leaders before the Nov. 2 election.

Due to the group's non-profit status, it won't be able to explicitly tell people to "Vote Democratic." But it can hint a lot.

"We can talk about the need for national leadership change and new directions in public policies," says Pennybacker, 72, an elder at Central Christian Church. "I hope there's national leadership change, not just in the White House, but in Congress as well."

The group will focus on issues such as peace, justice, poverty, civil rights, health care and housing. It will steer clear of abortion and gay rights.

This isn't Pennybacker's first foray into liberal politics.

He worked as the National Council of Churches' associate general secretary for public policy during the 1990s (commuting from Lexington to his offices in New York and Washington each week). During that stint, he was a frequent guest at the Clinton White House, attending presidential breakfasts and state dinners. On Capitol Hill, Pennybacker testified before congressional committees, lobbying the nation's political elite.

He also served as chairman of the Interfaith Alliance, a liberal religious political organization that frequently clashes with the religious right.

While with the National Council of Churches, he helped raise millions of dollars to rebuild black churches that had been targeted by arsonists. He traveled to every continent except Antarctica. And he took sometimes controversial stands -- vigorously defending China's religious policies when the Communist government was arresting evangelicals and persecuting Catholic bishops.

(The Christians who are persecuted, he says, are "anti-government, anti-Communism and have been infected with all that kind of propaganda.")

Pennybacker opposed efforts to have the U.S. government declare an International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church and argued against unilateral U.S. sanctions against Iraq.

He supported Elian Gonzalez' return to Cuba -- and was a guest with Fidel Castro at the child's seventh birthday party. (Elian, Pennybacker says, is mischievous, funny and rambunctious. "He's a great kid.")

Meeting newsmakers and celebrities is nothing new to Pennybacker.

Over the years, he has worked with such luminaries as former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, former anti-Vietnam War protester William Sloane Coffin, and retired CBS newscaster Walter Cronkite.

On the wall of Pennybacker's office, on the 21st floor of a Lexington high-rise, are pictures of him with former President Clinton and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu.

Now, with an election looming, he will be in the center of things again.

That doesn't surprise Lexington Theological Seminary president R. Robert Cueni.

Pennybacker "has always been a minister with a strong social conscience and concern for issues of peace and justice and a willingness to speak out even on political issues," Cueni says. "The question is, will he have an audience. ... There are those who argue that there is an American middle and left that is ready to rise up. I don't have a clue if that's true or not."

Pennybacker argues that there are millions of people who could be mobilized to support progressive causes. He hopes his group will reach them.

Although recent polls have shown that churchgoers are more likely to vote Republican than non-churchgoers, Pennybacker says Democrats must not write off religious voters.

"The main religious heritage of America is moderate and progressive, and that voice has not been heard in recent years," he says. "A vast majority of Americans are religious people of the moderate center."

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Albert Mohler says Pennybacker's views are out of step with most Christians and most Americans.

"This group holds positions that have been repudiated not only in recent elections, but for years," Mohler said. "They're far outside the mainstream. They were far outside the mainstream in the '60s."

Pennybacker says the reli-gious right has been "far better organized, far better financed" and far better at articulating its positions.

But he says the Clergy Leadership Network's message will "resonate with moderate and progressive religious people" -- if the message gets out in time.

With the first presidential primaries and caucuses barely a month away, time is of the essence. "It's a lot of work, and we're late starting," he says.

But since the group was introduced at a news conference in Washington in November, donations have been pouring in (as much as $12,000 a week). And up to 100 people a day have been signing up.

The results are encouraging, Pennybacker says. "It tells you it strikes a note, it strikes a chord, that was there long before."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reach Frank Lockwood at (859) 231-3211 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 3211, or flockwood@herald-leader. com.

[Theodore R.]

In 1981, Walter Cronkite urged liberal Americans to get on their rooftops and proclaim their liberalism to thwart the Reagan agenda. Now the ultraliberal r. Pennybacker is taking Cronkite up on his admonition to get liberal clerics behind the Democrats.

[prov1813man]

Clear, compelling evidence of how the church of Anti-Christ seeks to use religion to separate people from God. One can clearly visualize the worms and maggots emanating from this corrupted vessel (Pennybacker).

[rellimpank]

---the mainline clergy have largely been part of Lenin's "useful idiots" since post-WW2---

[SquirrelKing]

---the mainline clergy have largely been part of Lenin's "useful idiots" since post-WW2---

Roots are deeper. A must read:

Christianity and Liberalism

[SquirrelKing]

Oops! It's right here.

[wardaddy]

he helped raise millions of dollars to rebuild black churches that had been targeted by arsonists

tell a lie enough and it becomes truth....

[Sender]

Isn't "liberal progressive religious leader" kind of an oxymoron?

[goodnesswins]

Hello....separation of CHURCH and STATE?????

[tbpiper]

Isn't "liberal progressive religious leader" kind of an oxymoron?

No 'oxy' to it, the guy is just a 'moron'.

[Eala]

The group will focus on issues such as peace, justice, poverty, civil rights, health care and housing.

But not Truth and Salvation. Hm.

It will steer clear of abortion and gay rights.

For now. But that will come, just as it did for the Episcopal church. The rot is sinking deeper...

[I still care]

"Marcus Welty, a researcher with the National Council of Churches, said mainline Protestants may not equal the numbers of their Evangelical counterparts, and their members may not be as churchgoing, but they do lead religious lives demonstrated by their volunteering for causes like reducing poverty and championing certain issues in communities."

They can't even get people into their churches. I seriously doubt they can get them into the voting booth.

This is just another useless organization to provide quotes for the elite media, like NOW.

[Thane_Banquo]

a new organization that hopes to mobilize thousands of moderate and liberal religious leaders before the Nov. 2 election.

Yeah, all two of them.

[kimmie7]

Considering we here in Kentucky just voted in a Rep governor for the first time in many moons, I just can't believe Pennybacker's agenda will be all that popular.

[torchthemummy]

"He traveled to every continent except Antarctica. And he took sometimes controversial stands -- vigorously defending China's religious policies when the Communist government was arresting evangelicals and persecuting Catholic bishops."

("The Christians who are persecuted, he says, are "anti-government, anti-Communism and have been infected with all that kind of propaganda.")"


Infected - this is the only statement one needs to read to know what kind of "social justice" this guys into. He'll scream for justice for someone here who didn't so much slip through the cracks but wedged their way in. But when it comes to applying "social justice" in regards to persecuted christian leaders in a communist country, no need, they are just "infected" with "that kind of propoganda."
As I've always said to liberals that tout Cuba or China as the model to shoot for, no country that refuses their people free flow in and out of their borders is worth a hill of beans and values each "subject" no more than a can of beans.

[Hugin]

(The Christians who are persecuted, he says, are "anti-government, anti-Communism and have been infected with all that kind of propaganda.")

Infected with anti-communism? How could Christians not be against and ideology that denies the existence of God?

The Christians who are persecuted are "anti-emperor, anti-Roman and have been infected with all that kind of propaganda."

[Reactionary]

I imagine the ACLU doesn't have a problem with Pennywhacker.

After all, he's fighting for the religion of the state, and he doesn't mind making "compassion" into a means of promoting totalitarianism.

[KittyKares]

Any chance you can give us a brief summary of that book?

[SquirrelKing]

Any chance you can give us a brief summary of that book?

Sure. J Gresham Machen struggled against the rise of liberal theology in the 20's and 30's. As a result he ended up starting Westminster Thological Seminary in PA and writing much on the subject.

In the book he describes the differences in liberal,"progressive" theology vs. the true Reformed tradition. He describes how liberalism sought to change the church from the inside out, corrupting and perverting traditional biblical principles with "modern" thought. One of his arguments is that if Liberals want their own church, why not depart and form their own? Of course, the answer is in the question as it reveals itself for the destructive power it is. Kind of an Ann Coulterish approach from a half century ago.

Hope that wasn't too much of a ramble for you!

[sweetliberty]

"Most regular churchgoers want to re-elect President Bush. Most non-churchgoers plan to vote for the Democratic presidential candidate"

That says a lot right there, doesn't it?

"liberal religious leaders"

Oxymoron...well, actually, you can be a religious leader without being either spiritual or Christian, so perhaps not.

[SkyPilot]

It will steer clear of abortion and gay rights.

How convieeeenient.

A few weeks ago, my wife read me a passage from a book by Phillip Yancy. To those unfamiliar, Yancy is a powerful Christian writer. His book The Jesus I Never Knew is one of the most thought provoking books many people have said they have ever read (outside of the bible itself). Yancy's angle is often to take the outside perspective--a different angle. I admire him.

The passage my wife read was from What Is So Amazing About Grace? In it, Yancy describes how he defended Bill and Hillary Clinton some years back. In fact, he wrote an article entitled "Why Bill Clinton is NOT the Anti-Christ" that so impressed the Clinton one that he invited Yancy to the Whitehouse (twice). Yancy was amazed that he recieved a rebuke from the Christian community. "Why are my e-mails and letters so negative--FROM CHRISTIANS?" was his thought. Then, a prominent minister told him "Phil, if Bill Clinton really believed in the bible as he says he does, he would not hold the views that he does." He later clarified this by saying Bill Clinton was an enemy of the Truth.

My wife asked me what I thought--and I told her that while I respected Yancy, in this case he was wrong to defend the Clintons. My wife asked "But aren't all Christians supposed to reach out in love and forgiveness?"

There is the rub--and the dilemma. But like the famous quote about what is obscene "I know it when I see it" so too is the threat of evil. Some see it, some do not. Jesus would not tolerate the money changers in His Father's house. Christians should not be fooled into believing that the type of venom this guy in Lexington is pushing is nothing more than evil.