Posted on 08/24/2008 6:42:28 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
At the first official event Sunday of the Democratic National Convention, a choir belted out a gospel song and was followed by a rabbi reciting a Torah reading about forgiveness and the future.
Helen Prejean, the Catholic nun who wrote "Dead Man Walking," assailed the death penalty and the use of torture.
Young Muslim women in headscarves sat near older African-American women in their finest Sunday hats.
Four years ago, such a scene would have been unthinkable at a Democratic National Convention. In 2004, there was one interfaith lunch at the Democratic gala in Boston.
But that same year, "values voters" helped re-elect President Bush, giving Democrats of faith the opening they needed to make party leaders listen to them.
The result was on display at Sunday's interfaith service, staged in a theater inside the Colorado Convention Center, and will be evident throughout the convention agenda and on the sidelines.
There will be four "faith caucus" meetings, blessings to open and close each night, and panels and parties run by Democratic-leaning religious advocacy groups that didn't even exist in 2004 - not to mention protests from religious groups and leaders opposed to the Democratic platform.
One hallmark of Democratic faith efforts at the convention is diversity, which might soften objections from party activists wary of the Christian right or any mixing of religion and politics. Behind the scenes, efforts to attract the religious vote will concentrate largely on Christian "values voters."
"If we create or become a mirror image of the religious right, we have failed," said Burns Strider, who ran religious outreach for Hillary Clinton's campaign and now does faith-based political consulting. "But if we have increased the number of chairs around the table, ... then we've succeeded."
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
Oh Please. The Democrats have always been wedded to the so called “Religious Left”. Which is nothing but marxism with pig lipstick.
“Left wing Christian” is an oxymoron.
“And Lord send us plenty of Free Stuff, lots of it, just dump it right at our front door.”
“And Lord send us plenty of Free Stuff, lots of it, just dump it right at our front door.”
I thought this was an Asspress story for a minute.
Unthinkable because the concept of god is just a silly superstion the left. The idea of god creating the world is silly nonsense.
Better to scrap all of it.
But recognizing the god gap, the communist-socialist-anarchist-marxists on the left will give face time to “god” now.
Amen!
OH PLEASE! CUT IT OUT ALREADY...
"And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs, and sloths, and carp, and anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats, and large chu —"
Tuesday is Transgendered Polygamy Blessing Ceremonies. On Wednesday it’s a Wiccan Night, Satanists get the closing on Saturday..
Burns Strider, a native of Grenada County, Mississippi, served in an array of positions, prior to founding Eleison, including Senior Advisor and Director of Faith Outreach to U. S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and her campaign for President, Director of Policy for the U. S. House Democratic Caucus, Advisor to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) , Director of the U. S. House Democratic Faith Working Group and Rural Working Group, regional Communications Director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Chief of Staff to U. S. Congressman Ronnie Shows (D-MS).
In 2007 Strider was named one of the 12 most influential Democrats in the nation on faith and values politics and issues by Religion News Service. In the mid-90’s Burns spent two years in Hong Kong as a Missionary with the Southern Baptist Convention serving as youth minister at International Baptist Church. Strider has worked on more than 15 campaigns, managing 5 of them. He has developed communications plans used in over 35 congressional and statewide races as well as a teaching tool for the National Democratic Institute in their work with progressive political parties in foreign countries. He has been a commentator for National Public Radio and has taught and lectured at various political workshops around the nation including current stints with Camp Wellstone.
The Eleison Group was founded on the belief that it is possible to align what is right with what works politically and economically, and that doing so is the most effective way to bring about positive and lasting change. We are a full-service consulting firm helping political, non-profit, business and government entities better understand America’s rich and complex faith landscape and build relationships with people of faith from across the ideological spectrum on the local and national level.
By communicating shared values and delivering a message that resonates with Middle America, we help Democrats and people of goodwill frame and expand the national values debate and focus attention on the common good that are central to America’s families and communities.
What about the seperation of church and state? /s
Burns Strider has founded a new firm to help other Democrats bridge the so-called “God gap.”
Now he and three other young Democrats with campaign experience have formed the Eleison Group, a consulting firm dedicated to helping their party win campaigns.
Early clients include part of Al Gore’s climate protection efforts.
“rarely if ever what came up were hot-button issues. Reproductive rights issues, guns, gay lifestyle, didn’t come up. In South Carolina, Louisiana or Southern California, you ended up talking about health care, the genocide in Darfur, economic issues. It showed a huge shift in the country, in both the faith community and the Democratic Party”
“She (Hillary) had a message about economic security, about jobs, about healthcare and that’s what faith voters were interested in.”
“Sen. Obama has an incredible base in the faith community, and that base is only going to grow as he moves forward.”
“All of us have been in on this since 2006, thinking and developing ways to help our party advance its cause within the faith community.”
Believing in and pushing Sodomite "marriage" and destroying babys inside or outside the womb (partial birth abortion is not acceptable to the true and living God, but I am sure the other so-called "gods" and false christst they are praying to will be happy to accept their prayer.
Welcome to CrossLeft!CrossLeft is the activism and online enagement sister organization of the Institute for Progressive Christianity and is strategy clearing-house and central hub for grassroots activism among progressive Christians. We bring in news from other progressive Christian sites, and all of our efforts are geared towards coordinating action, educating the country, and providing a strategy for long-term change. ‘ We encourage you to get involved:
Balancing the Christian Voice...
Organizing the Christian Left.
Join the Progressive Christian movement!
CrossLeft is your home for Progressive Christian Activism.
Our Latest Campaign is NEVER: Religious Bloggers Against Torture. The NEVER campaign is encouraging Religious Right leaders to oppose torture.
Denver, Here We Come!
Strider, 40, is a former senior aide to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who chose the amiable adviser to shepherd the House Democratic Faith Working Group.
While the left will occasionally pay lip service to God, in their lives the only God they worship are themselves
What does an out-of-work faith-flavored campaign staffer do? He starts a consulting company
ROSSLYN, VA - Leading religious outreach experts who have helped revolutionize the way Democrats engage with faith in the public square today announced the launch of a new faith and values consulting firm. This new partnership, the Eleison Group, represents the next wave in the nascent but growing world of faith based outreach in progressive and Democratic politics.
Burns is one of the founding partners in the new firm, which takes “its name from the Greek word found in a prayer common to Protestant and Catholic liturgies—the Kyrie Eleison which means “Lord, have mercy.” The term captures a founding principle of Eleison Group that faith outreach must be authentic and come from a place of religious humility rather than religious arrogance.”
******
“McCain Campaign Resorts to Scare Tactics in new “The ONE” Ad Choosing Lowest Possible Path to Mislead with Religion, Creating Fear and Division Instead of Unity and Hope”
Amazing...
But is it Amazing Grace ????????????
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
