Posted on 01/21/2009 5:27:32 PM PST by madprof98
Today, I will be joining with Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Christian leaders at the National Prayer Service for our new president. Each of us will look different, sound different and hold different beliefs, but each of us will humbly offer words of hope and blessing for our country and its leaders.
No matter all of the differences that the religious leaders assembled might have with one another, there is a common ground that has brought us all together. This common ground is the common good —- for our country and our world.
A very new and yet very old role for religion is now emerging —- the defense of the poor and vulnerable. A new generation of believers and trailblazing religious leaders are making sure that the agenda of the faith community is broader and deeper than it has been for several decades. Like the religious leaders for the inauguration, we don’t all agree but we have found a place where we can stand together. This past election provided a picture of what some of this shift will look like, especially within the Christian community. Three factors are key to understand it.
First, the leadership of the African-American and Hispanic churches has come to the fore. We now see a surge of energy among black and Latino Christians who were galvanized by a campaign and a candidate who better spoke to their aspirations and values. They mark a growing shift within the religious landscape toward marrying social conservatism with a deep commitment to social justice.
Second, a new generation of white evangelical pastors and students cast a “post-religious right ballot” this election. For those Christians, concerns about sanctity of life now include poverty, human trafficking, genocide, war and even climate change. Healthy families are a top concern, but they don’t think that gay and lesbian rights somehow cause family breakdown. They believe that the 30,000 children who die each day globally would touch the heart of Christ more than gay marriage amendments in Ohio or California.
Third, among Catholics and other people of faith, we’ve seen a broadening of the agenda with fewer single-issue voters. Anti-abortion rights voters are realizing that their faith calls for a consistent ethic of life from “womb to tomb.” For some, this means no longer pursuing a strategy of criminalizing abortion but a more pragmatic strategy of serious abortion reduction. It is becoming a common ground that could break the ideological deadlock of the past 30 years.
Christians of color, younger white Christians, “new evangelical” pastors and leaders, and progressive Catholics and Protestants from many denominations are now spending more time looking for allies than enemies. They are finding them especially among new voices and leaders in both Jewish and Muslim communities. They have learned many lessons from the mistakes of the religious right and aren’t about to repeat them by simply becoming a new “religious left.”
When asked whether they are liberal or conservative, many answer “yes,” depending on the issue. They will be capable of both supporting and challenging, when necessary, a new president and administration. And because they don’t easily fit the political categories of left and right, they could become bridge-builders, bringing a divided nation together on the really big and politically transcendent issues such as poverty, human rights, climate change, energy transformation, the dignity of human life and the urgency of peace. This is just what the new president is calling for.
As I stand behind the pulpit at the National Cathedral today and pray with a diverse group of religious leaders with whom I can find common ground, I will also pray that all of this could change the image of religion in the United States, reflecting the changes already occurring in faith communities around the world.
> Jim Wallis is the president of Sojourners, a global faith and justice network.
With which you responded, “To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.” (Benjamin Disraeli)
;)
No man who sat in a hate-filled church like Trinity for 20 years has any divinity in him. People need to wake up and read and pray and think.
“The gods too are fond of a joke.” ~ Aristotle
What B.S.We now have theMOST pro-abortion President in the history of the U.S.
How soon before every American home will home, church, apartment, business etc. will be required hang a picture of the Dear Leader in a prominent place? When will the Drive-By Media start referring to Obama as the “Father of the Nation and the Holy One of America?”
Sounds like a commie.
“The one” will need his apostate “church” - an anti-church. They will do much to help him appear reasonable and “spiritual.”
Where in any of this is the gospel? Maybe on every fifth Tuesday in February he’ll get around to it?
ping
Evidently, those ‘religious leaders’ (who are NOT) don’t believe in God’s word when He said NO to idolatry.
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.” Jesus (John 14:6)
By not witnessing to the Truth, Jim Wallis shows he is not a follower of Jesus, and he does not love the misguided souls he worships with enough to share the Good News of salvation with them.
Our home may have to get a urinal...
The liberal media has put this little obama idol on the god shelf and all these foolish people are worshiping him.
Maybe we are in Babylon!
Thank you for salty words of grace, my friends.
Here is my take on Rick Warren’s prayer which included the comment that the angels are rejoicing:
you, Sir, are a joke as a prophet, a pastor, and a Christian.
Gee, since we're having such a hard time ending it, maybe we should decriminalize child prostitution and pursue a more "pragmatic approach."
I wish Wallis loved children as much as he loves the adulation of the princes of this earth.
Seriously. Considering how ‘hedonistic’ our culture is at the moment.....I’m expecting a rain of sulfur pretty soon.
Any reasonable review of this election reminds me abortion should have been a primary issue for many. When Christianity gained significant influence in some region of the Roman Empire, a first practice to disappear was the exposure of infants. Obama voted three times in Illinois for infanticide. Christians who voted for him abandoned Christian faith as a basis that decision. One could logically conclude racial prejudice became the dominant factor for these people.
“One could logically conclude racial prejudice became the dominant factor for these people.”
It was clearly race first, religion second.
WHAT A CROCK!
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