Posted on 04/06/2009 5:09:57 PM PDT by Alex Murphy
or all of you waiting with baited breath for the remaining members of President Obama's faith advisory council to be announced, today was the day the White House gave out the final few names. They are below. A few observations:
Considering that evangelicals are 26 percent of the American population, I don't see a comparative percentage of folks who fit that description on the list. And there no women among them. Now, there are plenty of female evangelical leaders around, such as Joni Eareckson Tada (who as a quadriplegic would have pleased all sorts of diversity requirements), Alveda King, Nancy Pearcey, Anne Graham Lotz, etc., so am wondering why theologically conservative Christian women were left out.
Then again, Catholics are 25 percent of the population, but I am counting only three representatives from that denomination. Jews are 2 percent of the population, but there are three representatives from their ranks.
Anju Bhargava, by the way, is a female Hindu priest. I've written before on how Obama doesn't seem to know what Buddhists are, sooo, search this list, dear readers, and see if you can find any. I cannot. Ditto for Seventh-day Adventists, Sikhs and Mormons.
There are two gay representatives on the list. According to the Washington Blade, Harry Knox, who heads up the religion and faith program for the Human Rights Campaign (a prominent homosexual group), is one and Fred Davie, head of Public/Private Ventures, is another.
Richard Stearns, a member who was announced a few weeks ago, told me the council meets this month in Washington, so the White House probably felt some pressure to come up with a full list sooner rather than later. Some folks on the list, such as Nathan Diamant, knew they were selected weeks ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Bishop Vashti M. McKenzi, presiding bishop, 13th Episcopa District African Methodist Episcopal Church, Knoxville, Tenn.
The Rev. Otis Moss Jr., pastor emeritus, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, Cleveland
Dr. Frank S. Page, president emeritus, Southern Baptist Convention, Taylors, S.C.
Dr. William J. Shaw, president, National Baptist Convention, USA, Philadelphia
Bishop Charles Blake, presiding bishop, Church of God in Christ, Los Angeles
Pastor Joel C. Hunter, senior pastor, Northland, a Church Distributed, Longwood, Fla.
Dr. Sharon Watkins, general minister and president, Disciples of Christ (Christian Church), Indianapolis
The Rev. Peg Chemberlin, president-elect, National Council of Churches USA, Minneapolis
Anthony Picarello, general counsel, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington
Father Larry J. Snyder, president, Catholic Charities USA, Alexandria
Dr. Arturo Chavez, president and CEO, Mexican American Catholic College, San Antonio
Melissa Rogers, director, Center for Religion and Public Affairs, Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Nancy Ratzan, board chair, National Council of Jewish Women, Miami
Rabbi David N. Saperstein, director and counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Washington
Nathan Diament, director of public policy, Orthodox Jewish Union, Washington
Dalia Mogahed, executive director, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, Washington
Anju Bhargava, founder, Asian Indian Women of America, New Jersey
I see he didn’t have the guts to include Jeremiah Wright among those he considers opinions on faith. 20 years. Can’t disown the man.
Exactly what does a “Faith Advisory Council” do?
I would tend to think that anyone whose name is on the list is being conned, or else he’s in on the con.
I see no Catholics on there. That is very odd. Does he not think there are many Catholics in this country???
Unreal.
Why should he care about Catholics? They all voted for him and he did nothing to court that vote. In his mind, and rightly so, he’s go Catholics in the palm of his hand
I have been a minister for 30 years. I have heard of three of these people, and two of them are extremely liberal. Who are these people?
They don’t get much call for it around here.
Besides, he doesn’t need to hear from anyone against abortion. There’s babies to kill.
“Who are these people?”
deceivers who seek to lead the flock astray?
How about working on the Treasury Dept?
...In short, Wallis fits in perfectly with the Obama Administration: He is a Statist who believes in God.
Sadly, there are a lot of Freepers and Republicans that match that description.
Rev Wright is retired, living in a gated, predominately white, golf-course community far from Chicago. However, Father Pfleger (a Catholic priest who whole-heartedly supports pro-abortion candidates) is also MIA.
Jim Wallis is one of the one’s I was referring to...but, I have a hard time fitting him into the traditional evangelical box!
National Council of Churches helped send Elian back to Cuba.
So do I, but unfortunately there are many people in this county who buy into his type of religiosity of only focusing on Jesus feeding the poor...and little else. They forget that the Church or the family, not the government should be the place people turn to for their needs. The One Size Fits All Approach the government takes has led numerous urban communities into their current state of decay and poverty.
Your take is so very wrong. The Main Stream Media’s defination of “Catholic” can be shoehorned into your observation, not that of faithful Catholics.
Catholics are obliged under Canon Law to attend Mass weekly (Sat. eve or Sunday), barring a real impediment.
Many of the Catholics trumpeded as Obama supporters do not fit that criterion. Publications such as “First Things” and “Zenit” have exposed the perfidity of this so-called reporting.
Informed, truly practicing Catholics do not support the anti-Catholic, anti-life Obama.
MSM stories to the contrary are a lie. Imagine that?
God bless.
Sursum Corda
Interesting... I haven’t been too keen on Levin, but I think I’ll pick up his book. Thanks!
I am quite amazed there are no Episcopalians on this listing. I thought they would hold a prominent place on the listing.
Surprised the Abortion is a Blessing - Katherine Ragsdale didn’t make the list.
Here’s Harry Knox:
Knox is working to give ‘a big megaphone’ to advocates for homosexual rights:
The director of the Human Rights Campaign’s Religion and Faith Program, who will give three talks in Toledo tomorrow, said advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons have been drowned out in the media by right-wing Christian fundamentalists.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20060107&Category=NEWS10&ArtNo=601070346&SectionCat=&Template=printart
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