Progressive Christians, who have found a louder voice this election year, have helped expand the issues that matter to religious people in the public square and brought together previously opposing communities, said a panel of progressive leaders and scholar recently.
The movement, which some label the religious left, has often been defined by its advocacy work on behalf of the poor and oppressed.
“Clearly the goal of most of these organizations, although not necessarily all of them, is to shape public policy and to influence policymakers in some meaningful way,” said Laura Olson, political science professor at Clemson University, during a Pew Forum discussion titled “Religion and Progressive Politics in 2008.”
“And of course the justification for that would be, again, to help the poor, the disadvantaged, and the forgotten – around justice issues, around peace issues, around racism and around matters such as that,” she added.
But during this election year, progressives expanded their role to organizing events that bring together conservative and liberal Christian leaders to question presidential candidates.
They have also acted as a bridge between the religious community and secular groups.
In October, the progressive ecumenical group Faith in Public Life helped bring together Christian and secular leaders to try to end the cultural war on issues such as abortion, gay rights, and the role of religion in public life.
Conservative and moderate Christian leaders, while not compromising their moral beliefs, expressed their commitment to human dignity and the Golden Rule when it came to gay rights.
And on abortion, the pro-choice members of the project agreed that abortion is something unwanted and measures should be in place to prevent a woman from having to make that choice.
One of the Pew panelists, Jennifer Butler of Faith in Public Life, predicted that perhaps in 10 years there may be a “whole restructuring” of religion in politics where the divides will not be the focus, but rather people may unite around the current culture-war issues.
“People may also come together on the culture-war issues, on the issues that they disagreed on before, and find common-ground solutions to those that don’t compromise either on their positions,” Butler commented.
“So I think you’ll have a broader coalition of people that would include not only the Christian left, but the 'convertible Catholics', moderate evangelicals, African-American churches, the Muslim community and the Jewish community – all working together around issues of common concern,” she added.
Butler said she thinks progressives will help make this year’s election one about the “common good voter” instead of the values voters.
Panelist Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United, agreed and said he thinks there will be a redefinition of the “values narrative” that was established in the 2004 election of President George W. Bush.
“Life and family aren’t going away as essential and important concerns, but the way we think about them is going to change,” Korzen predicted. “And we can’t have strong families in this country if people don’t have jobs and healthcare. That’s the message that’s going to define this election cycle, in terms of those kinds of values.”
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*** People of faith are voting McCain - Palin ***
Some facts on Obama's voting and speaking against the teaching of Christ:
- Obama votes to kill babies born alive. These are people Jesus loves.
- Obama calls traditional marriage, which Jesus ordained, "divisive".
- Biden's church has told Biden not to take communion.
Let's vote for McCain - Palin beacuse they care for all babies and marriage - instead of voting because someone is black or speaks well.
Pastor Rick Warren: "At what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?"
Barack Obama "...answering that question with specificity... uh... you know is, is...uh... above my pay grade."
Saddleback Forum. August 16, 2008
Keith Green (a musical evangelist of the late 70's/early 80's once said the reason we have welfare in our country is beause the church was not doing what it is responsible to do. Our government has invaded areas the Bible says Christians are responsible for. The US Constitution talks about promoting the general welfare. If you look up the word welfare you can see where employers are to be paying a fair wage instead of stepping on the backs of the poor. People like that have their reward. The Bible talks about taking care of those in need. Yet today churches send people to the welfare office instead. So, before we go any further we need to accept responsibility for the situation. If everyone who claimed to be a Christian actually loved their neighbor as themselves there really would be no welfare in this country.
With that said the government is a reflection of our society. As I've posted before, if you don't like what you see in the mirror...change what's in front of it. We ARE the government. As Christians we have the responsibility to be involved in our government. The government isn't a we/them situation...it's an us situation. Stand up for what is right and get involved in EVERY area of our democratic republic.
"Phileo and schemeroo - are you Christians?"
Why is that, should Christians ensure Christ is not at the center of our solutions and push for big government to solve our problems?
Should Christians make intellectually dishonest statements like abortion is wrong, but it should be legal? Why is it wrong again?
Are Christians only leftists - do these crazy religious right folks not care about the poor or oppressed?
As Christians, is the strength of our families derived only from how good our job is and whether we have healthcare?
Probably doing the same thing they've been doing to mainline Protestant denominations...
I think of myself as left, right and in-between. I believe that society will be best served if we all embrace Christian morals and honor Christian values as the cornerstone of secular law. I also think the we should be compassionate, treating other people as we would want to be treated. Why do we let secular politicians label us as left or right. Our focus should be on serving God, not serving a particular political agenda.
Phileo - It's not up to you to hold a debate with any progressive Christians. If I were you, I would be more concerned with Christ's teachings than with right-wing politics.
Phileo and schemeroo - are you Christians?
Being "Progressive" and/or "Liberal" and Christian are oxymorons. How can you honestly be pro-choice and Christian? While I certainly welcome the opportunity to dialogue in an intelligent and rational way, I'm not getting warm fuzzies from the left side of the aisle in that regard. Especially when you see lesbians infringing on the free speech rights of a paid speaker at Smith College in Massachusetts. Liberals will have to show me some semblance of respect for our ideals and biblical truth before I consider trying to hold a debate with them.
If I didn't know better,I'd say the whole concept of the "religious left" sounds like leftist liberals who have donned a "religious" cap as part of a an overall strategy to further their agenda. Its given away by this statement:
“Life and family aren’t going away as essential and important concerns, but the way we think about them is going to change,” Korzen predicted. “And we can’t have strong families in this country if people don’t have jobs and healthcare"
This is another way of repeating the same old tired leftist idea that the government ultimately controls everything, even your family life.