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I would like to invite all those interested to the next Theology Panel conference call on Tuesday, January 20th, 8:30 EDT. To participate call 1-218-339-2500, use 727705* as your access code.

For discussion this month I would like to suggest we focus on the IPC/CL upcoming white paper on economic justice. Please email me if you have not recieved a copy of this landmark work in time to read before the conference call.
roger@progressivechristianalliance.org

Peace,
R

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

With the imminent inauguration of Barack Obama, the issue of embryonic cell research is again coming to the fore. The Religious Right, looking for any issue on which to stage their comeback, will certainly do their part to make the most of it in pursuit of their never-ending culture war.

While the Religious Right claims to have a corner on being "pro-life" -- there is nothing more pro-life and pro-family than fully funding this vital medical research. I should know, because I speak from experience.

As many readers know, a progressive neuromuscular condition has left me a virtual quadriplegic, LMG muscular dystrophy. And although I earn a decent income as a private attorney, an ever larger portion of it goes to home-aides and medical devices -- most of which are designed to keep me working. My disposable income, and even my income earning capacity, has become a hostage to my affliction. This really hit home when a doctor said I should think about divorcing my wife and give her all my assets so that I would be able to qualify for Medicare. I was flabbergasted.

As we near the inauguration of our first African American President, it would be timely to reflect upon the organizations that have played a large part in fighting for the rights of African Americans in our country's history. Darryl Fears wrote an article for the April 14, 2008 issue of the Washington Post Weekly on the state of the great civil rights groups that were so involved in the 1950s and 1960s struggles to fight to topple segregation laws, empower people through laws to protect voting rights, and overcome prejudice in the law books and in people's attitudes. Fears found that after the 1960s, when these organizations were at the peak or their influence, many of these organizations have either declined in membership, face financial problems, or have simply disappeared.

Several reasons are offered for the decline of these organizations. Many of these civil rights groups were subject to government harassment and spying. The rise of more radical groups like the Black Panthers made older civil rights groups seem timid in their efforts and attracted younger African Americans.

As supporters of gays rights become more galvanized by the passage of Proposition 8, I thought it would be good to list several gays rights organizations that people may think of joining. Since conservative Evangelicals, Catholics and Mormons were especially prominent in supporting Proposition 8, I tried to find organizations that would help out Evangelicals, Catholics and Mormons who were either gay, lesbian or supported gay rights and perhaps help them speak out. If you know of an organization that I did not list, please feel free to post the name and website of the organization. It would be especially appreciated to know of any Mormon groups that would cater to Mormons who are gay, lesbian or are gay rights supporters.

GLAAD is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair and accurate representation of gays and lesbians in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and bad stereotypes. In their webpage is a great link to LGBT organizations that could be found in your local area.

Members of the CrossLeft family please vote on the issues below and make your voice heard...

Thank you!!!

Dear Supporter:

We need your help urgently!

Tonight, December 31, 2008, at midnight, Change.org will be closing first-round voting for their "Top 10 Ideas for America." Ultimately, they will be presenting the final "Top 10 Ideas" to the Obama Administration on Inauguration Day and building a national campaign to advance these ideas in Congress, leveraging Change.org, MySpace, and other partner organizations.

The nativists have, unfortunately, gotten hold of Change.org's campaign. Below, you will find a message that is being circulated by the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) encouraging their members to vote for their idea: Enforce Our Immigration Laws. Thanks to their efforts, ALIPAC's idea has the second highest number of votes in the immigration category at present, meaning that their proposed enforcement will represent the voice of America to the new Administration. Passing the "Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act" (DREAM Act) is also one of the top three ideas in the immigration category, but we need to ensure that it is accompanied by two other sound ideas; the top three ideas from the first round will be carried over into the second round of voting.

On December 20th, 2008, I turned eighteen. United States law demands that every male between 18 and 25 register for the Selective Service (aka the draft). This was my 'civic duty'.

I am a pacifist.

I believe that participation in war is essentially incompatible with an attempt to emulate the example of Jesus Christ. Jesus says, 'Blessed are the peacemakers' and 'Love your enemies' and 'Turn the other cheek'. He lived this out in radical subservience (but not obedience) to 'authority', spreading a message that ultimately undermines temporal power; for, to quote N. T. Wright, if Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not. And Jesus, a King who knows no borders, rules over a Kingdom that exists most fully at the margins of empire

Thus I am a pacifist.

Many will say that nonviolence is not 'practical', not 'realistic'. But the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from his grave after a death by crucifixion was not practical, not realistic. My hope, my life, is in that resurrection. Christ's resurrection renders the impossible, possible; the fantastic, realistic; the idealistic, pragmatic.

This December has been a time to slow down and reflect. One of the greatest blessings that I've had this year is attending St. Thomas church and the opportunity the pastor gave me to do some cartoons for her Sunday bulletin. I haven't become a good Christian or anything, but it's helped me to feel like I'm on a path to knowing God better. Here are some of my cartoons over the past year that I've made for my Sunday church readings.

This is from Aussie Heretic, the blog of Ian Lawton http://ianwlawton.blogspot.com/.He pastors a progressive church here in Michigan and his works appear on The Center for Progressive Christianity http://www.tcpc.org/template/index.cfm frequently. I thought it had a very healing tone, considering all the controversy surrounding the issue.Jim

Can Rick Warren Give a Spirit Driven Invocation?

On a tiny peninsula in Washington, inside a domed temple, there is an awesome statue of Thomas Jefferson. He is on a high pedestal, standing calm and tall in a long coat with a gaze that seems fixed somewhere far beyond “today”. Some of Jefferson's most famous words are set in the great stone panels that surround the statue. They are Jefferson’s words of freedom, gifts to future vistors. These words have expanded the vision and compassion of generations of freedom-loving people across the globe.

Jefferson believed that church and state should remain separate. He never, however, imagined that spirit and state could ever be separate. To remove spirit from state is to divorce wisdom, imagination and compassion from a nation’s vision. Without spirit, a nation will die a colorless death.

Has anyone else here seen The Lord of the Rings films? I hope so. They are great movies.

I have seen the third movie now two times. I assume I will see it again and probably in the theatre, too. Who knows how many times I will watch it on video or DVD. I am already looking forward to the extended version. I have seen the two preceding films several times each. I have even read and reread the books over the last twenty years. I love these stories. They are epic in scope. They speak of hope and despair. They are tales of overcoming impossible odds to defeat an evil threatening to destroy everything.